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Vegetable Crop Yields, Plants per Person, and Crop Spacing
Vegetable crop yields and the number of vegetable plants to grow for each person in your household will help you estimate the space needed for a home vegetable garden. Crop yield estimates and consumption predictions are largely based on experience. Keeping a food log and garden record can help you hone your vegetable garden needs […] More
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in Gardening Tips, Tips
Narrow Beds, Not Rows, For Planting Vegetables
Planting beds—not traditional rows—offer the best use of space for growing a home vegetable garden. Planting beds that space two, three, or more plants across a bed 1½ to 4 feet wide is ideal for a home garden. These beds are often called narrow beds—they are just wide enough for you, the garden keeper, to […] More
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Crop Rotation Planning
Crop rotation is the practice of changing or alternating the crops in a given area of the garden. Rotating crops will stem the depletion of soil nutrients and prevent or reduce the build-up of pest and disease problems. Crops that are heavy feeders and require more soil nutrients can be rotated with light feeders and […] More
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Vegetable Crop Rotation
Crop rotation will benefit vegetable crops in two ways: first, it will prevent the build-up of soil-borne pests and diseases; second, it will allow for the replenishment and efficient use of soil nutrients. Crop rotation is the practice of growing different crops, rather than the same vegetable or members of the same family of vegetables, […] More
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in Gardening Tips, Tips
Crop Rotation in Small Vegetable Garden
Crop rotation means moving vegetables around the garden to maintain soil fertility. By rotating crops from one spot to another each season—or even in the same season, you can preserve and even boost nutrients in the soil. Differing crops use different amounts of soil nutrients and a few crops add nutrients to the soil. How […] More
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Epsom Salt, Tomato, and Pepper Growing
Epsom salt used as a foliar spray or soil additive will help tomato and pepper plants grow and produce larger tastier yields. Late in the season use an Epsom salt spray to increase tomato and pepper yield and keep plants green and bushy; early in the season add Epsom salt to the soil to aid […] More
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Fertilizer for Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants
Summer fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants will benefit from a side-dressing of organic fertilizer when they first set fruit and every 4 to 6 weeks thereafter. An alternative is to water in a dilute solution of fish emulsion, seaweed extract, or kelp meal every 10 days. Feed fruiting crops that have flowered […] More
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Vegetable Seed Germination Temperatures
Vegetable seed germination is greatly dependent upon soil temperature. Other near equal factors include seed vitality (the age of the seed), soil moisture, soil air, and soil conditions and workability. This chart shows the range of soil temperatures needed for seed germination. The chart also shows the number of days to germination at optimum temperatures. […] More
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in Gardening Tips, Plant, Seed Starting, Tips
Vegetable Planting and Soil Temperature
Vegetable seeds and seedlings require minimum soil temperatures to germinate and grow. Seeds and seedlings require optimal soil temperatures to thrive. Soil temperature triggers not only seed germination but is an important factor in soil chemistry. Soil chemistry includes the release (dissolution) of mineral nutrients in soil moisture. Mineral nutrients are essential for vegetable plant […] More
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Vegetable Harvest Times
Timing is everything when it comes to the home vegetable garden harvest. Once vegetables are picked they immediately begin to lose flavor, tenderness, and nutritional value. Harvest your crops as close to the time you plan to serve them, within an hour or less of serving time is best. How do you know when it […] More
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in Gardening Tips, Tips
Vegetable Watering Tips
Water is essential to the optimum growth of vegetables; the water content of most vegetables is nearly 90 percent. Providing the right amount of moisture to the vegetable garden is as important as supplying the right amount of plant food. When to water seeds, seedlings, and established plants • Seeds. Water to the age of […] More
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Growing Bulb Onions: Pick the Right Variety for Your Garden
Bulb onions are particular about where they grow. Onion bulb formation is triggered by the number of summer daylight hours. Bulb-forming onions can be divided into three types. Three types of bulbing onions Long-day onions require about 15 hours of summer daylight. Short-day onions require about 12 hours of summer daylight. Day-neutral (also called intermediate-day) […] More
Stephen Albert
