Growing Radish: Some basic Facts

Radish is one of the easiest crops to grow. This is ideal for the beginners who are trying their hands on gardening.

A pH of 6 to 6.8 is ideal for growing radish. You can add other growing media with the soil to make it appropriate if the soil nearby is not up to that pH range. A list of the growth media can be found here. In normal cases fertilizers are not that necessary if you have put compost in the soil before planting the seeds. Avoid fresh manure or material which are rich in nitrogen.

Radish plant required direct sunlight at least 6 hours a day. Plant your plant accordingly. Put the seed in the soil at ½ inch depth and cover it with soil. The spacing between the plant should not less than 2 inch. Once the seedlings have grown about 2 inches in height thin them up to 3 inches apart. Lack of thinning can lead to inedible and shriveled roots.

Keep the soil moist by watering regularly. If s the soil is very dry it can result in radishes with very pungent flavor, whereas too much water can make the roots rot. If want to know more about watering check out my earlier blog.

Radish plants are not very much prone to diseases, on the contrary it is much more beneficial to other crops if you are thinking about companion planting. Planting radish along with cucumber or squash can reduce the beetle which affects cucumber or squash. It also attracts leaf bugs away from spinach. Sometimes there are some larva which attacks the radish roots. Crop rotation can resolve this problem. You can also add a good amount of wood ash to prevent these problems.

The best part of a radish as far as the beginners are concerned is that it matures very quickly. You can harvest your radishes with 3 to 4 weeks depending on the species. In case you are not sure of its size pull it out from the soil in case you find the radish is still immature, you can always replant it. It is always better to pull out a little immature radish than to take out over-matured. Oversize radishes can taste woody and unpleasant to the tongue.

The storage of this is similar to that of carrots. You need to cut off the leaves to eliminate any chance of further growth. Store them in refrigerator. You can use them for one or two weeks.

Radish are not very much known more their nutritional value, rather they are famous for their tasty addition to salads.

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Growing Spinach of Your Own: A Basic Idea

Spinach is one of the vegetable from our list of easiest to grow vegetables. It is very easy to grow and maintain.

Though spinach is famous for iron, there are several other elements which are far more in spinach than the iron. Vitamin A and K are more abundant in spinach. If you want to take the best of iron from spinach add some slices of oranges to increase the absorption. 

Spinach is a winter crop. Some variety can even survive frosts also. It can mature within a month or so. Though it requires full sun but much heat can result in early bolting of the spinach.

The ideal pH for spinach is 6.5 to 7. Add lime to reduce the acidic nature of the soil in case pH is less than this level. Mix compost along with water prior to planting the seeds. Put the seeds ½ inch deep and at 2 inches space. It is wise to plant spinach with a little space in between. This can prevent many problems due to moisture in the air. If you are using container planting you can put 3 seeds per pot with a minimum gap of 1 inch.

DO NOT grow spinach in the same soil where beets or chard has grown earlier. These have similar requirements from the soil and also they are nest to the same kind of parasites as of spinach.

When the plant reach a size 1/3 of its full height,You can add nitrogen-rich fertilizers to the soil. You can also avoid fertilizers if you had added enough compost at the start.

Water the plant regularly. Mulching is a good idea to restore soil moisture. When seedlings sprout to about two inches, thin them to 3-4 inches apart.

After about six weeks of planting pinch off leaves for your kitchen purpose but keep the central structure intact. These will produce seeds in the later stages. In case you do not require seeds you can pull out the whole plant.

Cliff off any leaf which turned yellow. This will increase the flow of sap to the main plant and the other healthy leaves.

Don’t wait too long for harvesting. After maturity the leaves will turn bitter. You can either take out the leaves from the plant or you can cut the whole plant near the roots and enjoy your spinach with your family.

By growing spinach in your own house you can be rest assure about the quality of the fertilizers. To get greater yield chemical fertilizers and pesticides are applied continuously these days. It is always better to avoid those spinach.

The famous cartoon character Popeye have made spinach very popular among the children. Though you will not get the instant gratification of building up large muscles, its benefits are definitely worth mentioning. There are so many benefits of eating spinach. You can eat them both cooked or raw. It helps preventing osteoporosis, fighting against cancer and heart diseases. And last but not least it will definitely add flavor to the taste buds.

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Grow Garlic: A useful plant In Companion Planting

A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.

Once we discuss growing ginger, garlic is not very far behind. Today we will discuss about Garlic.

Botanical name: Allium sativum

There are basically 2 varieties of Garlic are available.

Soft-neck variety: in this type of garlic the neck of the garlic stay soft after harvest. This variety is the easiest to grow. This variety is also recommended particularly for the warmer climatic areas.

Hard-neck variety:here garlic has a stiff stem that dries to a rigid stick. And it makes braiding almost impossible.

Garlic is grown from the cloves. For growing, you need to plant the cloves into the ground with root end down and pointed end up. Break the cloves from the bulb but do not remove the papery husk which surrounds individual clove. Put the cloves two inch inside the soil with 6 to 8 inches apart. Each clove will produce a single bulb and the largest clove generally produces the largest bulb. If you planting the clove into normal soil and not in any soil-less media, it is better to soak the cloves in water containing baking powder and liquid seaweed to prevent fungal diseases.

Planting cloves from the grocery store can be a bad idea. They are generally treated with various chemicals to make their self life longer. Instead try your local nurseries or seed selling companies for the cloves.

Make sure your soil has plenty of organic matter. To increase the fertility you can always add compost to the soil. Select a place where the sun exposure is good. Garlic requires plenty of nitrogen so choose your compost ingredients accordingly.

Once you planted the cloves cover it with mulch. If you are new to mulching, and want to know more about it, check out this article. After 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the variety and the weather, you will find the shoots coming up through the mulch.  Water requirement of garlic is normally not huge. Inch deep water in every week is more than enough. Stop water once the leaves begin to yellow. This will help to make the bulbs firm.

Garlic has very few pest problems. Rather it is a pest repellant. That is why in organic pest controlling methods, using garlic is a common phenomenon.

You can harvest the garlic once three-quarter of the leaves become yellow. Dig up all the bulbs and get them out of the sun immediately. Keep them in dry and shaded place for six weeks. Once they become thoroughly dry trim the roots. Cut off the stalk 1 inch above the bulb. Now you can use your garlic.

Apart from its intense flavor and culinary uses it is very good insect repellant and thus used widely in companion planting. More about companion planting and its benefits check out this article.

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Peas: A growing guide

Peas are cool climate plant. It prefers sandy loam soil with a great drainage facility. With a pH level of 6.5 to 7.5 is generally idea for peas. In case your soil is much more acidic than this add dolomite or lime with the soil to bring it to this optimum level.

Plant different varieties all at once and don’t make an attempt to plant them with some time gap. They will mature in different times and give you a longer time to harvest and enjoy the peas. Check your local garden shop for different varieties of seed available in your locality.

Peas are one of such a plant that requires very less fertilization. With the help of the nitrogen fixing bacteria in their roots they can manage their share of nitrogen. Though you have to add other nutrients from time to time you rarely need to add nitrogen. Excess amount of nitrogen can result in lush foliage and reduction in pods. Please keep this in mind in case you prepare your own compost, and add lesser amount of nitrogen rich materials.

For a good pea production you need to take care of the watering needs of the plant. Generally deep watering once or twice in a week will be sufficient. In the time of blossoming you need to provide extra water. A dry soil can drastically reduce a chance for a good pea production. A good sunlight is required for the fruit production so don’t ignore that.

Provide support as per the variety of the plant. For taller varieties you need to provide trellis, bamboo canes or netting. For dwarf varieties netting will be sufficient.

Please make sure not to plant peas or any legume plant in the same soil more than once in a three years.

Being a legume plant pea is very good in companion planting. It works well with most of the plants. Radish, spinach, lettuce all leafy vegetable all do well with peas. Cucumber and potatoes show special affinity towards peas. Just avoid garlic and onions for better pea production.

One important tip for harvesting. Don’t pull out the roots while harvesting rather cut off the stem above the ground level. The roots contain nitrogen fixing bacteria. Allow these root to rot down in the soil to increase the nitrogen content of the soil which will be beneficial for the next plant in that soil.

The root system of a pea plant is not very deep. So while picking the pods use both of your hands, one to hold the vines and pick the pods with the other one. To increase the pod yields you need to pick them regularly. The yield will be reduced in case the overly matured pods are left in the vines.

The best way to enjoy peas is fresh and direct from the plants. But in case your production is much more than daily consumption, you can definitely store in refrigerator or you can even dry them in sunlight and then also store them in containers.

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Growing Cauliflower: Some Important Points

Most of the people are really not sure about growing Cauliflower in their garden. Some might think it is too difficult for a beginners to try their hands on cauliflower and only an experienced gardener can come up with  great results. Though I agree that it is not as easier as some of the other vegetables which I have discussed earlier, it is also not a very hard nut to crack. Follow the points discussed in this article and I am sure you will not be disappointed.

 

Though primarily it is a cool weather crop, they are very sensitive to extreme temperature so it is sensible to start with a transplant. In case you want to start with seed plant them indoors in coconut coir or other media and make the seedling and then transplant in the garden. Using paper pot also helps preventing root disturbance while transplanting.

A pH of 6.5 to 7 is best for cauliflower. Just like Cabbage, Cauliflower also flourish in nitrogen and potassium rich soil. A little bit of organic matter from time to time will definitely help the plant. Make the soil loose up to a depth of 15 inch by using a tiller and mix 2.5 inch layer of compost with it. Plant the seedlings 20 inches apart. Like most of the vegetables it also require minimum 6 hours of direct sunlight everyday.

Make sure your soil has enough moisture. Don’t wait for the soil to dry out before giving water(want to perfect your watering techniques? Check out this article). This will cause the head to open up and become unpalatable. Whereas constant moisture would make large but tender head. A thick layer of mulch will also help to keep the moisture intact for longer period of time.

Once the head(also called “curd”) become the size of an egg, it is important to cover it(also called blanching) and protect it from the direct sunlight. This is important because it will make your cauliflower milky white in appearance. Missing this step can cause brown or yellow head, which may not taste so bad but definitely less aesthetic visually(don’t cover the heads in case you are using colorful varieties of cauliflower or it is of the self blanching type). While covering use plant’s own leaves, and tie them up using a rubber band or plastic tape. While covering the head don’t forget to leave some space for air circulation and future growth. Make sure the leaves you are using for covering the head is not wet. Otherwise it can cause rotting. So it is better to cover the head in the afternoon when the plants are usually dry. From time to time unwrap the covering to check on the growth of the head and any possible pest attack.

Cauliflower matures within 50 to 60 days. Though it depends on the variety of the plant, generally a mature head ranges from 6 to 10 inches in diameter. Once you find your desired size cut them with sharp knife below the head with some leaves to protect the head. Though it is best to eat right after the harvest, you can also store them well. Cover it with perforated plastic bags and put it in the refrigerator. For more on “storing vegetables” check out our earlier blog.

How to Plant Potatoes: Growing Potatoes made Easy

Today’s article is about how to grow Potatoes. For most of us it is our favourite vegetable. This simple article will teach you about planting potatoes, taking care of the plant, and also harvesting. This will  definitely increase your confidence in growing potatoes.

Biological name: Solanum tuberosum

It is very hard to find a person these days who don’t like potatoes. This is probably one of the favourite vegetables of all time. It definitely increase the liking if you can grow them too.

Growing potatoes is not that difficult; and probably everybody should give it a try. To start with, soil quality is not a hindrance in growing potatoes and you can plant them in almost any type of soil.

How to Plant Potatoes?

Unlike most of the other vegetables discussed earlier (which are mostly grown from the seed), potatoes are grown from the tuber itself. To prepare a seedling, cut a whole potato with into small pieces keeping in mind that each piece should contain at least two eyes.

If you have very small size potatoes, instead of cutting, use them as whole. You can now use them in place of seeds to grow potatoes.

After making those suitable cuts leave these pieces in direct sun light for a day. This will help the exposed area of the potato to dry up and will prevent rotting once you plant them.

For getting good quality tubers you need to make the soil loose. So it is generally a practice to loosen the soil before planting potatoes. Use a tiller to do the job. once the soil is loosen up plant these potato-cuttings keeping the eye side upwards. Keep 1 feet space between two plants. Cover the potato seeds with 3-4 inches of soil. It is best to grow potatoes in rows. Keep each row at a gap of 3 feet.

Potatoes require moderate watering. 2-3 inches of water weekly is enough for the plant. Make sure the soil has proper drainage. Water logged condition is not ideal for the tubers. It causes them to rot. The requirement of water is most when the plant starts flowering. You need to continue watering the plants till the foliage turns yellowish. This is the most important time of potato growing because during this period the tubers are formed. So lack of water can hamper the yield.

Harvesting and Storing:

Once the vine starts to die, you can harvest your potatoes.  As the soil is loose, it will not be much of a problem to dig. Just be careful otherwise you could damage some of the tubers. After taking out the tubers, lay them above the soil for 2 to 3 days if the weather is dry and no water is expected. It will help the outer jacket of the potato to become thick and will help in storage.  In case the weather is wet please keep them in dry area. After that you can brush off the soil from the tubers and store them in a cool and dry place. For more details on how to store vegetables read our article titled Storing Your Vegetables: You Must Know the Basics.

Don't forget to read:
Most Common Diseases of Potatoes
FAQs About Tomato Growing

Sounds simple? Why don’t you try this in your own garden? Let us know your experience.