Tip for planting vegetable seeds and plants in your garden.
Buy Vegetable Seeds
Always buy your vegetable seeds from a reputable seed company like Piedmont Farm and Garden Supply. At Piedmont we bag and sell many varieties of garden Non-GMO seeds in different sizes of seed packs. Piedmont Farm and Garden Supply has been packing and selling garden vegetable seed for more then 50 years. You can buy vegetable seed from us online and get free 7 day shipping or stop by our retail store in Spartanburg SC and pick them up yourself. You can count to only sell Non-GMO seeds because we do not and will not sell any GMO vegetable garden seeds.
Sunlight
In a perfect
setting, 12 hours of direct sunlight will be most appreciated by your
plant. Most varieties will produce well in seven or eight hours.
Soil Preparation
I
could write a novel on this subject alone! If you have nice, loamy and
dark organic soil that is loose and fluffy, count your blessings. For
the rest of us, soil amendments are a must.
If your planting your vegetable seeds or plants in a raised garden bed, bag soil can be used. In the past few
years, organic soils have literally come out of the woodwork. If a
bagged potting mix contains any type of synthetic starter fertilizer or
moisture-holding products, it is NOT organic.
If
you are fortunate enough to live within driving distance of Piedmont
Farm and Garden, we sell bulk mushroom compost direct from
Pennsylvania’s Amish country. This compost is made up of a rich, dark,
and moist mixture of wheat straw, peat moss, cottonseed meal, cottonseed
hulls, corncobs, cocoa bean shells, gypsum, lime, chicken litter and
horse stable bedding. If similar product is not available, most
reputable garden centers (not box stores) should carry peat moss,
cow/poultry manure, vermiculite, perlite, mushroom compost, or pine bark
mulch. Organic soil amendments are absolutely the best for your plants and seeds in your vegetable garden.
Always
remember to add new compost every year. The ideal pH is 6.0-7.0, so you
may want to take a soil sample during the winter and start making the
adjustments with organic fertilizers. A good rule of thumb is if you
have lots of earth worms and frogs and your soil is fluffy, you have
relatively healthy soil.
Water Requirements
Frequency
of watering depends upon the growth stage of the seeds and plants, daily
temperatures, soil type, sunlight, air movement and humidity. If Mother
Nature doesn’t supply water, it may be necessary to water two or three
times a week to meet the basic needs of the plant. Try not to get the
foliage wet, and remember that watering early in the evaporation cycle
is a factor. In addition, deep watering is always more beneficial than
shallow watering.
Temperature
When planting seeds or plants in the vegetable garden always
wait until danger of the last average killing frost has passed. Check
with your local county extension office in order to find out the exact
date. If planting plants instead of seed try using Gardener “season starters” to get a jump start, up to
six weeks and good to 24 degrees Fahrenheit, according to packaging.
Fill the season starters with water, and they will radiate energy to
give off heat. Harvest Guard is another good product that can help in
the event of a late spring freeze for a few nights, good for an added 5
degrees of protection for your plants.
Feeding
The
question in terms of feeding is “dry vs. liquid?” We do not have a
specific preference, but we suggest dry food at planting and every 2-3
weeks at the drip line of the plant (following the amount listed on the
manufacturer’s label), then supplementing every couple of weeks with
liquid fish, seaweed, or kelp.
Piedmont Farm and Garden sells and
recommends Espoma, and Neptune’s Harvest products. A word of caution:
do not over-feed. Over-feeding in the case of some garden plant like tomatoes can result in all vegetative growth and
no reproductive growth.
Mulching
Plenty
of organic mulches are readily available, depending on your location.
Apply 3-4 inches of any of these: straw, hay, pine needles, peanut
hulls, ground corn cobs, rice hulls, dried leaves, pine bark mulch,
newspapers or thin sheets of cardboard. Mulch keeps the soil moist,
keeps roots cooler, controls weeds, and thwarts the spread of disease by
preventing water from splashing up on leaves.
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