Vegetable and Herb Tips
Banana Peels – Peels provide about 3.25 percent phosphorus and 41.75 percent potash. Roses love this. Cut them into small pieces and bury them around your roses. Three per rosebush is enough.
Bean – Do not like overhead water.
Bean, Scarlet Runner – Pick them when small for eating the entire bean or let them get big and eat the seeds only. The more you pick the more they will produce.
Beet – Cover the seed with ½ inch of soil and then tamp the soil in tight around it. Beet seeds are actually a cluster of seeds, so they will need thinning. Can be planted April 1 through July 15, but you can get 2 crops if you plant April 1 – May 1 and again July 15.
Blackberries – Do not plant next to raspberries. The raspberries will eventually die.
Broccoli – Can withstand temperatures down to about 25°. Cover the heads with tulle (bridal netting) to keep the cabbage butterfly from laying eggs on the plant.
Cabbage – Likes lots of well rotted manure added to the soil. Heads will not form well if the pH is too high. If the heads are not forming right they may also need phosphorus or potash. Cut off the head, cut and X in the stalk and 4 more small heads will grow. Cover the heads with tulle (bridal netting) to keep the cabbage butterfly from laying eggs on the plant.
Cabbage Family/ Brassica Family/ Cole Crop Family/Cruciferous Family – Arugula, Broccoli, Brussels sprout, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chinese Cabbage, Napa Cabbage, Collard Greens, Horseradish, Kohlrabi, Radish, Broccoli Rabe, and Turnip are most of the Cabbage Family . Do not plant these in the same place that one of them grew the previous year.
Carrot – Excess nitrogen causes hairy roots and poor flavor.
Cauliflower – Likes lots of well rotted manure added to the soil. Heads will not form well if the pH is too high. If the heads are not forming right they may also need phosphorus or potash. Keep heads shaded. Break off a bottom leaf and use it to cover the head. An even better idea is to buy self blanching ones (the leaves cover the head themselves). Don’t expect anything bigger than a softball. Cover the heads with tulle (bridal netting) to keep the cabbage butterfly from laying eggs on the plant.
Chives – Plant under apple trees to help prevent apple scab. Make a chive tea as a spray for apple scab too.
Corn – Likes lots of nitrogen. Plant in blocks for best pollination instead of long rows.
Cucumber – Geminates best in soil that is warmed to at least 70°. Cover seeds on cool nights. Add a handful of compost or well rotted manure to each hill when planting seeds.
Fruit trees – Plant chives, garlic, onions, and nasturtiums under the fruit trees to keep all types of bugs away.
Garlic – Break or cut off the flower when it has developed a little. If you cut it too soon it will grow back. Cutting the flower puts the energy back into the garlic growth.
Lettuce – Leaf lettuce works best. Plant second crop August 15.
Mint – Does not grow true to seed usually. Best to start from an existing plant. Grow in pots and keep flowers cut off to stop it from spreading too much.
Nightshade Family – Eggplant, Ground Cherry, Hot Peppers, Potato, Sweet Peppers, Tomatillo, and Tomato. Do not plant these in the same place that one of them grew the previous year.
Onion – Phosphorus-deficient soil will cause thick necks and delayed maturity. Potassium-deficient soil will cause onions to keep poorly. Do not give extra nitrogen. Break or cut off the flower when it has developed a little. If you cut it too soon it will grow back. Cutting the flower puts the energy back into the onion growth.
Pea – Plant in rows of three and they will pretty much be self-supporting (no need for something to grow up).
Pepper – Likes shade in the afternoon. Plant where something tall will shade them late in the day like a fence or plant them between your tomatoes. They like sulfur also, so put 2 or 3 tips of wooden matches in the ground with them. They do not need much nitrogen. Pinch off the first blossoms and allow the plant to get bigger for more peppers and bigger peppers.
Potato – Plant in trenches and keep adding soil as the plant grows. Do not eat the green potatoes. They are poisonous. Plant in soil amended with well rotted manure only. Extra nitrogen will cause brown hard spots on the skins. Best to amend soil with well rotted manure only before planting.
Pumpkin – Does not transplant easily. Try not to disturb the roots when transplanting. Use peat pots and tear off the top of the pot before planting. Do not let any of the pot show above ground. If planting seeds outdoors add a handful of compost or well rotted manure to each hill.
Radish – Harvest by the maturity date. They become fibrous and bitter when left in the ground. Radish is part of the Cabbage family. Do not plant where cabbage family plants were last year.
Succession Planting – Heavy feeders such as broccoli, Brussels sprout, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, cucumber, kohlrabi, lettuce, spinach, squash, sweet corn, and tomato need to have the soil amended before planting another crop in the same spot in the same growing season. Plant light feeders next. Light feeder crops are beet, carrot, radish, and turnip.
Summer Squash – Add a handful of compost or well rotted manure to each hill when planting seeds.
Rosemary – Seedlings are very temperamental; doesn’t like dry or wet soil. Misting young seedlings is good to do. Pin a branch into the ground and wait for roots to get well established. Then you can cut the branch off behind the root and dig up the new plant.
Shallot – Break or cut off the flower when it has developed a little. If you cut it too soon it will grow back. Cutting the flower puts the energy back into the shallot growth.
Tomato – Can be planted in the same place year after year. Do not let tomato plants be touched by hands that have touched any form of tobacco product without being washed first. Tomatoes are very susceptible to diseases transmitted through tobacco.
Turnip – Part of the Cabbage family. Do not plant where cabbage family plants were last year.
Watermelon – Seedless watermelon is sterile and unable to pollinate itself. Plant with a regular watermelon to assist in the pollination. Sugar Baby is a good pollinator.
