Vegetable Gardening

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Vegetable Gardening
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Home vegetable gardening

• Produce value of 14 billion per year (U.S.)
• 40 of families have vegetable gardens

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Why grow vegetables?

• Taste
• Saves money
• Health
• Can be chemical-free
• Exercise
• Attracts wildlife

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Planning a garden

• Location
• Water supply
• Full sun
• Well drained loam, pH 6-6.5
• Away from trees
• Away from slopes

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Planning a garden

• Size
• Start small (25 x 25 or less)
• Most seed packs plant a 15 row

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Garden layout

• Rows oriented east to west
• Taller trellised plants on north side
• Shorter plants towards south side
• Plant perennials together

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Block (bed) gardening
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Vegetable garden design

• Rows
• Beds
• Mixed beds (flowers/vegetables)
• Containers
• Window boxes

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Planning a vegetable garden

• What uses?
• Fresh, canning, freezing (p. 500)
• Climate assessment
• Dates of avg. spring fall killing frosts
• Frost free period days from last spring frost
  to first fall frost (ranges from 60-250 days)

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Planning a vegetable garden

• Vegetable characteristics
• Days to maturity
• Warm season vs. cool season
• Warm season restricted to frost free period
• Cool season can tolerate light frost
• Start indoors transplant for Spring crop
• Plant as seed for late fall crop

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Planning a vegetable garden

• Vegetable characteristics
• Harvested crop and light requirements
• Fruit gt 8 hours
• Root gt 6 hours
• Leaf gt 4 hours
• Harvested crop and nutrient requirements
• Leaf crops high N
• Root crops High K, lower N

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Planning a vegetable garden

• Intercropping
• Succession planting (double cropping)
• Relay planting
• Crop rotation
• Companion planting
• Row to row distance

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Intercropping
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Succession planting
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Relay planting

• Planting at intervals for continuous, extended
  harvest
• Beans, sweet corn, lettuce
• Sow when previous crop has emerged (germinated)

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Crop rotation
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Companion planting

• Some plants do better next to certain types of
  plants
• Some plants have insect repellant properties
• Some plants attract beneficial insects
• Example corn/squash canopy disorients squash
  vine borer

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Companion planting for pest control
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Beneficial insects
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Poor plant combinations

• Plant antagonism some plants secrete
  growth-suppressing chemicals
• Beans do not follow onions well
• Tomato/potato do not follow Brassicas well

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Plant spacing

• Can determine final size of plants
• Equal access to water, nutrients, light
• Canopy can suppress weeds

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Planting a vegetable garden

• Seed
• Viability storage
• Direct vs. indirect sowing
• Prepared seed types
• Seed tapes, primed, pelleted, treated
• Pre-germinating seed (p. 493)
• Thinning

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Growing vegetables from indirect seeding

• Warm for germination
• Seedlings in good light, lower temp.
• Hardening off
• Transplanting at proper depth

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Vegetable garden cultivation

• Watering
• Fertilizing
• Weed control
• Mulching
• Pests

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Garden watering

• Heavy occasionally
• Germinating seeds, seedlings, transplants
  frequent light
• Critical watering periods
• Water in evening
• Soaker, drip irrigation

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Garden fertilizing

• Vegetable plants vary in N-P-K needs
• Annual application of compost (5-11lbs./sq. yd.)
  or manure (12lb./sq. yd.)
• Green manure crops (legumes, rye) overwinter or
  intercropped
• Granular N-fertilizers applied in Spring (one
  month before planting)

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Weed control

• Hand weeding
• Hoe weeding
• Mulch
• Plastic, organic, newspaper
• Proper plant spacing

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Vegetable garden pests (p. 498)

• Animals
• Birds, rabbits, deer, voles, insects
• Insects
• Sucking insects, chewing insects
• Moths/caterpillars beetles/grubs
• Microorganisms
• Bacteria, fungi, viruses
• Virginia Tech Insect pests of vegetables

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Training plants

• Optimize use of space
• Lessen contact of fruit with soil

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Training plants
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Cages
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Home gardening resources

• NCSU Information leaflets