Planting

Add lots of organic material to your garden soil. In Metro Detroit it’s not uncommon to have 3 to 15% organic material in our soils, but vegetables, and other garden plants like to have up to 50% organic material in the soil. Sometimes you have a long way to go, so keep adding that soil conditioner to clay soils, or sphagnum peat to sandy soils. It never hurts to add some English Gardens Compost Planting Mix or compost to your good garden soil to help enrich it.

Watering

Most vegetable plants prefer an evenly moist, well-drained soil. Improve your soil’s water retention by adding organic materials to the soil. During the warmer months, supplemental watering may be needed. Water when the soil is dry to the touch about 1 ½ inches or knuckle deep. Check regularly and only water when necessary.

Weather conditions affect your watering schedule. More frequent watering is necessary during long periods of hot or dry weather. It is best to water before noon during warm weather.

Watering must be deep to encourage a deep root system. Avoid using sprinklers to water your vegetable garden. Remember that most plants do not like to have water on their leaves. This is especially true of ‘leaf crop’ vegetables like lettuce, cabbage and collards.

The best way to water your vegetable garden is by using soaker hoses. Weave the hoses through the garden, and leave them in place throughout the season. Attach your garden hose to the soaker hose, and let it run for 30-45 minutes. Check to make sure the soil is wet at least a foot down. Deep and thorough waterings will improve your plants root development, and overall growth.

Watering by hand is also a good way to water. Allow water to puddle and collect beneath each plant before moving on to the next one. You may need to repeat this process twice more depending on how dry the soil is.

If you cannot water frequently, try planting with Soil Moist (a gel-crystal that absorbs water, and stores it like a battery, releasing it as the soil dries) for good water retention.

Fertilizing

Using fertilizer in your garden will help increase the yield of your vegetable plants, and keep them healthy. Fertilizers contain three macro-nutrients, represented by three numbers on the product label. The first number is always nitrogen. Nitrogen is important for quick growth, and leaf production. Nitrogen is good for lettuce and cabbage and other ‘leaf crops’. Keep the nitrogen low for tomatoes and other ‘fruit’ producing plants. Phosphorus is the second number, and is important for root development, as well as flower, fruit and vegetable production. The third number, potassium, is important for the plant’s overall health and vigor.

Most garden fertilizers should be rich in the last two elements. All fertilizers whether chemical or organic in origin contain these three nutrients, in that specific order. If you would like to use fewer chemicals, use cow, sheep or poultry manure, and Espoma and “Tone” products, like gardentone. Whatever you use be sure to read the label, and follow the directions as indicated. If you have questions, ask English Gardens staff for “Good Advice to Grow On”.