6 Tips For Successful Gardening
Home gardening doesn’t always require a large backyard.
If you have small backyard in your home, you can still grow different types of vegetables such as tomatoes in your container garden.
Generally, the suitable places for container gardens are patios, balconies, outdoor window sills, rooftops or even along driveways.
If you are planning to start gardening then you should keep certain things in your mind. Don’t forget, sowing your own seeds can also help in successful gardening.
Below are the 6 tips for successful gardening.
The first and the foremost thing that one should do is choose the best type of container to support the growth of plant.
When choosing, make sure that you are selecting a one with an adequate size.
Generally, a pot of 5 gallons or more is used.
After the selection of pots, you should select the type of soil that is most suitable for the growth of seeds or young plants.
Unlike weeds, vegetable and fruit bearing plants do not grow in poor soil with lesser nutrients.
The second thing that you should do is to make a choice of the plants that you want to plant in your garden.
Tomatoes are one of the good selections in your garden as they come in different tastes, colors and sizes.
You may also choose plum tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.
Beside tomatoes, there are many vegetables that you can grow in your garden.
The third thing that you should consider is the size of the plant.
It is very important for you to consider the size because some of the vegetable or fruit plants grow only a few feet tall while some of them grow as high as 5 to 6 feet.
You should select the size of the plant according to the size of your garden.
It is better to take the help of an employee of store from where you are buying that plant as they have certain knowledge about the plant.
If you are buying a plant that has weak branches, then you should buy cages, small trellises and planting stakes to support the plant.
The fourth thing that you should do is placing the container at the right place.
Different plants require different amount of sunlight per day.
Make sure that you are not placing the container on shady side of your house.
Generally, the tomato plants require 5-6 hours of sun daily.
The chance of a good crop is minimized if the plant is not getting adequate amount of sunlight.
The fifth thing that you should do is water the plants daily in a dry or hot climate.
Certain plants require excess water while some require less.
You should keep in mind that hanging baskets and containers dry out much quickly as compared to the soil in a garden.
Last but not least, make sure that you are fertilizing the garden regularly.
The quantity of soil used in a container is comparatively less as compared to a vegetable garden; therefore, the amount of nutrients is lesser.
Regular fertilizing is also needed to aid the growth of plants and successful crop.
Image source: USDAgov
Actually, adding gravel or sand to the bottom of a container is a bad idea, since it may push the “perched water table” up into the root zone. (The PWT is the horizontal wet zone in the pot where gravity pulls down & the water retention properties of the medium pulls up. It is dependent upon uniformity of particle size in the pot.) If you have huge pots, adding 1/4 to 1/3 of mulch to the bottom can be ok to save on potting soil, but for most pots the adding of pot shards or whatever on the bottom for “drainage” is a myth. And a detrimental one at that. If the PWT is hovering at the root zone, (and not below) the plant will either suffocate, or its roots will rot.