11 Tips on Planting Vegetables I Always Share as a Gardening Pro
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
Whether you’re trying to cut down on your grocery bills, eat a little bit healthier, spend some more time outdoors, or just find a low-budget hobby that is both fun and rewarding, starting a vegetable garden is a great idea! And there’s no time to start like right now.
Related: Don’t Start Planting This Spring Until You Read This
Vegetable gardening offers a great many benefits. It can be done relatively cheaply—if you’ve got a plot of dirt and can invest in a few seeds or seedlings, then the most expensive thing you absolutely need is some water.
It’s also a great way to cut back on expenses. While it make take you a season or two to start really growing food in earnest, supplementing food supplies with garden-grown goods is a time-honored money-saving tradition stretching back to the war-time victory gardens our grandparents and great grandparents grew—and far back beyond that! And of course, having fresh veggies on hand is an easy way to make sure you have access to much healthier eating options.
But perhaps our favorite thing about vegetable gardening is that it’s just a very fun hobby. There’s something magical about taking a patch of dirt, adding some seeds and some water, giving it a little time and attention every day, and having food that you can actually eat appear!
Like almost any hobby, gardening can be as simple or as complicated as you wish to make it: You can invest tons of time and money, or just try a few things and see what happens. But I can practically guarantee that once you take a bite out of a carrot, or a tomato, or a cucumber that you grew yourself, you’ll be hooked.
There are a few things that any beginner should be aware of, however, before dropping that first seed in the ground. These are the tips that will set you up best for success. So read on, then get ready: You’ll be gardening in no time!
Find the Sunniest Spot
Most edible plants, including vegetables and herbs, need full sun to thrive. Full sun means 6 or more hours of direct sunlight or more; the more sunlight, the better!
If you’re not sure about how much sun an area has, pick a few spots and watch them throughout the day for a few days. When does the sun first hit that area? Do any trees or buildings block it? When do the final rays leave?
If your own yard is (alas!) just too dark, remember you can always look for a local community garden spot to rent!
Make a Watering Plan
Rain is great—but it’s not always dependable. So if you want great veggies you’ll probably have to water at least sometimes and it’s best to have a plan before you plant.
If you’ve just got a few containers of tomatoes on the back porch, a watering can might be fine. If you’ve got time in the morning or evening, and don't mind standing out back with a hose, you can water a small raised-bed or in-ground garden by hand. But be ready to do that on the regular, especially during droughts.
Remember: watering during the hot part of the day isn’t recommended; the water is more likely to evaporate before reaching the roots, and water droplets on the leaves can act like magnifying glasses, and cause burns.
If you’re looking for a low-hassle solution, consider setting up soaker hoses, which deliver water directly to the root. This is more efficient method because you don’t waste as much water as overhead sprinklers.
Read more: Our Guide to the Best Garden Hoses
Professionally Test Your Soil
Planting directly into the ground? Once you’ve decided on a location, reach out to your local University Coop Extension and get a soil test. The tests are typically under $30 (and sometimes much cheaper) and will give you a detailed understanding of which nutrients your soil has—and which it needs.
It sounds like an unnecessary step, but this will prevent you from adding unnecessary nutrients—which can sometimes harm plants—as well as making sure you have enough.
These tests also evaluate soil pH (acidity) as well, which is particularly important to know. While home test kits are available, we’ve found they’re not as accurate or thorough, and not worth the cost. Of course if you’re building a raised-bed garden and buying soil, this is not necessary.
Related: The 3 Most Important Soil Nutrients Every Gardener Needs to Know About
Start Small for Success
You might have visions of grandeur, but let’s be real: Vegetable gardening takes work.
You’ll need to weed regularly, especially when baby plants are struggling to come up. You’ll need to tend to plants as they grow to keep them healthy and pest-free, and you may need to deal with sudden weather situations—a late freeze or heat wave can destroy weeks of planning and work.
If this is your first-ever garden, start small. Whether than means a few containers or a 5 x 5 or (at most) a 10 x 10 foot plot, you want to keep it manageable to set yourself up for success. Remember: plants start small, too!
No Plots? Get Some Pots
If you don’t have quite the right amount of sun in your yard, or if your soil is poor and you don’t want to fuss with it, container gardening is a great way to grow food.
You can place pots anywhere that gets regular sun: a deck, patio, driveway, or even on a small balcony—and even move them to keep up with the changing light.
Containers also increase your gardening space, warm up faster in spring, and give you better control over your environment. Many new veggie varieties are specifically designed to grow well in containers—you can look for container-ready tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and more!
Learn More: 8 Vegetables That Are Easiest to Grow in Containers
Grow What You’ll Eat
It seems basic, but don’t grow vegetables you don’t love to cook with. Too often, beginner gardeners will plant a vegetable they've heard is easy to grow, such as radishes—without thinking about whether they’d want a harvest of fresh radishes. (Though radishes are delicious in so many different ways.)
So start with just a few veggies you know you like. It’ll make eating them so much more fun!
You also can plant varieties you’re less like to find at the grocery store. Carrots come in a wide variety of colors, and there are dozens and dozens of different kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, and even eggplants. You’ll get much more satisfaction in growing, eating, and harvesting edibles you want to eat.
Buy Reliable Seeds and Plants
Tempted to go cheap, or to buy all your plants and seeds from Etsy? It’s not a great idea, especially at first.
Stick with well-known seed and plant nurseries and you’ll get much better results. Many gardening companies such as Burpee, Ferry-Morse, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and Harris Seeds, have been around for decades. They’re reliable sources of seeds and plants, and we recommend using them. Seeds that seem like a better deal risk being of poor quality, with low germination rates.
With seeds and small plants, it’s totally fine to buy seedlings from the big box retailers. They’re typically sourcing from the above companies, or other reputable places.
It’s worth checking out local nurseries, too, though. You’ll find more unique varieties, and a store that’s been around a while should be pretty trustworthy.
Plant Both Seeds and Seedlings
Seeds are cheap! They’re usually just a few dollars per package. However, they take a lot more time to grow. And in cold climates, you need to start seedlings indoors (and invest in a lot of lights and equipment) in order to have enough time to raise some long-growing crops in your short growing season. So for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, consider buying seedlings instead of seeds.
However, many plants prefer to be direct-seeded into the garden. They grow quickly and don’t like having their roots disturbed. So use seeds for easy-to-grow crops such as cucumbers, squash, peas, and beans, as well as herbs such as dill, cilantro, and basil.
Inspect Your Garden Often
It can be tempting to just plant a few things, set up a drip hose, and then wait for food to appear. But this is not a good idea!
Any experienced gardener will tell you that pests and diseases can appear practically overnight. One day your potato vines look fine, and the next they’re covered in black and yellow striped potato bugs! But the quicker you spot an issue, the easier is to manage.
You don’t have to be an expert to spot trouble: Look for anything unusual such as wilting leaves, spotted or yellowing leaves, chewed holes, or masses of weird-looking bugs.
Don’t panic and start spraying! You don’t want to kill beneficial bugs or pollinators. Identify the problem first before figuring out what to do. Your university county coop extension agent can help.
More: Guide to The 7 Most Common Tomato Pests
Plant Flowers (Yes, to Grow Vegetables)
Many vegetables, such as cucumbers and squash, require insect pollination in order to form fruit.
Planting flowers brings in the pollinators, as well as beneficial bugs to take care of some of the bad bugs that want to chow down on your veggies.
Sweet alyssum, zinnias, marigolds, borage, and herbs that you allow to go to flower such as dill and cilantro are great choices for attracting beneficials of all sorts.
More: How Wildflowers Can Help Control Pests In Your Garden
Have Fun!
It was a wise person who first advised that we stop and smell the roses—and that advice works for vegetable gardens, too! You’re putting in time and energy to let new life thrive. Be sure to enjoy it!
Make a habit of strolling around your garden. Pay attention to what’s happening: Teeny-tiny tomatoes are forming! The pollinators are buzzing in the squash blossoms! The hummingbirds are visiting the bean blossoms!
Part of the joy of gardening is the daily discovery of what’s new, beautiful and interesting. We promise you’ll find a peace in nature that nothing else can deliver.
You Might Also Like
