Techniques to start early here in South Eastern Idaho
Same garden later in the season
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| Raised garden boxes SOIL PREP AND PLANTING
·
Plant on time – Reap the benefits of the full
season.
· Spring around the 1st of April
·
Plant garden where it can be exposed to the
direct sunlight the entire day.
·
Loosen the soil so there is a good seed bed.
·
Keep the weeds hoed. Weeds rob the plants of nutrients, sunlight,
and space.
·
Plant each vegetable with its appropriate spacing
and depth.
·
Rotate each kind of vegetable to a different area
of the garden each year to reduce disease build-up in the soil.
FERTILIZE
AT PLANTING TIME
On a bag of fertilizer there are 3 numbers. The first one tells what % of Nitrogen is
contained in the bag. The second one is
the % of Phosphate. And the third number
is the % of Potassium. Most Utah soils
do not need potassium.
If broadcasting, apply 3 lbs. (3 pints) of the 16-16-16 fertilizer to 100 square feet. The fertilizer must be mixed thoroughly into
the soil 6 inches deep with this method prior to planting.
If the fertilizer is banded, make a
trench 3 inches deep with a hoe. Scatter
1/2 cup of fertilizer per 10 feet in the trench. Cover it and plant the seeds in a row 2-3
inches to the side. Crop roots are
quickly nourished by the fertilizer, but the weeds between the rows aren’t
encouraged.
Diagram:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Seed Row
2-3 { inches
_____________________ Fertilizer Row
WATER
APPROPRIATLY
Don’t
water the garden with the lawn. Water
the garden according to its needs.
Ideally, water each type of vegetable separately. Most people tend to over water. Best to apply the appropriate amount of water
when irrigating and then don’t apply any more water until needed. The roots need a chance to aerate.
Each
time you water make sure the water gets to the roots of the plant young plants
are very sensitive to over watering and their roots aren’t very deep. Once the crop is well established,
flourishing, and the heat of the growing season is on, for most vegetables,
irrigate long enough that the soil becomes wet down 8-10 inches deep. (Stick a long screwdriver in the soil where
it is wet. It will slide easy until it
reaches dry soil.) Don’t irrigate again
until the soil is dry down 2 to 3 inches.
Furrow
(ditch) irrigation is best for vegetables.
Getting the foliage wet can cause more diseases to set in earlier,
causing an unhealthy plant. Realize in
ditch irrigation that the soil does not need to get wet clear to the surface
clear across to the next row. Far from
it, the moisture fans out under the soil.
What is important is that the roots are getting the moisture. Know where the roots are. Know where the moisture is. A farmer should always dig down and see where
his moisture and roots are. Especially
to decide when to irrigate for the next time, keeping track of how dry the soil
is becoming. There needs to be the right
amount of moisture left at root level before irrigating again. Realizing different crops have different
quantities of moisture requirements.
Learn
what a healthy plant looks like. If not
enough Nitrogen or excessive watering the plant will not be as green.. If
excessive watering the plants roots may be damaged and may grow out of it and
green up again. However, if not greening
up again the Nitrogen may have leached too much and more Nitrogen should be
applied.
4 WEEKS AFTER PLANTING
You may fertilize with 21-0-0 if the plant looks yellow or
pale green. Add a 1/2 Cup of 21-0-0 per 10 feet of row close
to the plant but not touching it. Water
the fertilizer in immediately after applying.
Nitrogen is soluble and will leach into the soil, you shouldn’t rototill
it in.
Radishes
and spinach don’t need any additional fertilizing at this time.
Corn,
potatoes, carrots and cabbage can be fertilized once again about 8 weeks after
planting in the same manner.
TRICKS
TO START EARLIER AND TO SPEED UP THE GROWTH AND FRUITING OF PLANTS
·
Hot Caps and Walls of Water can be used to start
planting 4 weeks earlier than recommended plantings.
·
“Black or clear plastic that covers the soil 2 ½
-3 feet wide through which plants grow can hasten maturity of warm season crops
like melons or tomatoes. The clear
plastic provides more soil warming than does black. Black plastic allows no weed growth. In most Utah gardens the weeds will germinate
under the clear plastic but the heat during a summer day will burn off most of
them.” (Utah State University Extension)
·
A raised garden bed warms the soil earlier in the
spring. 8 inches raised usually is
sufficient for most crops.
IF
PLANTING COOL SEASON PLANTS IN MID-SUMMER
Getting the seeds can be hard to germinate at this time of
year. To do so you can place a 2x4 board
over the seeding row to keep the soil cool enough. Watch and be aware of when they germinate and
remove the board when they do. In place
of a board you can use dry grass clippings as a mulch over the seed row. Remove the mulch as the seeds germinate.
AMEND
SOIL
Fall after harvest add
1 inch of organic material every fall with 1pint (which is about 2.3
cups) of 21-0-0 fertilizer and rototill into the soil about 6 inches deep. I would add 2” to 3” of organic material
though and add the additional fertilizer required to help decompose the organic
material. Don’t add more than 3 inches
in a year. This is a good way to get rid
of your leafs in the fall.
WAYS TO
KEEP WEEDS DOWN
·
Prior to planting you can use Round-Up to kill
weeds. The weed killer takes a couple of
weeks to take full effect.
·
You can spread grass clippings over the garden
once established as a mulch to keep weeds down.
But this should not be used around warm season crops because it will
cool the soil and slow the development of the fruiting.
·
You can lay plastic down but you have to furrow
water the garden if you do.
·
Truly one of the easiest ways is to hoe the weeds
when they are small. As the garden grows
the plants will shade the ground and prevent seeds from germinating. You can plant vegetables a little closer than
recommended to shade more of the ground but it makes it harder to get around
the plants to pick.
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