How To Maintain A Vegetable Garden

General everything looks great, however let’s take a more detailed look crop by crop.

Corn Plants.
In general.

The corn is growing. We have excellent, healthy development and color.
Problem.

We had a ground squirrel that was really interested in our corn seed!
Option.

We needed to eliminate the ground squirrel, once that was done, we re-planted the missing corn plants. You can see the even development where the new plants are can be found in.
Upkeep.We will.side gown.
( fertilize) our corn twice during its life time:.
1. When the corn reaches 6 – 8 inches (15-20 cm) high.

2. When the corn begins to tassel.We will also.hill.
our corn twice throughout its life time:.
1. When the corn is 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) tall.

2. When the corn is about 1 foot (30 cm) tall.

Now, our corn is 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) high, so we will both side gown it, and hill it. We do this since corn is a heavy feeder and needs additional nutrition as it grows, and hilling helps anchor the plant, making the stalk more stiff. A stronger stalk assists when the plant is loaded with establishing ears, and it assists it withstand wind.

Just take some balanced fertilizer – here we are using an organic 5-5-5 total fertilizer – although you can also utilize hydrolyzed fish or other well balanced fertilizer, and lightly sprinkle it along the side of the plant. We gently spray it along both sides, however you can do simply one side if you want.

To hill, we carefully take soil from the pathway in between the rows (do not dig too closely to the corn plant, you can damage roots) and pull it approximately the base of the corn plant. We do this on both sides covering the fertilizer as we do go.

Water and take care of the plant just as you usually would.
Possible Problems.

1. We are not having any issues at this time, however here is a typical one:.
   Corn Earworm.
2. See our post on this insect and methods to get rid of it:.
   Corn Earworm.Irregular or unevenly completed ears.

   Lack of pollination is accountable for ears of corn do not submit all the way, or just about half the cob is covered with kernals, or you see irregular spots.

   Rain and wind can impact great pollination – wind can blow the pollen away really quickly, and rain can stick the silks together so that a few of them do not get pollinated.

   Hand pollination fixes the issue. Strip the pollen from the tassles and sprinkle it on the silks, particularly on plants on the outdoors edges of the plot.

   The tassles are the male flowers located at the top of the stalk, and they drop their pollen onto the silks of the cobs. Each silk is connected to one kernal and so a minimum of one pollen grain needs to arrive at each silk for germination to take place and therefore the kernal to complete properly.

If you have just a few plants, then due to the fact that the tassels form pollen a couple of weeks earlier than the silks appear, and the tassels just bear pollen for 2 weeks approximately, you will find that late cobs may not get sufficient pollen to fill the cobs, even when the weather is terrific. It pays to have a lot of corn plants instead of only a few.

Likewise attempt planting your corn in blocks, rather of long rows.

Growing Sugary Food Corn.

Click pictures for larger image.

Potato Plants.
Overall.
The plants look great: really healthy and all set for their very first hilling.
Maintenance.

We will hill our potatoes twice throughout their lifetime:.

1. When the potatoes are 3 – 5 inches (7-13 cm) high.

2. When the plants are about 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) tall.

Cover the new growth completely; do not stress, more brand-new growth will sprout right up through the mound of soil.

Hilling is fantastic, because it smothers any weeds.

Click photos for bigger image.
Squash and Pumpkin Plants.
Overall.

1. The squash are doing great. They have good development and are setting flowers perfectly.
   Upkeep.We gently fertilized with a liquid hydrolyzed fish and seaweed fertilizer at bloom time.
2. Potential Issues.
   We are not having any issues at this time, but here are two common ones:.

   A lot of flowers, however no fruit establishes.

Squash plants have 2 kinds of flowers: male and female. Male flowers, which produce pollen,.

open about a week before the female flowers open. Female flowers.
can be identified by a squash-shaped bulge at the base of the flower.
The service here is a little bit of patience. Keep offering excellent growing conditions and.

little squashes to develop.

Fruits are shriveled or do not establish all the way.
This is when the plant looks healthy, and has flowers, but the fruit turns yellow, shrivels, or.

does not form at all.

Lack of pollination triggers female flowers to drop without forming fruits, and incomplete.
pollination produces fruit that begin to grow, then shrivel. The factor for absence of pollination.

is often absence of bee activity; which can happen from cold, damp weather condition or making use of pesticides.

You can help the plants by hand pollinating. This is quick and easy. Select a male flower and utilize it to spread pollen onto the yellow cushion in the middle of the female flower.
For more, use our thorough Growing Guides:.
Growing Pumpkins.

Growing Winter Season Squash.

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Bean and Pea Plants.

In general.

Total our plants are growing excellent. The plants are also self-supporting, so no trellises or stakes were required.
Also throughout the couple of heat spikes we had, the foliage of the beans and peas has perfectly shaded the soil, keeping it cooler and from drying as quick.

Maintenance.

1. Watering.
   For more, utilize our extensive Growing Guides:.
2. Growing Dried Beans.
   Growing Fresh Beans.
3. Growing Peas.
   Click photos for bigger image.
4. 
   Tomato Plants.
5. In general.
   They are prospering. We planted them all on their sides and see how well they have aligned up. With the additional roots that formed by planting them on their sides, we have extremely tough, healthy plants that stand up to the heat far better.We are growing determinate tomatoes, meaning they will stop growing. Indeterminate tomatoes do not stop growing and are typically put in a cage or trellis to support them.

   We have actually grown both types of tomatoes, and no matter what kind they are, we let them sprawl on the ground. We have really few bug or disease problems and the plants thrive.

6. Upkeep.
   We side dressed them as soon as, when the plants started to set flowers, utilizing a complete 5-5-5 natural fertilizer.Prospective Problems.We are not having any issues at this time, but here are some typical ones:.

Cat-facing.
This is when irregular shapes and lines, especially at the top of the tomato, are brought on by temperature level shifts at flowering time. There is nothing you can do about it. The tomato will still taste terrific.