I just put in a small garden in my backyard. I planted red tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers, watermelon, and strawberries. I'm wondering if I put the plants too close together though. They are all about 3-4 inches away from each other, because my garden plot is very small. I'm wondering if I need to give some of the plants more room to grow and move my tomatoes to pots?
Any help or advice would be appreciated. I'm very new to gardening because my husband and I just bought our first home. We have clay soil, so I mixed some Miracle-Gro gardening soil in thoroughly with the soil. Hopefully that will be enough, but if anyone else has any tips for growing in clay soil, I would love to hear them.
Thanks in advance!

 

Hi Jmalan,

YES, you have definitely planted EVERYTHING too close together. You probably should move your tomatoes to pots. I would recommend cutting a few drain holes in a 5-gallon bucket, or something of that size.

I think it's best to have strawberries in a bed by themselves, as they will spread by runners and would eventually take over your garden. How many plants do you have?

Cucumbers and watermelons should be planted about 3-4' apart. They will really spread out.

Here's a website that tells how deep, how far apart and lots of other pertient info on growing vegetables -

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/

Gami

 

Hi jmalan,

Really good to see you here on DIY!

The link that Gami gave you is the absolute best. I was referred to it by another member, "Bomber", and do you know I printed nearly the whole thing! I review the information contained in it constantly (mainly 'cause I'm old and can't remember anything!!!) Seriously, it's facinating stuff to me.

Since I am also very new to veggie gardening, I want add that you have come to the best no-nonsense, friendly gardening forum! I came on board in February with very broad questions and found answers and encouragement. There's a lot of information being shared here.

In spite of having to rearrange things in your veggie patch, it will be alot of fun and well worth every moment!

North Garden Gal

 

Hey jmalan
Thanks for the cue Lizzy Here are some more links:

http://plantfacts.ohio-state.edu/
http://www.essortment.com/in/Gardening.Growing.How.To/
http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/l171-w.html

As Liz also said, don't be afraid to come back here w/ questions, and don't think any question is stupid; everyone starts somewhere. This is one of the friendliest groups of people I've ever been associated with, and everyone here has their own topic where they can give you a wealth of knowledge and expertise

Have a ball with your garden, even though it may require so minor patch work... Once you achieve success, you will want to plant more and more But don't worry about making mistakes; we are all here to help you fix them

Once again, welcome! You couldn't have picked a better place to come for advice

Eric

PS. Here are a couple of books also (all of which are in my library and you may find useful):

Ortho's All About Vegetables (ISBN 0-89721-281-9)
Vegetable Gardening For Dummies (ISBN 0-7645-5129-9)
The Vegetable & Herb Expert (ISBN 0-903505-46-0)
The Edible Container Garden (ISBN 0-684-85461-9)
The Vegetable Gardener's Bible (ISBN 1-58017-212-1)

The latter is an absolutely FANTASTIC book. I would highly recommended that one.

 

okay, so if I move my tomato plants (which are currently about 3" tall) to pots, how big of a pot should I use. I know with house plants at least, you don't want to put the plant in too big of a pot, or it will put all of it's growth into the root ball instead of the above-ground part. Is it the same with tomatoes?
I have 1 each of red tomato, yellow pear tomato, watermelon, bell pepper, cucumber, strawberry, and 2 zucchini.

 

Jmalan,
I usually plant directly in a 5 gallon bucket as Gami had suggested. Last year, I grew an eggplant in one of those buckets, and the root system was fully developed. So much so that when it came time to empty the buckets in October, I could lift the bucket using the stem of the plant But for plants that are already started in pots, a good idea is what is called upsizing and no, it doesnt have anything to do with a combo meal at McDonalds Depending on how big around the pot is, continue to transfer the plant into a pot that is about 2" or so bigger in diameter. Once it is potbound, transplant it again. If you have some plants that arent in a pot, put them directly in the 5 gallon bucket.

Tomatoes like a deep root system so to encourage this, when you transplant into the bucket, bury the plant so that only about 4" or so of it is sticking above the soil. If this means covering the leaves as well, do it. Water it well once it has been transplanted as well.

Peppers... Liz can tell you all about this; she's a pepper foo! Seriously though, peppers love heat, so depending on where you live, you may want to hold off on them until it gets really warm on a consistent basis.

Watermelon and cukes love the heat as well, but as Gami told you, they will take up a lot of room.

Zucchini... whoa! Look out! Hopefully you only got one plant, or plan on one plant. Zucchini, as anyone can tell you, takes off once it start. You've gotta keep on top of it. You will get a LOT of fruit, trust me And it doesnt stop until you or nature kill it.

Again, good luck Come back with any more questions.

Eric

 

Hi Jmalan,

Some things are confusing. For instance, some plant their houseplants directly outside in the soil for the summer. That kinda shoots the theory of transplanting into a pot one size larger. Although, I still follow that rule, and do believe that in most plants they don't start growing until the roots have filled the pot.

Last year I had two volunteer cherry tomatoes show up in a flowerbed. (Sometimes I throw kitchen scraps directly on the beds.) I moved them directly to HUGE pots, and they did just fine.

If you'll use Google -

http://www.google.com/

...you can type in (say) watermelon plant, and click on images and you'll see how large individual plants will grow. You can click on the thumbnail prints for a larger pic.

How big is your little garden? It would help us to know how much space you have as to whether you have enough room for those plants.

Gami

 

I have about a 2 foot by 3 foot space, so I guess about 6 square feet or so. If I move both tomato plants, peppers, cukes out and put them in pots, will that be enough room for 2 zucchini plants, 1 watermelon plant, and 1 strawberry plant?

I live in zone 11, in the Sacramento Valley region of CA. It's already getting plenty warm here, and in another few weeks it will be scorching. We regularly get temps up to 80+ even in May. Hopefully that should be warm enough for my peppers.

Thanks for everyones help!

 

Hi Jmalan,

No, I'm sorry to say that really isn't enough room for one watermelon plant.

Your cukes and watermelon will each spread about 3' or more--in all directions.

I've never heard of anyone growing cukes or watermelon in a pot before. BUT, I have heard of them growing them up a trellis or fence.

Do you want the cukes for pickles?

My suggestion is forget about the watermelon, as they're very reasonable at the Farmer's markets. I used to grow them, but now buy them.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but if it were me, I'd plant that area in strawberries. Strawberries that you grow far surpass those bought in stores. There's not much difference in cukes, watermelons or zuchinni. Now there is a big difference in tomatoes that you grow. So definitely put those in pots, as well as your peppers.

If you know anybody that gardens, they'll most likely be pawning off zucchini on you like crazy.

I hope someday you'll have a larger garden.

Gami

 

Hi Gami and jmalan,
I grow Burpee hybrid (burpless) cukes in the garden and in large pots on my deck. I simply tie them to my deck rails as they climb. And it saves alot of steps to the garden for salads. I just have to watch for possible wilting of the plants in the hot VA sun. I have to water them almost every other day.
fred

 

Hey guys
Thought I'd chime in again... Jmalan, growing the cukes up a trellis is a great idea; less susceptible to disease and becoming misshapen. I, last year, did grow a cucumber in a pot, but I had some lattice work right behind it, so I just used velcro ties or string to attach what the plants natural climbing instinct didnt find

I have also heard of people that have grown a cucumber in a window flower box.

Eric

 

Here's a little page on growing veggies in containers. There are several articles in you'll search through Google. Type in "Growing Vegetables in small spaces", Growing vegetables on a trellis, etc.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/en.../contvegs.html

Gami