Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Group:

Ed Perez's recent note asks an important question, the answer to which I give below:

"I haven't even figured out how many plants I'll be planting. I'm confused about it because I'd like to try to grow a variety of vegetables in only a 4 x 16 grow box if I can pull it off. That's all I could fit here in the RV park I live in. It'll be just for my own personal consumption and I live alone.

I tried figuring it out with the garden wizard but it isn't really set-up for that. I am hoping that I could grow just a few plants of each of the following: two tomato plants, a squash plant and two cucumber plants in addition to some zucchini, bell pepper, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce and some green onion.

If I could plant many short rows instead of 4 or 5 long rows... still confused about how to pull it off. And I'm also a little worried that, when time comes to plant, I'll be able to find the plants I want at Home Depot or Lowes.

Ed & Group:

You CAN plant across the width of a box (or soil-bed) if you're willing to do the extra work of feeding, watering, weeding, and pruning that it requires.

Remember the first law of plant growth - direct sunlight all day long, and that applies to all of your plants, for optimum harvest.

Therefore, planting close together as I'll suggest here requires that you prune your plants so that they do NOT shade or overlap each other.

You'll also need to water by hand, to assure even coverage to all plants.

And if you're in the soil weeding will not be as easy because of the close proximity of plants to each other. The two-way hoe is still the best tool for the job.

And remember to quit feeding the single-crop varieties three weeks before they reach maturity, so as not to waste fertilizers. Multiple crops are certainly an option for several of those, especially spinach, lettuce, and green onions.

Here's what you could do in a box 4' wide by 16' long - from North to South (or East to West):

Tomatoes (2), cucumber (2) and vining squash (1) - close to edge
Zucchini (3) - 2.5' from edge
Peppers (5) - 2.5' from zucchinis
Broccoli (5) - 2' from peppers
Cauliflower (5) - 2' from broccoli
Spinach (9) - 1.5' from broccoli
Spinach (9) - .5' from spinach
Red leaf lettuce (9) - 1.5' from spinach
Romaine lettuce (9) - .5' from red leaf lettuce
Green onions (48) - 1.5' from romaine lettuce
Green onions (48) - .5' from green onions
Sweet potatoes (5) - 1' from onions, at opposite end of box

I recommend you consider a row of herbs, like Italian parsley in place of one row of onions.

Tomatoes, cucumber, squash, and zucchini all must be grown on 2" X 2" stakes and pruned to one stem - tomatoes right at the crotch, cucumber and squash cut sucker stems after first female blossom. Zucchini - older leaves pruned as they touch the ground or interfere with adjacent plants

Broccoli and cauliflower leaves should be pruned to keep them off the ground and away from adjacent plants (the leaves are edible!).

Sweet potatoes will only work in the space you have if you can let them run outside the box. You'll need to prune and train them so they don't cover your onions and lettuce.

Jim Kennard

• New Members 18
• New Photos 3