Why are my vegetables not growing?

10 Mistakes You Make in the Vegetable Garden

Many of us set out to grow vegetables with lots of baskets of ruby ​​red tomatoes and plump pitchers and excellent cucumbers and crunchy carrots collected straight from the garden into the salad bowl. Growing food is a worthy goal by any measure, but disappointments are very common.

See if your vegetable garden fails because of these common mistakes.

1. Getting started without a plan

Many of us start a vegetable garden on a sudden impulse. Triggers may be an article about the dangers of GMO foods or foods rich in pesticides. Tasting a housewife at a friend's house or tasting a tomato plant that blossomed among your flowers and yielded lots of tomatoes can induce you to start a vegetable patch without your attention. But starting a garden without proper planning and preparation is like building a house without a blueprint.

Vegetable gardening is much needed. Know your limitations, such as the time, effort, inputs, and location you can dedicate. If you start out big, it can be hard to manage. If you grow vegetables that you do not really care about, you will soon lose interest in them.

2. Selecting unsuitable types

If you go 'catalog shopping' for vegetable seeds, it may be a big mistake you make. Even the oldest gardeners fall for the beautiful pictures and the good-true descriptions given in the lists of new hybrids and plants of the genus.

While they have all the potential to magnify the positives, even the most formal claims will not work for you if the variety or cultivation becomes unsuitable for your climate and growing conditions. Exotic decorations can be fun to grow, but exotic vegetables don’t really value your time and effort. As long as it is suitable for your USDA zone, there is no harm in testing some new varieties that seem promising. But stick with your local sources for most of your vegetable seeds and starters.

3. Selecting the wrong location

You can find decorations that match anywhere in the sun or shade. But vegetables are in high demand; Provide them with important areas of your garden. Needs a lot of sunlight. Most fruiting vegetables need at least 6-8 hours of sunlight to do well. Root vegetables can be managed in full sun for 4-6 hours and partial shade for the rest of the season.

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4. Not preparing the soil

Soil preparation is very important because your plants get nutrients from the soil. Most vegetables do not do well in very acidic or alkaline soils. They also struggle on poor soil. The pH and mineral content of the soil should be checked and adjusted accordingly.

Sandy soil does not provide adequate nutrients and clay soils are prone to shrinkage and do not allow good root flow and drainage. Both can be normalized to a large extent by adding large amounts of organic matter.

5. Planting at the wrong time

Spring is the main planting season for most vegetable crops, but the timing depends on their cold hardiness. Some may go into the soil once the soil has dissolved, but heat-loving vegetables such as tomatoes may not be able to pick up if planted before they are warm enough. Some vegetables like spinach should be started indoors in advance as they can be bitter or perishable if they are too hot.

You can find general guidelines based on USDA zones and first and last frost dates, but they are nothing more than guidelines. It is best to follow the planting schedule in your area, usually available from garden centers.

6. Underwater and irrigation

Vegetables need a good water supply; It is essential for transporting nutrients, producing food by photosynthesis, and distributing it to all parts of the plant. Frequent wilting will weaken the plants; It not only affects the yield but also makes the plants susceptible to diseases.

7. Allowing weeds to thrive

Weeds steal the water and nutrients your vegetables need. They have very intensive root systems and fast growth rates that can expel your plants at any time. Completely remove weeds before planting and start the war on them. However, stay away from herbicides. The main benefit of growing your own vegetables is that you can eat non-toxic food. Dense mulch around the plants helps to control them. Come drip water