A lot of people secretly harbor the dream of being self-sufficient and growing their own produce. Imagine eating fruit and vegetables that you have grown yourself. Or laying it down for the winter by pickling or preserving it. But looking after your garden isn’t always easy. Sometimes no matter how much love you give them your veggies just won’t grow. I’m here to help you with this.
Not enough light
The first reason that you might be failing at growing veg is that your plants are not getting enough light. Light is essentially how plants eat. They convert the sun’s rays into fuel to grow. If they are not getting enough, then they just won’t be able to develop properly.
There are a few things that you can do to help with this. Firstly don’t have your vegetable beds in a shady area. Next, you can use a plant food product to give them an extra boost and help them grow big and strong. Its also really crucial that you plant your veg at the right time of year. Most veg needs to be planted between April and early June, to give it enough light and enough time to grow before harvesting in the autumn. There are some vegetable plants that can be planted at other times, but they are few and far between.
If you are planting indoors, then get some hydroponic supplies, that provide enough light to give your plants all the food that it needs. You can get self-contained urban food gardening units designed especially for this purpose. You can read the Best AeroGarden Reviews to find the best equipment you will need for your indoor garden.
Poor soil
Another reason why you are failing at growing your own veg may be that your soil is poor. Whether its clay-like or sandy in the area that you live, it can affect how your plants grow. As mentioned above you can use a plant food. There is also specialized compost that has pellets of plant food in, which is easy enough to mix through your own soil.
The levels of nutrients in the ground can depend on how much has previously been used up by other plants. This is why you should rotate your planting areas between at least two sites. While you are growing plants in a zone, compost the other. Then the nitrates are returned to the soil. When you come to use that area, it will be full of the nutrients that your plants need, and you can do the same with the other patch.
Bugs
Another annoyed reason why you could be failing at growing veg is that you have an insect problem. Slugs, snail and other wee beasties are quite fond of eating your lovely plants and ruining them. You can use chemical treatments to stop a bug infestation, but you do need to be careful if you have pets that use the garden as they can be poisonous.
You can always go for natural options. A ring of salt will prevent slugs and snails getting to your crops. Copper has the same effect. Spiders hate horse chestnuts, and a honey and water trap can catch any pesky ants and wasps.