Suburban Vegetable Gardener

I have this love of starting seeds and I’m a sucker for buying plants.  Thus, this year, I ended up with 30 tomato plants.  The early girl and sweet 100′s finished up last month.  The heirlooms I purchased from Love Apple Farms and nurtured them along.  I would wrap them up when the weather got below 40.  Goodness, I think I wrapped them up at night when it would get below 50.  I sweet talked them.  I added in worm casings and a JS Stone organic fertilizer when I planted them.  And they rewarded me by being prolific.  Very prolific.  At one point, I was picking ten tomatoes off of them per day and begging my friends to take some.

The romas I started at the same time as the sweet 100 and early girl.  They took longer to produce and ripen.  In fact, they’re ripening in stages.  I picked a huge harvest off and brought it over to a local restaurant (and they were very grateful).  I picked a second harvest intending upon making salsa since I also have my onions and jalapenos.  Unfortunately, I’ve been so busy.  But the tomatoes are still looking great.  I might roast these Romas and then can them.

I started some Burpee seeds and some Renee’s Garden seeds, and they’ve been very interesting to watch.  Some turned out amazingly well, and others are just OK.  I didn’t put enough calcium into the soil before planting some, and ended up with a lot of blossom end rot.  Which is disappointing.

What is really amazing me are the tomato plants that sprouted out of my compost pile.  I wonder how far along they will get before the nights turn chilly again.  Still, they look beautiful, and it’s been fun watching them.

Planting during summer season are sometimes in vain. You’ve been exerting all your efforts to make you plants yield but to no avail. You can only produce few vegetable and fruits maybe. As a gardener, you would always want to give the best care possible to your plants. Here are basic tips on your can make you plants not only survive the summer season, but also to get more yields:

1. Water. During the month of July, August and September, plants require approximately two inches of water per week to assure its growth. Water may come from rainfall or an irrigation system. Usually, plants need this amount of watering per week especially when rains don’t come. Two inches of water is equal to about 124 gallons for 100 square feet of a garden area. The plants’ water consumption will eventually increase during hot weather and will decrease as the weather subsides.

You can manually determine if there is sufficient water in you garden. To do this, squeeze a soil sample into a ball. If the soil holds together into a ball, it means that there is enough water. If it crumbles, you may need to water you plants. You can use sprinkler, hose and furrow irrigations to bring water to your plants.

2. Weed Control. Weeds are annoying not just by their looks but they also steal the food, water and light away from your plants. Insects, plant diseases and nematodes thrive on weeds. These pests can inflict damage to your plants and reduce yields.

You can control weeds by handweeding, hoeing and mulching. It is not highly recommended to use herbicides to eliminate weeds since it might also damage your crops. There might be a variety of plants and weeds in your garden and it is hard to find herbicides specific for certain weed specie. To prevent weeds to take control of your garden, be sure that the soil is prepared, control of weeds before planting and plant crops when the soil is warm enough. If you resort on chemical weed control, make sure that they are safe and easy to use.

3. Disease Control. Once plant diseases attack, the quality and quantity of your plants produce might be deeply affected. Plant diseases are contagious and spread through water, insects, air and contaminated seeds and transplants.

There are different approaches on how to solve this problem. You can treat the seed by using a protective fungicide that will prevent them to rot during seed germination. You have to read the directions of the product carefully before using it. You should also take extra care while dealing with it since it might affect your health.

If the grown plant is affected, you can also use fungicide for treatment. It should be sprayed into the affected parts of the plant. However, it is still better to ask an expert before using this method.

There are also plant varieties which are resistant to disease. Make sure that you only plant seeds which look healthy. Sanitation is also important. Once the plant disease is detected or taken cared of, you have to remove those infected plants or weeds from your garden. Lastly, a healthy environment, which is less prone to pest attacks are excellent conditions for your plant to grow better.

4. Insect Control. You must always check your plants for any presence of harmful insects. One the problem is detected, devise means to control it. If checking is done regularly, there is a lesser need to use any insecticide to cure the problem.

Insect feed on your plants. There are insects that will bore the plants or eat the leaves and fruits. You can find a lot of insecticides in the market today. However, you should be very careful in selecting the proper treatment for your plant. You have to remember that there is no single chemical that can eliminate all these pests.

5. Fertilizer. These help in making you plants healthy and produce great yields. They are also available in the market. However, gardeners are encouraged to use composts or organic fertilizers to produce healthy fruits and vegetables. It is also a way of protecting the natural health of the soil. Fertilizers can cause soil acidity and you might find it hard to grow plants later on.

These are just simple and basic, yet effective ways to take care of your plants. These tips are not just applicable for summer but for the whole year as well. It is also an excellent decision of you seek the opinion of an expert before you make any drastic moves on your garden.