Tips on Growing Lettuce
Lettuce is an easy to grow spring and autumn vegetable.
It’s two worst enemies are hot temperatures and slugs.
Here are some tips to grow lettuce all summer long, even
when temperatures soar.
*Make sure soil contains a good supply of nitrogen for good
leaf production.
*Make early plantings in full sun.
*Plant the seeds 1/8 inch deep in a wide row, 6 inches apart
in all directions.
*Plant every two weeks for a continuous harvest all summer
long.
*As the weather warms up, start planting in partial shade.
Either on the side of the house that receives morning sun or
in the shade of other taller plants such as corn broccoli
etc.
*Keep weeds under control as lettuce has shallow roots and
can’t compete with deep rooted weeds.
*Keep soil moist but not wet. Water at the base of the
plant and not the leaves wet leaves will encourage disease.
*Aphids, cabbage loopers, flea beetles, leafhoppers and leaf
miners are some of the insects that attack lettuce, but slug
are the most notorious for loving lettuce.
*Avoid pesticides as lettuce leaves are very tender and
delicate, and can absorb many insecticides. An insecticidal
soap or handpicking usually alleviates the majority of
lettuce pests.
*One tip to avoid slugs is to avoid mulching lettuce.
For more tips on how to control slugs on lettuce and in the
entire garden visit:
http://www.apluswriting.net/garden/slugs.htm
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Author: Marilyn Pokorney
Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the
environment.
Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading.
Website: http://www.apluswriting.net
Tags: garden, hot, slugs, , leaf, organic, summer, lettuce, slug, salad
Tags: Garden, hot, leaf, lettuce, organic, salad, slug, slugs, summerFiled by sowhat2 on September 21st, 2008 under landscaping | Comment now »
How to Grow Cucumbers
The versatile cucumber (cucumis sativus) is tasty pickled, in a salad, as a salad, in a sandwich, or just eaten raw. How to grow cucumbers depends largely in part on how you plan to eat them. Cucumbers come in over 120 varieties that range from small picklers to large slicers and from dark green to the yellow of the lemon cucumber. They come “burped” or burpless, seeded or without seeds.
Originating in India where they have been cultivated for over 3,000 years, the cucumber is a quick growing subtropical vine. In fact, many varieties of cucumber are ready to harvest after 50 days. However, some gardeners shy away from learning how to grow cucumbers because of their peculiar pollination habits. The traditional cucumber produces both a male (staminate) and a female (pistillate) blossom. Male blossoms appear first and soon drop from the vine without bearing fruit. However, the vines soon bloom again with both male and female flowers and continue blooming throughout the growing season. Cucumber vines bear fruit in abundance as long as you harvest them before they reach full maturity.
Relatives of squash, melons, and pumpkins, there are a variety of ways to learn how to grow cucumbers. Grow them in hills, in rows along a wire trellis, or train your cucumber vines to climb a wall or wooden trellis. In addition to growing directly in the garden, cucumbers make an attractive container plant. The cucumber is an appealing plant with lovely blossoms that permeate the air with the heady fragrance of what else? cucumbers!
When getting ready to learn how to grow cucumbers in your garden, it’s best to prepare the soil about a month ahead of planting them. Cucumbers are not good at competing for space and nutrients. Remove weeds and spade in rich organic material. You’ll have plenty of time to do this, since cucumbers are subtropical vines that prefer the sunny days and balmy nights of summertime. Seeds need about an 80F temperature to germinate, but then will do so in four to five days. Although seeds can be planted directly into the garden, cucumbers can also be started indoors for transplanting. If you use peat pots to start the seed, you can bury the whole pot in the garden lessening the risk that you’ll damage the tender vines.
Once established, in addition to keeping the fruit cleaner, a layer of mulch in your cucumber patch minimizes weed growth and helps your soil retain moisture. Although cucumbers hate wet feet and won’t grow in standing water, the more moisture they can absorb the juicier and sweeter they will be.
Harvest cucumbers at whatever size you like, as long as you don’t wait for them to turn yellow (unless they are a yellow variety). Once they begin to turn yellow, they’re past their prime. Flavor turns bitter and the fruit begins to dry out. Besides, frequently picking your cukes will promote more prolific blossoming resulting in larger harvests.
You are free to publish the above article in your ezine or website, provided credit in the form of an (HTML clickable) hyperlink is given to the author.
Hans is an enthusiast gardener and one of the authors of the “How To” section of http://www.gardening-guides.com and http://www.patio-furniture-ideas.com
Tags: landscape, planting, seeds, vegetable, garden, family, cucumber, summer, harvest
Tags: cucumber, family, Garden, harvest, landscape, Planting, seeds, summer, vegetable