Plant according to requirements

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32702, 3 September 1971, Page 17

Plant according to requirements

Where space is limited the varieties and quantity of vegetables to be grown are important. In compiling a planting guide, certain factors must be known. To make the best use of the vegetable garden it is first necessary to calculate its area. Family preferences and dislikes together with some idea of the quantities ■of “basic” crops normally utilised during the year are most helpful guides. For instance, if the family consumes a medium-sized Savoy cabbage at a meal, and eats cabbage twice a week, there is little point in growing 100 Savoys, because that represents a year’s supply. Similar forethought and simple calculations can well be applied to other crops. If, of course, you have a big garden and like to give vegetables away, more generous sowings and plantings can be made. Seed from previous years has a variable viability. Much depends on how old it is, whether it has been touched by pest or disease and on how it has been stored. Some indications of general viability of vegetable seed is given here: Beans—2to 3 years; beetroot—s to 6 years; brassicas, lettuce—4 to 5 years; cucurbits—4 to- 6 years; onions, parsnips, sweet com—l to 2 years; leeks, peas, carrots —2 to 3 years. Seed is best stored in a vermin-proof container which

should be kept in a cool place. Only best quality' seed should be purchased. Many kinds of seeds rot easily in wet soil and seedlings; are prone to damping off disease. To counteract this problem it is possible to purchase seed which has been treated with a fungicide treated sweet com, peas and seine beans are readily obtainable. Alternatively, it is possible' to do this oneself by dipping the seed in a slurry of thiram or captan. The commercial grower is also able to biy some of his seed with a coating of fertiliser on it but this is not yet feasible on tht; small scale of sowings needed in the home garden. To encourage rapid, even germination of seed it is necessary to prepare a good

seed bed. This entails thorough preparatory work to ensure that it is weedfree and friable, but firm on top and moist. Sowing should be at an even depth and not too thick. Remember that root disturbance upsets the growth rate and that transplants rarely do as well as those plants which have been sown and grown without transplanting. A great many factors are involved in successful vegetable growing and some of them are beyond control, such as the weather. Neveri theless good cultural prac- ■ tice such as pest and disease i control and providing the essential nutrients required by the particular crop will go a long way towards ensuring satisfactory results.