Helpful Hints for Gardeners Outside the United States

If you live outside the United States and frequently check our web page to discover new and different solutions for your garden problems, you may be disappointed quite often because many of the products mentioned on our web page are not available to you. This problem has existed for generations and will probably continue indefinitely in the future. This complicates matters because, without some of these products, your problems will also continue, for which we are sorry.

Not all is lost because some difficult problems may be solved by changing the way you garden, also by using basic products which are generally available throughout the world. Starting now, we will provide frequent updates to this “foreign page” so you can incorporate new concepts in your garden work to reduce or eliminate the problems with plants, mostly growing food.

Vegetable Gardens: Sowing Seed

Water is a priority when you plant seeds to grow food. If water is not plentiful, you should take this into consideration before you plant. Plants with shallow roots need more water than plants with deeper root systems. Plants with shallow roots lose moisture faster to the sun than plants whose roots are much deeper in the soil. How can you take advantage of this situation?

No matter how you have been planting seed before, PLANT ALL SEED DEEPER IN THE SOIL. A good rule is to plant seeds twice as deep as you have in the past. If you were planting at 10-12 millimeters, increase planting depth to 25 millimeters. After planting, you will still have to water the soil lightly every day to make moisture available for seed germination, but once the plant has sprouted from the soil, the need for water is sharply reduced. Plants with deeper roots are better able to forage for water than shallow-rooted plants.

When you apply water is also critical. The best time to water is in the early morning soon after the sun has risen. Water applied to the soil at this time will be absorbed by the roots, with no loss of water from the soil by evaporation. Plants always have their fill of water when moisture is applied soon after sunrise.

To conserve water (not only that which you apply, but that from rain), always cover the soil with an organic compound: (decaying leaves if they are available, otherwise thin strips of paper). Anything that covers the soil will prevent sunlight from robbing moisture from the soil, this moisture then made available to the roots of plants. A thin covering of mulch will stop weed seeds from germinating, too.

If you use contaminated water (effluent), there could be problems if you grow any food harvested from the soil; some examples are beets, onions, turnips, etc. You should not use effluent water if you are growing root crops because such water will contaminate the vegetables and render them unfit for human consumption. However, if you are growing above-the-ground crops, effluent water may be used for irrigation purposes, BUT CONTAMINATED WATER MUST NOT BE POURED OVER THE PLANTS. Effluent water can only be applied to the soil.