We put so much work into creating fruitful gardens, so you’ll want to make sure that your hard work pays off with a bountiful harvest.
The best way to do that is to know the tips and tricks to make your garden super fertile.
Here’s how to get the most out of the fruit and vegetable crops in your garden.
Start Early, End Late
You can start up to a month earlier, even if the temperature is a little colder by using cloches, cold frames, tunnels, and other devices to keep your plants a little warmer. You can use row covers in the fall to protect your crops from frost and deer to get a little more growth/harvest time in.
Blueberries
Though blueberries have the potential to self-pollinate, it usually leads to smaller berries that don’t taste as good. To get a bountiful blueberry harvest, you should plant more than one variety of blueberries to foster cross-pollination. This will allow pollinators to move pollen from one flower to another. You’ll also want plant flowers nearby that attract bees, which are the best pollinators.
Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants
Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are also self-pollinators. But if you want to fatten your harvests, you’ll for sure want to bring pollinators into the equation, especially bees. The buzz from a bee’s wings when they pick up pollen leads to more effective pollination.
Asparagus
Asparagus plants are either male or female. Since the male plants produce larger asparagus you’ll want to make sure you planting more, or exclusively, male plants.
Squash, Zucchini, Pumpkins, and Cucumbers
Not all squash, zucchini, pumpkins, and cucumbers are self-pollinators so you definitely want to bring pollinators into the game if you want your plants to be fruitful. To be even more effective, you’ll want to pollinate your plants by hand. Learn how below.
Fertilize
Once your “true leaves” appear, or the second set of leaves on your plant, start feeding your plants organic all-purpose plant fertilizer that is mixed at half-strength once a week for the first few weeks, then gradually increase the mixture to full strength.
Tie Up
Tie up plants, like tomatoes and cucumbers, before they flop over to ensure that they get the most sunshine and proper air circulation in the plant’s lower branches.
Thin the Herd
After the “true leaves” appear you’ll want to gently pull out weak looking seedlings so that the stronger plants can grow healthier.
Compost
Sprinkle some compost made from tea, veggie scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds to keep your plants healthy for the long run.
Plant in Blocks
Quadruple your per-square-foot harvest of things like lettuce, carrots, and beets by growing them in blocks of wide beds rather than in rows. This allows you to fit in more crops within a smaller space.
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