Garden Tips

How To Grow Vegetables From Seed

Vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, need a long, warm growing season to produce a harvest.

If you plan to grow your own seedlings, start such crops indoors in late winter in order to have plants ready to set out in the garden when the weather has warmed up. If you want to plant tomato seedlings in May, for instance, you’ll need to start those seeds by early March.

Veggie 101: How to start your garden
You can use a variety of containers, including flats or trays (with or without dividers), small individual pots, and cell-packs. If you’re reusing old containers, scrub them out, and soak them for half an
hour in a solution of one part household bleach to nine parts hot water to destroy any disease organisms.

Seeds to seedlings
Fill 4-inch pots to just below the rim with a light, porous seed-starting or potting mix Moisten the mix, and let it drain.

Scatter seeds thinly over the surface. Check the seed packet for the recommended planting depth, and cover the seeds with the proper amount of mix. (As a rule of thumb, cover seeds to a depth equal to twice their diameter.) Label each container with the plant’s name and the date. Moisten the soil lightly.

If you are starting heat-loving plants (tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peppers, squashes, or melons), set the containers on a water heater or use a heating mat to keep the soil between 75°F/24°C and 90°F/32°C. (Most cool-season vegetables will germinate at room temperature.)

When the seeds germinate, move the pots into an area with bright light and temperatures between 60°F/16°C and 75°F/24°C.

When the seedlings develop their second set of true leaves, it’s time to transplant them to individual pots, such as 3- or 4-inch plastic pots. Fill the new containers with potting mix, moisten the mix, and let it drain.

To remove the seedlings from their original pots, squeeze each pot’s sides, and turn it upside down, keeping one hand around the soil ball. With both hands, carefully pull the soil ball apart, and set it down on a flat surface.

Separate the fragile rootballs of the seedlings from one another with a toothpick or skewer, or tease them apart with your fingers.

Poke a hole in the new container’s potting mix. Carefully lift each seedling and its rootball, keeping your fingers under it for support. Place the seedling in its new container, and firm the mix around it. Water immediately, and then set the pots in bright light.

Seedlings of edible crops need bright light to develop properly; when grown in conditions that are too dark, the seedlings are spindly and weak. If you don’t have a suitable place for your seedlings, try growing them under fluorescent lights. As soon as the seeds sprout, give them 12 to 14 hours of light each day, setting the light fixture 6 to 8 inches above the tops of the plants.

Seeds of heat-loving summer crops need warm soil to germinate quickly and strongly. Thin waterproof heating mats placed under the containers keep the soil 15 to 20°F/8 to 11°C above room temperature.

Nurseries and mail-order catalogs offer both fluorescent light kits and heating mats. 

Avoid “damping off” trouble

If your seedlings suddenly collapse and die, one of the fungal diseases called “damping off” or “seed and seedling rot” may be to blame. In one type of damping off, the seedling’s stem collapses at or near the soil surface; in another type, the seedling rots before it emerges from the soil, or the seed decays before it even sprouts.

To prevent these problems, use pasteurized potting mix and new or thoroughly washed and disinfected containers.

Take care not to overwater seedlings; be sure to provide good air circulation and ventilation, so tops of seedlings stay dry and standing moisture is kept to a minimum. Thinning seedlings to eliminate crowding is also helpful.

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• Length: ~180cm (70″)
• Leaf size: ~5cm and 6.5cm

Realistic, quality artificial silk Ivy garland. The garland is fully wired and thus easy to reshape. Easy to hang with loop and hook on the ends. Great for decorating all spaces. Can also be used to wrap around bannisters, staircases, trellis, etc. Matching bush (#11023012) available.

Rating: (out of 2 reviews)

Price: £7.00

Garden Tools From the Kitchen Drawer

Why go and spend a fortune at the nursery on new tools, when there is probably a wealth of unused stuff tucked away unused in your own kitchen, or someone you knows kitchen that will more than adequately do the exact job you want, without having to spend a cent.

Just make sure that anything taken from the kitchen really is not wanted there. As well as the fact that such stuff is on a one way permanent trip out to the garden shed.

Here are just a few suggestions of stuff that are useful kitchen refugees,

Old dinner knife for digging weeds out from between concrete sections or pavers.

Old kitchen fork for light weeding in around tight places or where you do not want to disturb root systems that are close to the surface.

Good sharp kitchen knife or a pair of kitchen scissors are great fro dividing up clumps of plants, or for taking cuttings off of a branch.

Kitchen tongs can be used to pick up thorny cuttings or to help you repotting thorny plants like cacti.

Serving tray or placemats to keep things organised or for carrying produce, cuttings or even weeds.

Potato Masher for pushing past a thorny plant or rose.

BBQ or Carving Forks for digging out stubborn rooted weeds and root vegies.

Kitchen funnels for pouring various liquids into containers or for accurate pouring around plants. or to get seed or even small screws & nails into storage packets or bottles.

Chopsticks make great little pot stakes (metal and wooden skewers work too), or construction sets even for some jobs.

I’ve seen bamboo placemats and chopsticks cut down to make scenery pieces for bonsai planters, along with old aquarium ornaments.

Set of measuring cups and measuring spoons are great as scoops for fertilizers and potting mixes.

Icecream or soup scoops for measuring and scooping potting mix in around new potplants.

Egg rings and biscuit cutters for shaping growing fruit just for fun, or as a simple handheld hoe for light weeding in around plants.

So theres a few things which can obtain a second life out in the gardenshed and garden, nstead of being stored for years in a drawer, or being thrown out or passed on to a charity store.

Fruits to grow in your Garden from A (Apple) to Z (Zest)

A is for Apple, the fruit of autumn that grows on trees and is delicious fresh, in pies, or as cider.

B is for Blueberry, that are indeed berries which are blue and grow on bushes both low and high.

C is for Cranberry, the tart red fruit that is grown in bogs and made into juice or a jellied sauce.

D is for Date, the sweet fruit that grows up near the top of date palm trees.

E is for Elderberry, which grows on shrubs and is used to make wines, cordials, and marmalade.

F is for Fig, which grow on the small Ficus carica tree.

G is for Grapes, which grow on vines and can be eaten fresh or made into wine.

H is for Honeydew Melon, which are sweet green melons that grow on vines.

I is for Inedible, which some fruits are including Holly, Mistletoe, Privet, and, Wahoo.

J is for Jam, which can be made from the pulp and juice of many fruits including strawberries and blueberries.

K is for Kiwifruit, which are the bright green berry from woody Actinidia deliciosa vines.

L is for Lemon and Lime, which are both acidic citrus fruits used to flavor many foods.

M is for Mango, a fruit with bright orange flesh that is grown on trees in tropical regions.

N is for Nectarine, which is actually a cultivar of Peach without the fuzzy skin.

O is for Orange, the citrus with varieties like navel for eating and Valencia for making juice.

P is for Peach, the sweet yellow and red fruit of summer that gives the state of Georgia it’s nickname.

Q is for Quince, which grown on trees and generally must be cooked before eaten.

R is for Raspberry, the delicate red berry that grows on prickley vines.

S is for Strawberry, the red fruit of early summer that grow on small plants with runners.

T is for Tangerine, the small bright orange sweet citrus with thin easily peeled skin.

U is for Ugli Fruit, which is a tangelo hybrid grown in Jamacia.

V is for Vinegar, which is often made from apples or grapes.

W is for Watermelon, the large green melons of summer with bright sweet red flesh.

X is for X, as in cross, where two fruit varieties are bred together in hopes of making a better fruit.

Y is for Yangmei, a fruit native to China that is eaten fresh, dried, canned, fermented, or in juice.

Z is for Zest, which are strips of citrus peel used in preparing a variety of foods and drinks.

See more resources for buying and growing Fruit Bushes and Trees with listings of local garden centers and specialty mail order nurseries at www.GardeningWithLarry.com.

Water Pest Repeller (650) – Protect your garden from cats, dogs and rabbits, and your pond from herons!

• This clever new invention protects an area of up to 90 sq metres
• The humane way of scaring away dogs, cats, rabbits, squirrels, deer and birds from your seed or vegetable patch
• Connects to any hose with its click fit connector, with push in spike for easy use on lawns and borders
• Manufactured for Good Ideas

This clever new invention protects an area of up to 90 sq metres with a powerful blast of water keeping the most troublesome pests away.

Its PIR sensor picks up any movement up to 30ft away and triggers a 5 second blast of water with an adjustable spray range of up to 10 metres.

The machine will then pause and scan the area for any further movement. The humane way of scaring away dogs, cats, rabbits, squirrels, deer and birds from your seed or vegetable patch.

The perfect solution for prot

Rating: (out of 11 reviews)

Price: £29.99

Growing Fruits From Your Garden All Year Long

Autumn typically signals the end of home grown vegetables from the garden, but with a little ingenuity you can harvest garden fresh produce well into the winter months. My Central Pennsylvania garden continues to supply fresh vegetables during the fall and winter when most gardeners in my growing region are content to dream about next summer’s bounty. Read on to discover simple tricks that will fortify your garden against the onslaught of frigid weather.

Fall often delivers brief cold spells with a few frost filled mornings, sandwiched between weeks of milder, frost-free conditions. The problem is that a single touch of frost can wipe out every tender annual growing in the garden. Fortunately, a little protection will enable frost sensitive vegetables and herbs to survive a cold snap, and reward the resourceful gardener with an opportunity to enjoy extended harvests.

Something as simple as the transparent, fleecy, floating row covers used to shield plants from harmful insects can also prevent frost damage. Row covers trap the warmth that radiates up from the earth much like the way that a cloud cover holds temperatures and prevents frost from forming. Row covers offer a few degrees of protection, keeping tender annuals safe from light frost. Use the thicker grade covers for maximum benefit.

Late summer is the ideal time to sow cold tolerant vegetables that will flourish in the fall and endure cold weather without complaint. Examples of hardy vegetables for fall gardening include: kale, spinach, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, kohlrabi, turnips, cabbages, oriental greens, rutabagas, and some varieties of lettuce.

Once freezing conditions arrive, even cold hardy crops will appreciate some protection if they remain in the garden. Cardboard boxes and fruit baskets can provide shelter to individual plants, while old sheets, blankets, and heavy plastic tarps will protect entire rows or beds of plants. Apply the coverings in the evening when freezes are forecast and remove them the following morning after the sun warms the air.

Another effective solution is to use a commercial variety of cloche, or to set up a portable cold frame over the garden bed. Cloches include the heavy glass, bell shaped jars, or variously styled and shaped rigid plastic devices.

One style of cold frame consists of a tubular frame covered by a woven poly material with flaps for venting. You can also obtain sturdier cold frames made with aluminum framing and twin wall polycarbonate panels that lift up for venting. Regardless of the type of protection used to cover your plants you must remove it or provide venting during the day as temperatures rise.

Resourceful gardeners can combine a few discarded window sashes and bales of straw to create a simple makeshift cold frame. Just arrange the straw bales into a rectangular shape around a garden bed and lay the windows across the top to form an enclosed and insulated growing area. This setup will work great to keep a bed of leafy greens growing further into the winter.

Oddly enough, water can protect and insulate plants from the cold. Commercial orchards actually spray water and mist onto their trees to prevent frost damage.
In the home garden you can employ plastic gallon jugs filled with water to provide protection. Place the containers around plants, under floating row covers or tarps, and inside of your cold frames.

The water will absorb and store heat during the day and release it at night to provide warmth for your plants. You’ll get the best results by painting the jugs black so that they’ll absorb more energy from the sun during the day. Incredibly, even if the water in the container freezes, it will continue to release a significant amount of heat energy into the surrounding area.

Certain vegetables will survive on their own in the garden through bitterly cold conditions. Leeks, kale, and collards frequently withstand harsh winters without any protection. Fall planted garlic and shallots will develop strong root systems in the fall, spend the winter underground, and then spring up at the earliest signs of the arrival of spring.

Many root crops including beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, and parsnips can be left in the garden protected with a thick layer of shredded leaves or straw. You can then continue harvesting as needed, provided that the ground doesn’t freeze and prevent digging. Complete your harvesting before spring arrives though, since quality will degrade once the roots resume growing and switch into seed production mode.

With proper planning and a little extra care you can easily grow and harvest vegetables beyond the normal spring and summer seasons. Simply implement a few of the ideas presented in this article and you’ll soon enjoy your own home grown, fresh produce much longer than usual, possibly even year-round.

Plant Presents From your Own Garden

If you are looking for ways for you or your children to provide cheap presents for the extended family, or just like to give gifts that have a personal element to them, then here is a suggestion or two for you.

If you are looking to make a present for the gardener in the family or someone who has recently moved into their own home, someone in a flat or unit, or a person who can’t manage a full sized yard, or a family member who loves to cook with fresh ingredients, etc. Then why not consider giving them something from your own garden? Here I am talking about plants that you have divided off from your own garden plants.

There are many plants growing in the average garden that can be divided, or that have naturally self layered themselves. Where you could go along and take a rooted section, pot them up and with a bit of dressing up of the planting container, you could produce a really nice gift for someone you care about.

These plants include many herbs as well as perennials or shrubs and even some trees which manage to send out self-layering branches or suckers from the root system. Some perennials or bulbs will increase their size or number of bulbs over time. Chance seedlings coming up in the wrong place for you, can easily also be used. All of these provide you with an opportunity to cheaply create a wonderful present for someone else.

First things first you will need to obtain a number of pots either plastic ones left over from additions to the garden population, or from someone you know, or you can go out and purchase a pot plastic/ceramic/terracotta etc., to suit your needs. If the person you are giving the plant to is not a real gardener, then you might consider getting a pot with a waterwell in the base to increase the plants’ chances of surviving.

Next, you need to begin looking for your plant material, so take a careful look around your garden at the soil level. Check out which plants are showing multiple stalks growing out of the ground. Or those sprawling plants where a branch has leaned over on to the ground and taken root along the branch, maybe one where a branch has become buried under the mulch.

Or one where there is a sucker growing from the soil a short distance from the parent plant. Another possibility is seedlings growing in the garden a distance from the parent plant material. Maybe there is a clump of plants or a big patch of bulbs where you can do some dividing.

Many of these plants benefit from being divided up or being allowed some more growing room in the particular area where you have taken away some material.

Different parts of Australia will have a differing range of plant species, which lend themselves to this form of self-propagation. If you can’t find any plants that are doing this in your own garden, why not look at a friends or neighbours garden. Or you could maybe join forces and give a joint present using plants from another family member’s garden. Or another possibility is to buy a plant in a pot that has several plants already established in it.

Divide that up before you use half in your own garden, and still have half to repot and give away. Even if you are not confident about your gardening skills you can still pick up cheap plants at the local market, school/church fair, garage sale etc. Repot them into a bigger or nicer pot for a fairly cheap present.

Another possibility is to multiplant a few different plants into a long or large round tub. This will create an instant garden on the move. Some themes you might consider here is herbs, indoor foliage, bulbs, annuals, alpine/rock, cacti/succulent or even patio gardens mixing annuals and perennials.

It is best to moisten the ground around the plant that you are going to work on well before you do the dividing, as this allows you to remove the maximum amount of root mass during the dividing process.

The first step is to divide the clump or cut away the joining branch to make the separate plant available. Then using a spade, fork or gardening trowel, dig as far out from the potential plant as practicable, because this will give you the biggest root mass possible.

Go down as far you believe you need to, (this will depend on such circumstances as size of new plant, species of original plant material, type of soil, other plant or landscaping material around the area, etc.). As gently as you can dig out the new plant. Shake off any excess soil and refill the resulting hole in the ground if necessary.

Prune back the foliage of the new plant to roughly equal size of the root mass, trying to protect some of the new foliage growth. Repot as soon as practicable, so that the roots do not dry out and die.

Another thing to consider is what sort of pot you are gong to plant into; if it is only a plastic pot then you do not need to prepare it beforehand. However if you are looking at painting it, then do this before you get digging.

When painting up pots, you will need to do some preparation work for the paint to stick properly. Plastic pots should have their surface roughened up with a bit of sandpaper. While some terracotta pots should have a primer applied to the outer surface before you paint them. Try not to get primer or paint onto the inside of the planter, because while most wont, there are still some paints which contain chemicals that may affect or contaminate the soil and plant over time.

Other possibilities for decorating up pots include simply gluing on bits and pieces including stones, tiles, buttons, sticks, shells, ornaments, ribbon, stickers and decals, etc. Other ways of decorating up a pot for the initial presentation is to wrap up just the pot (not the actual plant), using either wrapping paper, cellophane, material, a cheap teatowel or even hessian. Hold these wrappers in place with string, ribbon, bandana, scarf, etc.

Other possibilities for adding value to the potplant is to provide some growing information and name tags for the plant/s included. Other little quirks you might add include a personalised name tag, (Hi, my name is David the Diffenbachia . . . ), or a little watering indicator, miniature hand tools, small amounts of fertiliser, pot ornaments, watering can etc.

So as you can see, creating a very personal gift for just about anyone can easily be within the grasp of anyone. Why not go out into your garden and start thinking about what presents you can be preparing for Christmas this weekend.