Vegetable Gardening and Companion Planting - Campbell University, North Carolina

1. Vegetable Gardening Home vegetable gardening
• Produce value of $14 billion per year
(U.S.)
• 40% of families have vegetable
gardens
Why grow vegetables? Planning a garden
• Taste • Location
• Saves money – Water supply
• Health – Full sun
– Can be chemical-free – Well drained loam,
pH 6-6.5
– Exercise
– Away from trees
• Attracts wildlife
– Away from slopes
Planning a garden Garden layout
• Rows oriented east to
• Size
west
– Start small (25’ x 25’ or less)
• Taller & trellised
– Most seed packs plant a 15’ row plants on north side
• Shorter plants
towards south side
• Plant perennials
together
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2. Block (bed) gardening
Vegetable garden design
• Rows
• Beds
• Mixed beds (flowers/vegetables)
• Containers
– Window boxes
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3. Planning a vegetable Planning a vegetable
garden garden
• What uses? • Vegetable characteristics
– Fresh, canning, freezing (p. 500) – Days to maturity
• Climate assessment – Warm season vs. cool season
– Dates of avg. spring & fall killing frosts • Warm season – restricted to frost free
• Frost free period = # days from last spring period
frost to first fall frost (ranges from 60-250 • Cool season – can tolerate light frost
days) – Start indoors & transplant for Spring crop
– Plant as seed for late fall crop
Planning a vegetable
garden
• Vegetable characteristics
– Harvested crop and light requirements
• Fruit > 8 hours
• Root > 6 hours
• Leaf > 4 hours
– Harvested crop and nutrient
requirements
• Leaf crops – high N
• Root crops – High K, lower N
Intercropping
Planning a vegetable garden
• Intercropping
• Succession planting (double
cropping)
• Relay planting
• Crop rotation
• Companion planting
• Row to row distance
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4. Succession planting
Relay planting Crop rotation
• Planting at intervals for continuous,
extended harvest
– Beans, sweet corn, lettuce
– Sow when previous crop has emerged
(germinated)
Companion planting
• Some plants do better next
to certain types of plants
– Some plants have insect
repellant properties
– Some plants attract
beneficial insects
– Example: corn/squash
canopy disorients squash
vine borer
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5. Companion planting for
pest control
Beneficial
Poor plant combinations
insects
• Plant antagonism – some plants
secrete growth-suppressing
chemicals
– Beans do not follow onions well
– Tomato/potato do not follow Brassicas
well
Planting a vegetable
Plant spacing
garden
• Can determine final size of plants • Seed
– Viability & storage
• Equal access to water, nutrients, light
– Direct vs. indirect sowing
• Canopy can suppress weeds – Prepared seed types
• Seed tapes, primed, pelleted,
treated
– Pre-germinating seed (p.
493)
– Thinning
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6. Growing vegetables from Vegetable garden
indirect seeding cultivation
• Warm for germination
• Watering
– Seedlings in good light, lower temp.
• Fertilizing
• Hardening off
• Weed control
• Transplanting at proper depth
• Mulching
• Pests
Garden watering
Garden fertilizing
• Heavy & occasionally
– Germinating seeds, seedlings, • Vegetable plants vary in N-P-K needs
transplants – frequent & light • Annual application of compost (5-
• Critical watering periods 11lbs./sq. yd.) or manure (12lb./sq. yd.)
• Water in evening • Green manure crops (legumes, rye)
• Soaker, drip irrigation overwinter or intercropped
• Granular N-fertilizers applied in Spring
(one month before planting)
Weed control
Vegetable garden pests (p. 498)
• Hand weeding
• Hoe weeding • Animals
– Birds, rabbits, deer, voles, insects
• Mulch • Insects
– Plastic, organic, newspaper – Sucking insects, chewing insects
• Proper plant spacing – Moths/caterpillars; beetles/grubs
• Microorganisms
– Bacteria, fungi, viruses
• Virginia Tech – Insect pests of vegetables
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7. Training plants
• Optimize use of space
• Lessen contact of fruit with soil
Training plants
Cages
Home gardening resources
• NCSU Information leaflets
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