Vegetable Gardening Design & Tips

Back to Vegetable Gardening

These suggestions may help you in designing, and enjoying your garden.

Planting Seasonal Vegetables

A continuous year-around supply of fresh vegetables is not practical due to seasonal variations, even in Florida.
For an ample supply of most seasonal items, about one-tenth acre per member of the family should be sufficient.
One-tenth acre is a space about 45 x 100 feet or a square about 65 feet on a side.

There are 43,560 square feet in an acre.
To provide fresh vegetables over a long period of time, make interval plantings of any one vegetable every 10-14 days. This practice works particularly well for crops such as beans, sweet corn and peas which have a short "peak" period of quality.
Don't plant too much of any one crop at one time, especially those crops which must be eaten fresh, like radish, and cannot be stored.
Find information about varieties, time of planting, spacing, and more in the Vegetable Gardening section of EDIS

Arranging & Rotating Crops

Resist the temptation to plant too much. Keep your garden small. Every square foot you plant in the spring will need to be weeded, irrigated and harvested in the heat of the summer.
Run rows north and south so that exposure to sunlight is even for all rows.
Allow space between rows for convenient cultivation with the type of tool you plan to use.
Use stakes, string and a yardstick to lay off straight rows. Place a garden label at the head of each row. Information on the label should include the crop, variety and planting date.
Design your garden so that crop rotation is practiced. Rotation primarily prevents diseases from living over from season to season. Avoid growing the same vegetable in the same location more often than once every three years. In fact, rotation should be by families of crops as well as by individual crops.

Group crops by similar planting and harvest dates to keep the entire garden in production as much as possible. Within each grouping (block), consider arrangement according to plant size. Plants in these groups should be rotated to different spots each season.

tomato
potato
eggplant
pepper
okra

watermelon
cucumber
squash
zucchini
cantaloupe
pumpkin

cabbage
kale
broccoli
turnips
cauliflower
collards
mustard

beans
peas
southern peas

More than one crop, each requiring about the same spacing, may be planted within a single row.
Under certain conditions, planting on the south side slope of a bed running east and west might have advantages such as wind protection and quicker soil warm-up.
Crops that span more than one season, such as strawberries, should be placed to one side of the garden so they do not interfere with seasonal preparation of the garden.
Interplant quick-growing crops like radish among slower-growing ones. Fast-growing crops are out of the way before the longer-growing crop needs the space.
Plant sweet corn in blocks rather than in single rows so that much pollen is present in the air around the corn stalks. This practice should produce better pollination and ear fill-out.

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Varieties

Want veggies from around the world? Refer to the EDIS listing of Vegetables by Type.
Many new garden varieties are hybrids. Buy new hybrid seed each garden season. You'll be disappointed with plants you grow from hybrid seed that you save from one season to the next.
Plant two or more varieties having different maturity dates to prolong the season for any one crop. While genetic crossing may occur, this is a problem only in sweet corn where "xenia" effects show up on the ears (example: yellow kernels mixed with white ones).

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Weeds & Pests

To reduce annual weeds, spade or till the garden, then leave it for several weeks and till again before planting.
If nematodes are a problem, use solar pasteurization the year before planting, using clear plastic.
Organic gardening tips, including solarization, are just a click away.

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Transplants

Set only the best transplants that are strong, stocky, vigorous and disease-free. Avoid transplants that are "leggy."

Some plants are easier to transplant than others.

Easy (transplant)	Some Care Needed	Difficult (direct seed)
beet broccoli cabbage cauliflower collards lettuce tomato pepper	carrot eggplant kale onions leek	bean corn cucumber cantaloupe mustard peas squash turnips okra watermelon

Check transplants for diseases, insect damage and mishandling before you buy them. Set plants, normally at the original ground level and water them, but not too much.
Often a water soluble "starter fertilizer" is used to water in transplants. Some garden centers carry 8-32-16, 12-24-12, 15-30-15, 20-20-20 or similar water soluble fertilizers which are mixed at the rate of 2 tablespoons per gallon of water. Apply 1 cup of this solution around the base of transplants as they are set in the garden.

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Soil & Fertilizer

One-half of the pre-plant or main application of fertilizer should be broadcast over the entire garden plot 1-2 weeks before planting, and mixed with the top-soil.
Get help understanding your soil test results.
High concentrations of fertilizer may reduce seed germination or cause seedling damage due to salt injury. Get local garden fertilizer recommendations.
Band the other half of pre-plant fertilizer in furrows about 6 inches apart and 3-4 inches deep. Spread the fertilizer down the furrows, then fill furrows level with soil. Plant between the bands. Bands should be 2-3 inches below and to the side of the seed. Fertilizer should not come in contact with the seed, or you'll get "fertilizer burn."
Check the pH (acidity) early, and lime if necessary 2-3 months before planting. Spread the lime and till it well into the top 6-8 inches of soil.
See the IFAS fact sheet: Soil Preparation and Liming
Most garden vegetables yield best in soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Calcium, an ingredient in limestone and gypsum, may prevent blossom end rot of vegetables such as tomatoes and watermelons. If you have not limed the garden in the past 3 to 4 years, a pH test should be run. Always have your garden soil pH checked before applying lime.
Heavy rainfall or irrigation can "leach" fertilizer beyond the plant's root zone or cause it to run off. The fertilizer may eventually pollute surface and ground water. Nitrogen and potassium are relatively soluable and subject to leaching. Applying fertilizer at lower rates and more often is more desirable than fewer large applications.
Fertilizers of similar ratios may be substituted according to availability and price. To achieve the same level of fertilization as one pound of 10-10-10, you may use 1-2/3 pounds of 6-6-6, or 1-1/4 pounds of 8-8-8, or 3/4 pound of 13-13-13.
1 cup of fertilizer weighs about ½ pound
1 pint of fertilizer weighs just less than 1 pound
1 quart of fertilizer weighs about 1¾ pounds

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Watering & Irrigation

Irrigate gardens to get good growth, and to avoid blossom-end rot which may occur when soil moisture goes from wet to dry to wet. Less frequent, heavy irrigation is preferred to frequent light sprinklings.
When you water with overhead sprinklers, check the wetting pattern for uniformity and overlap. Set a #10 can on a flat portion of the garden that is typical of the wetting pattern. Run the sprinkler until you accumulate ¾-1 inch of water in the can to assure a "deep" watering.

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Weather & Climate

In Monticello, Florida, the mean spring freeze date is March 9 (about a 50% chance of a freeze on or after March 9). The mean fall freeze date is November 16. We have a good chance of frost-free days from March 27 until October 30.
Check the long-term climate data for Jefferson County.

Vegetables grouped by planting time and cold-hardiness requirements:

Very Hardy	Hardy	Not Cold-Hardy	Hot Weather	Medium Heat	Hardy (fall)
4-6 weeks before frost-free date	2-4 weeks before frost-free date	on frost-free date	1+ weeks after frost-free date	well after frost-free date- summer	6-8 weeks before frost date
broccoli cabbage lettuce onions peas potatoes spinach turnip	beets carrots chard mustard radish	snap beans NZ spinach squash sweet corn tomato	lima beans eggplant peppers okra southern peas sweet potato cucumber watermelon zucchini	beans NZ spinach squash sweet corn	beets collard kale lettuce mustard spinach turnip