How often should I water seeds in a vegetable garden?

October 31, 2011 by  
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garden
by Gardening in a Minute

Deans asks: How often should I water seeds in a vegetable garden?
A few weeks ago I planted some green bean seeds in a small raised bed vegetable garden. Only 2 seeds sprouted out of 2 decent size rows. I am a novice gardener and went by the advice of the employee at a local garden center to mix in some mushroom compost into my top soil…and that was it. I was told that I wouldn’t need to water much…so I didn’t. I don’t know what could have inhibited the seeds from sprouting. Perhaps they weren’t good seeds? Maybe my soil was too dry? It seemed to drain well when I watered…but also appeared to have a dry crackly surface…could the soil have not been prepared enough?

I went back to the garden center and bought some organic compost…they said it would drain better because it was more leafy. I reworked all of the soil, even digging up my tomato and pepper plants…setting them aside, and reworking that soil. After replanting them…along with my new green bean seeds…I watered them really well. Should I continue to water my seeds good until they sprout? Or should I just water occasionally? I could really use some tips on how to make it do as good as it can. I am so new at this. (it gets a lot of sun)

The answer voted best is:

Answer by Kung Fu Panda
twice a day.morning and at night.until you see germination

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germination

What do you think? Answer below!

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4 Tomato Growing Tips To Think About When Asking, “when Should I Plant Tomatoes?”

October 21, 2011 by  
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by nutmeg66

4 Tomato Growing Tips To Think About When Asking, “when Should I Plant Tomatoes?”

Luckily most garden centers are a lot better than the retail stores and s you will not find tomato plants out for sale in the middle of winter. Other tomato gardening supplies and seed packs will be out as soon as all the red Valentine’s Day stock is taken down. The question always seems to be , “When should I plant tomatoes?” You will find that after reading tomato gardening tips in your gardening books and what you find online, it really boils down to 4 basic things.

4 questions and growing tomato gardening tips and suggestions for, “When should I plant tomatoes? “:

If you are lucky enough to live in a year round growing season, it doesn’t matter! You can easily stagger your tomato planting so that you will have new fresh plants replacing the old ones. Juicy tomatoes all year is a luxury to appreciate! For the rest of the people, you can plant when the danger of frost has past. Some places that will mean early spring, others in May or early June. Your garden center will have a chart to use as a guide. If you watch the weather carefully, you can plant a few weeks before that date.

Heavy, clumpy soil will simply not work with tomatoes. You need to cultivate the dirt each year by turning it over, raking, working in compost and fertilizers, and get it nice and loose. You also should not plant your tomatoes in the same place they were last year. Fresh nutrients in the soil are as important as the texture.

The optimum situation for planting tomatoes is two to three days after it rains. The soil will be nice and moist, but not clumpy, and it will be easy to work with, A hot and dry spring will mean you need to gently soak the dirt with a sprinkler for several hours the day before you plant.. Other tomato gardening tips for planting will tell you not to transplant in the hot sun. Seeds love the hot sun, but not plants.. The sun will cause the plants to wilt. If you plant in late afternoon at least give it overnight to adjust or devise some kind of temporary shade for a day or two.

Busy people who are working or have lots of commitments will often just have to do it when they have the time. It is a good idea to have a Plan A and alternate Plan B for when the weather does not cooperate with your schedule. Get the plants ahead of time, keep them watered and in the shade, so they will be ready when you are..

When should I plant tomatoes? Follow these four planting tomato gardening tips and suggestions and you should have a good tomato growing season.

What kind of plants and fertilisers should I use for an organic medical garden?

October 15, 2011 by  
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garden
by Paulo Brandão

Pooh Bear asks: What kind of plants and fertilisers should I use for an organic medical garden?
I know I want to grow peppermint(for the oil) and aloe vera(for the gel)

What else should I use. I want to all be organic and the fertiliser needs to be organic too, Do you know a good fertiliser?
What plants should I grow? (I need some for colds and headaches)
Where can I buy seeds? and how should I care for my garden?

Can I leave it outside, water it everyday and use fertilizer and let nature do the rest?

The answer voted best is:

Answer by Hillman
I can answer a couple of the questions.
Try planting a herb garden, Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Parsley, Chives, Rosemary. And for more choices of medicinal plants and what they treat check out the article in the first link below.

The second link is for a very good organic fertilizer – that I personally use.

Add your own answer in the comments!

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When Should I Plant Tomatoes If I Have A Busy Family Life? – Some Helpful Gardening Time Management Ideas

October 12, 2011 by  
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by amanderson2

When Should I Plant Tomatoes If I Have A Busy Family Life? – Some Helpful Gardening Time Management Ideas

For many families their problems growing tomatoes center around their busy family life and finding the time to prepare the soil and get the tomatoes into the ground as close to the last projected frost date as possible. They tend to worry about, “When should I plant tomatoes?” when they should be worrying about designing a gardening time management plan that will help them. Any busy family who truly enjoys growing their own vegetables needs to understand that organizing their time plans are is just as important tomato gardening tips as caring for them once they are in the ground.

The main thing that needs done is preparing the soil. Actually planting your tomatoes doesn’t take long. It should not be too hard to devise some gardening time management schedules to get these things done so you can get tomatoes planted as close to the optimum planting dates as possible.

The soil can be turned over any time.
There are no tomato gardening tips that say it has to be worked the same time you are going to plant.
If your time is limited, you must start thinking about all of this early in the spring and spread out the tasks.
With daylight saving being moved back to early March free up more daylight hours to work outside. You can turn the soil over the first time in March if that is when you have the time!

There is also no official tomato gardening tips that say the whole garden needs worked at one time.
Do what you can in the hour or so you have on nice day after work while your spouse cooks dinner, and then the next time you have some free moments go back and do some more.
There might be a weekend when you can put more time in.

Everyone knows once something is on the calendar, it becomes a priority and when conflicts arise it will be re-scheduled.
An effective gardening time management idea is to put two options right on your calendar for preparing the soil and another two for the actual planting. You need one main plan and a back-up for rainy weather.
As those dates close in, you will figure out the best options, based on the weather, and your schedule.
It will allow you to concentrate on your more important problems growing tomatoes and reading up on the latest tomato gardening tips and advice.

“When should I plant tomatoes if I have a busy family schedule?” can be easily handled with some advance thought and organization. You need to be able to concentrate on the effective maintenance and the problems growing tomatoes that involve pests and drought, not planting issues!

Solve The Time Crunch For When I Should Plant Tomatoes By Practicing Gardening Time Management

October 12, 2011 by  
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garden tips
by Rapid City Public Library

Solve The Time Crunch For When I Should Plant Tomatoes By Practicing Gardening Time Management

The fact of the matter is there is only so much free time left when you have an active life and busy family. What people learn to do is fit the things they have to do in first, and then figure out how to work the rest in. When it comes to gardening time management for a busy family, the same principals are involved. Most families can figure out ways to get the things done they want or like to do most, and leave the others behind. There is no use fretting about when I should plant tomatoes, or flowers, or anything else all those tomato gardening tips books tell you about. You will either make the time or not. Whichever way it turns out it will be OK.

One gardening time management piece of advice is to think about if your time is limited, is to start dealing with all of this early and spread out the tasks over time. With daylight savings being moved back to early March, it frees up daylight hours to get things done on a nice day when you get home from work. You can do a little here and a little more then and before you know it, the garden is turned over and fertilized and ready for transplanting some plant or growing tomatoes from seed. This takes the fretting factor away in a jiffy.

When it gets closer to the no more frost time, when all the tomato gardening tips and advice you have read tells you is the best time to plant tomatoes, you again can only do what you have time to do, when you have the time to do it. You might even think about renting a tiller or paying someone to turn over the garden to save yourself sometime.

It is not worth fretting about the actual date for, “when should I plant tomatoes?” If your tomatoes to not get in until a week or two after you hoped, so be it. All it really means is you will not be growing tomatoes from seed, and you will have to transplant tomatoes. It may end up being a week or two later before you get a nice juicy tomatoes for your burgers and salads.

If the only time you have is a week or two before the suggested last day of frost, so be it. Just plant them when you can. There really should be no problems growing tomatoes that were planted too early if you watch the weather carefully and cover the plants if a late frost is predicted.

By stopping to think through some gardening time management tips like starting early, not growing tomatoes from seed, and not fretting about the actual planting date, it will allow you to concentrate on the more important problems growing tomatoes once they have started to grow by reading up on the latest tomato gardening tips and advice. Yes, there is an optimum time for when should I plant tomatoes, but it is certainly not the end of the world if you miss it by a week or two.

Related Garden Tips Articles

Why You Should Start Small When Beginning Gardening

October 12, 2011 by  
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garden tips
by kpwerker

Why You Should Start Small When Beginning Gardening

When it comes to gardening, you definitely want to take it little by little. You should start with a small plant bed just so you can get the hand of things and make enough plants for a small garden. By starting small, you can test out your gardening skills and enjoy that little garden that you have with the possibility of expansion.

Once you’ve decided to start small, your next task is to find a spot to host your garden. This location should get at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, as you want your plants to thrive in the most favorable conditions. You want to stay away from large trees and big fences or buildings – since they both have the possibility of blocking the plants from receiving enough water and nutrients.

If you live in a place where there is a warm climate, it’s best to select a spot that will create a shade during parts of the day. This will help to prevent the sun from taking it’s toll on your plants. While it’s possible to have a flourishing garden with alot of sunlight, it is not advisable for you since you are just starting out. It’s best to pick a spot with both adequate sunlight and shade.

A location that has good soil is a good thing. If there are places near your home where there is rocky soil or where water stands, then you want to avoid these locations also. After you’ve done all of these things, the next thing to do is to start growing your plants.

The first thing that you need to know is that your hands will get dirty. So if you’re someone who has a problem with your hands getting a little dirty, then you will just have to get used to it. At this step, you want to remove all rocks, grass, and weeds that are in your way so that you can dig 1-foot deep in the area that you want to start planting at.

You can add mineral and compost if you want, but you want to start digging up the dirt so that you have enough room for your plants to grow. You can add lime and peat moss if your soil is too acidic and sandy, and don’t be afraid to do this.

If you have seeds then you want to follow the directions on the package. If you’re picking plants however, then you want to select ones that have healthy roots and that have good looking and healthy leaves. Your goal is to plant at just the right moment. Wait until all frost is removed before you start planting. If you have seeds, then your seeds box will tell you when to plant to get the best results.

After you’ve gotten off to the right for with planting, you want to make sure that your garden is getting adequate amounts of water. You can use sprinklers or hoses – or you can do it yourself if you don’t have many plants. It’s best to water during the latter parts of the day since water seems to work better when the temperature is cooler.

You should also consider adding compost or mulch to your garden. Using organic mulch will make your soil a little moist and improves how your plants grow. You can use items such as leaves, wood chips, and pine needles as mulch – or you can simply find something else that will be equally as effective.

All of these gardening tips will help you to have the garden that you want. Since you’re just starting out, these tips should be enough to get you on the right track. Good luck on your gardening adventures!

Related Garden Tips Articles

Should I start a vegetable garden to save money on groceries?

September 26, 2011 by  
Filed under Articles, Question Corner

garden
by serenithyme

farquark asks: Should I start a vegetable garden to save money on groceries?
I recently came across a new blog that recommended starting a vegetable garden to save on groceries. I am a novice at gardening, but the article suggested some simple plants that were easy to grow.

I’m wondering, is this too good to be true? Or could it be worth my while? (and keep money in my pocketbook?)

the site was: http://midwestmoms.blogspot.com

The answer voted best is:

Answer by hopflower
Do you like to garden? If so, it is a good idea to do it. If you hate gardening, you are better off buying your produce. You can have a lot of choices however, when growing your own.

Disagree? Give your answer to this question below!

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Organic Gardening – Tips You Should Know to Garden on a Budget

September 26, 2011 by  
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garden tips
by davidflanders

Organic Gardening – Tips You Should Know to Garden on a Budget

Organic gardening is a method of gardening in harmony with nature. It can be done with a minimal amount of cost by using methods of recycling organic matter that you already have on hand and the propagation of heirloom plants that are in your yard..

Saving money gardening takes planning. It is very easy to let the costs get out of hand when you purchase plants and other supplies for a garden, whether it be for a vegetable garden, flower bed and even landscaping. Once you put a plan together you just have to stick with it. The biggest mistake that is made is to many plants and supplies are purchased before a garden is planned out. It is very easy to go to a garden center and see all the plants that you want to plant, then come home to find out there isn’t enough room to plant them.

Methods like the propagation of existing plants in your own yard is a big way to save on landscape plants, recycling organic household along with yard waste is a great way to improve the soil in your gardens and supply nutrients to your plants.

Growing heirloom plants that are open pollinated is also away that you can save by collection and storing your own seeds for the following years to come. Having your own seeds on hand will also give you the ability to grow your own transplants and save on the cost of purchasing plants every year. Starting your own transplants isn’t that hard to do and the seeds can be started in containers that you already have around your house, egg cartons are great to use for starting your transplants in.

Planning your garden is the best way to garden on a budget.

What should I do to prepare my vegetable garden for planting?

September 25, 2011 by  
Filed under Articles, Question Corner

garden
by Crinklecrankle.com

babybunny729 asks: What should I do to prepare my vegetable garden for planting?
I am new to this gardening thing and I want to have a vegetable garden so that we have vegetables and fruit from early summer through late fall. I know that each vegetable has it’s own PH requirements. How do I prep the soil for all the things I’m wanting to plant? Is there a fertilizer that I should use that would be good for a wide range of veggies? I live in northern Ohio. When should I start prepping the soil? When should I plant? Should I plant a second time during the season to ensure that I have veggies into the fall? What should I plant? The area I want to plant is roughly 15 X 20 ft.
We live in an area of northern Ohio that has extremely fertile farm. The soil is dark brown/black and not very much if any clay. We have high sulphur in our water so I’m assuming that the ground has a high sulphur content as well.

The answer voted best is:

Answer by troble # one?
Go to your nearest garden centre they will be happy to answer all your ??? and tell you what is best for your area…

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how much water should I give when gardening a sunflower?

September 23, 2011 by  
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garden
by ewsisphotos

Eric S asks: how much water should I give when gardening a sunflower?
I’m gardening a sunflower for a science fair project
how much water should I give and how often?

The answer voted best is:

Answer by the guru
Just keep the soil as damp as a wrung-out sponge. Water until excess comes out the bottom of the pot. Then empty the pot saucer.

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