Guidelines to
happy, healthy vegetables & fruits:
ü Vegetables and fruits require a certain amount of sunlight
All vegetables and fruits require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight to be healthy and crop well.
ü Water plants @ their stems
This is important to prevent some
diseases from infecting the leaves of plants and constant moisture on the
leaves helps this along, especially for
-
Squash and cucumber: Can quickly be overwhelmed
by Powdery Mildew
-
Eggplants: Becomes infected by Pearl Millet Rust
ü Feed/Fertilise plant @ least during curtail development
stages
During certain developmental stages plant
do well with a nutrient top-up, especially when
- Young plant: Two weeks after germination or
planting as the roots have now become established and the plant will to well
with a boost for growing.
- Flowers start: When plants start flowering it is
a good queue to give another boost, one with extra potassium will go down well J
- Fruits start: This is the stage that sucks the
most nutrients and you want large yummy produce then give another good high potassium
feeding
- When fruits ripen: After the plant has been
trained (especially tomatoes, peppers and eggplants) the fruit will start to
ripen (1-2 months after fruiting started and fruits have set). Just to assist
with the ripening stage and to ensure the plant doesn’t get short on nutrient another
high potassium feed will be beneficial
TIP: For a quick-and-dirty fertilise guide; feed all actively growing plants every two weeks with liquid fertiliser. The results are well worth it! Check out Composting, Vermicompost and Comfrey for liquid feed ideas.
TIP: For a quick-and-dirty fertilise guide; feed all actively growing plants every two weeks with liquid fertiliser. The results are well worth it! Check out Composting, Vermicompost and Comfrey for liquid feed ideas.
ü Cut fruits/vegetables from the plant stems
Pulling fruits, leaves or vegetables from
their host plant may result in damage to the plant as certain fruits do not yield
easily
- Tomatoes should just pop off their stems when
ripe, but I prefer to cut them off just to be safe
- Ripe raspberries (deep gummy appearance) will
come off easily when pulled gently
- Fruits that do not yield easily and which
pulling on will result in damaged to the plants are beans, peas, cucumbers,
squash and eggplant (watch out for those thorns!), so rather snip them off with scissors
ü Support plants with stakes
All plants do well with additional support
- Prevents damage during excessive rain or wind
- Prevents damage from carrying heavy fruit that
might break branches
- More of the plant’s energy is focused into fruit
production rather than strengthening branches for fruit support (tomatoes especially require training)
ü Prune all plants
The importance of pruning is understated in
any gardening book
- 3D: It is good to start off pruning with the 3 D’s;
Dead, diseased and damaged parts must go!
- Pruning and training go hand-in-hand and is
essential for fruit trees and shrubs to produce prolifically and reliably
ü Treat/control disease and pests as soon as they
are noticed
The best way to successful inhalation of
pest or disease populations is to get them while they are small and weak
(usually during spring). This will prevent or lessen the re-occurrence of these
pests later in the season.
- A small infestation or infection is quick and
easy to treat and will be less effort, time and spraying later
- If not treated when they are still controllable
the population will soon explode (keep in mind that generation time for pests
and disease are a lot faster than ours! New pest babies can be generated within
a few weeks!)
- It is also essential to be thorough than quick,
as any remaining pests/disease can start up again and become a nuisance later
in the season, so do those repeat treatments after 2-3 days (I know that it is
a pain! J).For environmentally friendly controls.
- Check on plants (especially the fruits) weekly
for any signs of infestation or infection.
ü Good soil = healthy plants
Soil quality is very important not only for
general plant health
- Fruit/vegetable production benefits from proper
soil or a good feeding routine
- Nutrition content of foods harvested from the
garden will be superior
- Plants are more resistant to pest and disease
(remember potassium is not just for flower and fruit production, but also for
plant resistance!)
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