better quality vegetables

[Eli103]

last year me and my dad did a garden because of all the panic.we are planning to build raised flower beds and grow even larger garden this year. how ever we needs tips on more healthier and better quality crops. what do yall use to have a good crop?

 

[Safari Hunt]

Never really thougt of it. Miracle Gro or check with the local co-op for fertilizer tips.

 

[Chapman]

I would check with your state extension service online. For me, I use Lsu Ag Center. They have tons of information about growing each vegetable and fruit trees. I like to use their planting guides for the best planting times for each vegetable.

 

[Popcorn]

Soil tests! Balanced soil is important
Raised beds I now grow 10X the food in 240 sq ft of beds than I used to grow in almost 5000 sq ft of in ground garden.
Earth worms, composting, add ashes from wood stove every winter and bed plants in with straw in the spring. Year round cropping.
Crop rotation

 

[Wobblyshot1]

I second a soil test for starters

 

[Safari Hunt]

Had a smarty answer but the co-op or county extension office should help with details. First, check the pH, minerals, etc., of the soil.

 

[DaveB]

Everyone will have some good ideas...getting the soil to match the intended crop should be up at the top of your list.

Next, if you can, start seedlings indoors come late February (that should get some better info as locale dictates start)

Your dirt should be fertile before you plant. I am a big believer in fertilizing very heavy last September/October and MG or a generic water soluble ten days after planting and repeat until you see blooms forming.

I do not like containers but some on here are Wizards with them.

There are lots of fantastic ideas on here for tomato staking....and beans....peppers like you never seen....

Climate varies but pumpkins need to be sprouted by July 4th. Watermelons way earlier....I favor Charleston Grays for taste if you have the room.

Hand pollinate if you can.

I like determinate tomato plants. Growth is more manageable, you can plant alternate weeks and get fresh fruit almost to frost. And I think they taste better but you will get lots of opinions on that.

 

[GMB54]

NPK is just the tip of successful gardens. If your soil has the wrong pH, too wet and not enough calcium the nutrients dont get where they are needed.

Good raised bed mix needs to drain well just like container mixes otherwise you are suffocating your plants. Plants such as peppers dont like soaked soil and contrary to popular belief they dont need full sun all day. Many kinds will even drop blooms if not given enough shade during the peak heat of a summer day.

Ive grown many tropical varieties that did horrible in full sun all day. Plants from Trinidad, Caribbean, Jamaica ect. You would imagine they would love it but that is not always the case. I can grow jalapenos in that same all day sun no problem but not my Scotch Bonnets.

Two of the best natural fertilizers are alfalfa meal and kelp meal. Combine either with a good fish based fertilize and you got a pretty well rounded nutrient profile most garden plants will love. Even though fish emuslion is a 5-1-1 fertilizer it has micro nutrients often over looked such as calcium. A 50lb bag of alfalfa meal around here is under $18 and most farm/feed stores sell it. Works well losening some soils too. Just use it early and not too much after planting.

If you know anyone that raises rabbits, go get as much rabbit poo as you can get. Its about the best poo fertilizer there is. You can apply it anytime and it wont burn your plants. No need to compost it like most poo.

I love growin peppers

 

[WTM]

1. dont use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, unless you want your vegetables to taste bitter and have a desire for a never ending battle with insects. natural fertilizer, minerals and soil balance increases the brix scale in vegetables and thus insects arent as attracted to them. legumes do not even need nitrogen, they make it. sweet corn will require more nitrogen than anything in the garden.

2. dont till your soil, or at least minimize tillage. it disturbs the micro organisms, soil structure and compacts the soil.

3. dont over compost. muck soils or too organic soils dont hold nutrients as well as soils leaning toward the clay side.

4. to touch on GMB54 recomendations for peppers, tomatoes have the same requirements although there are some varieties that are heat tolerant. sunlight is good, but high heat and humidity will shut down tomatoes and peppers. this is where row covers and shades come in handy. when night time temps are above 70 degrees it shuts down growth, blooms will drop or not pollinate. dont panic or add any amendments to otherwise healthy plants. it wont help.

5. plant a fall cover crop. i usually do austrian winter peas/crimson clover and winter wheat nurse crop mix. in the spring you can mow or crimp it and a week or two later you will have instant compost. it also keeps your soil and nutrients from eroding.

good luck

 

[DaveB]

I love growin peppers

I told ya, there are some serious wizards here.

 

[GMB54]

Ive grown some amazing plants in straight mushroom compost and 50/50 with aged pine fines. Last year i had so many Scorpion, Brown Reapers and Death Spiral i could not begin to use all of them. All three varieties were just loaded with pods by mid July.

Your local weather conditions will play a huge part in what mixes you can get away with using. I can grow in a mix of 40% compost, 40% aged pine fines and 20% rice hulls like its going out of style. It can rain its butt off without a care in the world. That mix works awesome in hard pots or grow bags but you need to water the grow bags more often. In a place like Texas though you probably would not want that mix.

If you grow any beans dont give them nitrogen. You will just get huge bean plants. I grow Liana yard long beans. Its a type of Asian long bean. I plant them and aside from watering i dont give them anything but a good soil to start in.

Save all shells from shrimp, lobster, crab, crawfish ect ect. Its one of the best things you can give most plants. Aside from the obvious nutrients like nitrogen and calcium they also have chitosan. Bad microbes dont like it. For a calcium suppliment i use calcium acetate. Its just calcium carbonate treated with acetic acid. Unlike normal calcium sources, the calcium is readily available to your plants. It wont raise your soil pH like other sources can. You can buy calcium acetate in bulk at supplement outlets for as low as $25/kilo.

Save all coffee grounds too. Your worms will LOVE it.

Start a compost pile and feed is regularly. Its a bit late to start it now for this coming season. Mine has been cooking since last spring.

 

[GMB54]

This is another good cheap fertilizer. I had very very good luck with it. A 25# bag around here is under $10. Whatever you dont use just feed it to your lawn or compost.

Chick N Poo

Home | ChickNPoo

chicknpoo.com

 

[jag1]

Amazing stuff on here...learning me something. I have used chicken litter and it seems to really work.

 

[Pic IN the Casa]

Soil tests! Balanced soil is important
Raised beds I now grow 10X the food in 240 sq ft of beds than I used to grow in almost 5000 sq ft of in ground garden.
Earth worms, composting, add ashes from wood stove every winter and bed plants in with straw in the spring. Year round cropping.
Crop rotation

^^^^^^ TEST YOUR SOIL!!

Or at a minimum lay down some lyme right now.

 

[GMB54]

Lime will raise soil pH and peppers like it slightly acidic. I only add lime when using peat based mixes which tend to be a little too acid if they were not already treated. Most Pro-Mix for example already has calcium carbonate added to it. Using coco coir based mixes its a whole other animal. You need a fast acting calcium source that wont alter the pH. Heavy pine fine mixes want more nitrogen so you use calcium nitrate or a natural source of both nutrients. Such as a crab shell/fish meal.

That is why i use calcium acetate. It adds nothing but fast acting calcium that is water soluble. However it is too expensive for large plots. Calcium nitrate is much much cheaper but its 15% nitrogen or more. Plus it has other negatives if used too much.

I suggest not adding anything until you know the soil pH. Nutrient changes are simple once you know that. Add only natural sources that improve soil biology. Happy good microbes and fungi will do more than any fertilizer ever will. They form a symbiotic relationship with plants. Good aged compost is full of them.

I made a small compost pile on my jalapeno patch. Partially to help keep the soil there from freezing. Compost piles (cook) and get very hot sometimes. The worms under that pile went nuts all winter. The following spring a shovel went through that dirt like butter. I hate tilling and so do many beneficial things in a healthy living soil.

I save ever last egg shell, coffee grinds, yard waste and fish leftovers i get. It all goes into the compost. Nature does the rest. If you can get large amounts of poultry bedding you got a really good start. Just make sure it has plenty of time to "cook" in the compost pile. Fresh chicken poo is REALLY hot and needs time to mellow out. One year when i was a kid my dad had a farmer friend bring us in a ton of pig crap. Small dump bed full.

Man did that thing cook all winter. That pile looked like a volcano with a pillar of steam coming out of the center. So hot you could not stick your hand in it. Our garden was about 15ft by 65ft and the following year the pig pile got spread over the entire plot. Boy were the neighbors mad too. ...Well until all the maters and peppers started rolling out.

 

[GMB54]

Found the pic of my larger compost pile. Its 5ftx5ft and 4ft tall. ATM its cooked down to about half as tall. I put it near one of my raised beds.

The red you see way behind it is a neighbors chicken coop. I haul off her waste and add it to mine when there is enough. The fabric around the pile is breathable. Pro-Shield commercial grade weed barrier. Last for years. Cheap at Costco.

 

[WTM]

most of your common garden vegetables like a slightly acidic soil. be careful with the lime. potatoes like a little more acidic and prevents scab. blueberries and azalias really like acidic soil.

 

[GMB54]

I even save rain water because my city water is well over 8 pH. They sell cheap kits that attach to the down spout from a gutter and collects it in a food grade barrel. Saves me a few bucks on the water bill also.

I sure wish Alaska brand (Part of Pennington) would bring back the Alaska Fish and Kelp pellets. I had great luck with that as a stand alone fertilizer. Critters like it too though so its not perfect. Critters that like to dig can make it a real pain. None of my stores had either kind for about a year.

 

[BigRod]

Man that was my son, that posted asking that question but I had forgot about his post. So much info here. We need to get to work now, last year we got pre sprouted plants from the local market. Our container garden produced pretty good, of course seeing the benefits and tasting homegrown stuff we want to do more this year.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Soil tests! Balanced soil is important
Raised beds I now grow 10X the food in 240 sq ft of beds than I used to grow in almost 5000 sq ft of in ground garden.

I plan on doing raised beds this year - ones that will be tiered off on a slope (three 6'X6" squares stepped down). I do have a mole problem - would I need to put some type of blockade to ensure they won't get in the raised beds?

Anyone have problems with moles with similar "raised" beds like this?