Weekly Garden Tip

September 10, 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

If you enjoy fresh vegetables and would like to save money, too, there’s no reason you can’t grow a few of your own at home. Home gardens are on the increase, particularly container gardens, and all large garden centers have a wide assortment of vegetables, both transplants and many types you can plant from seed. You don’t have to be a long time farmer to grow vegetables and it’s really foolproof if you follow a few basic directions.

Most home gardens are planted this month or next month and will run until the late spring when it becomes too hot and uncomfortable for most people. If you’re doing an outside garden if you have a big enough space, put the garden in areas that receive at least a half a day of bright sunlight for best results. Also make sure that the area is well drained and isn’t subject to being flooded should be get heavy thunderstorms or above average rainfall.

Many people prefer to buy transplants, which are already started young seedlings at their favorite garden center and this saves you several weeks of growing time. Also since you don’t need large numbers in many cases most people prefer buying the exact number of plants you need in a specific area rather than waste a big package of seeds.

Fertilize gardens lightly with an all purpose general fertilizer about once a month for best results and if you’re concerned about weed competition your garden can be mulched with any common available mulching material.

Gardens do need regular irrigation so if they’re not being hit from yard irrigation systems you would need to hand water these at least twice or more times a week depending on the types of vegetables.

Pest and disease problems can attack vegetables at any time so it’s important to check the garden almost daily to catch problems when they first occur and are more easily controlled.

If you don’t have a need for large volumes of vegetables but only want a few, many people prefer gardening in containers. Usually 12 to 15 inch diameter containers are used which would be about a 3 gallon size. All your common vegetables do well in containers and you can buy small transplants at your favorite garden center along with a bag of potting soil and once planted keep these in a sunny location or grow them in a screen room or pool area.

Vegetables in containers need more frequent irrigation and should be fertilized every 2 to 3 weeks with a soluble fertilizer. Pest problems and diseases are usually less of a headache in container gardens than outside traditional gardens because of the smaller volume of plants involved.

Gardening in containers can also work well for your favorite herbs, too, and you can buy herb transplants and seeds at your favorite garden center as well.

If you’d like specific details on setting up a home vegetable garden or gardening in containers, contact the Palm Beach County Extension office for free advice. Dial 233-1750 in the north and central county area or 276-1260 in the south county area.