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PunkRotten
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Helping a friend start up a garden need some help

Hi,


I got a friend into gardening this year after I gave them a few of my extra plants. I gave them tomato, pepper, and basil plants. The grow area is around 4x4 gets plenty of sun and they water every day or every other day. They have had tiny success and I think it is mostly due to the soil being poor. It is almost entirely hard clay. I told them to just buy a bag of garden soil and mix it in. They did but the soil still isn't that much better. Since I am not able to see them that often I can only give them little bits of info every time I see them. I told them to add lots of organic materials to the soil, add leaves , crushed eggshells, coffee grounds, and bury veggie scraps in between plants. I told them that by the start of next year I will try to bring them a bunch of compost and manure if possible.

They were talking about wanting to start a 2nd bed near it about the same size. I asked them what type of plants would the like to grow cause I wanna help them get started next Spring. They told me they want zucchini, eggplant, sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, tomato, and maybe cucumbers. I have no experience with zukes, potatoes, or eggplant. Could anyone give me some pointers about growing them? I'd really like it all to work out good so it would leave a positive impression with them and they would continue gardening. Thanks

Bobberman
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A 4 by 4 area is enough room for probably only 4 to 6 zucks. If you plant them too close they will do poorly!

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PunkRotten
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Yeah I think I will only plant like 2 vines or maybe 3 depending on how much they want and it will grow up a trellis. They want only 1 tomato plant, maybe 1-2 eggplants and the rest potatoes. Besides the tomato, what kind of spacing do these plants need?

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jal_ut
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First off, a 4x4 bed is about right for one tomato plant if its indeterminate. 3 to 4 if its determinate. If they want zucchini you could put 4 plants in a 4x4 bed. They would crawl out of the bed, the silly vines will get up to 4 feet long. Even if they are "bush" type. Potatoes, you could plant maybe 6 plants in that 4x4. Eggplant? Don't waste your time.

Oh, its not a good idea to mix things into the soil after plants are growing. You cause too much damage to the roots. Best to just add things to the surface. The time to do soil amendments and mix them in, is when there is nothing growing in the soil. You may not like to use the commercial fertilizers, but for a boost on soil that can't be helped much at present, get some Miracle Grow.

Bobberman
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I would not waste my time with potatoes in such a small bed. Zucks do not climb but the cukes will! Cukes need smaller space! Have them grow a half dozen kentucky wonder climbing beans or snow peas you will get a few meals from them! Plant the beans on the north side so they don't shade the others

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applestar
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4x4 feet may seem like a tiny space, but someone who's planting in that size bed isn't expecting a whole lot of harvest, and a little of this and a little of that is enough to delight... Or so I think. :wink:

I have 4'x10' raised beds that are divided into 4'x4' and 4'x6' so I've done a lot of creative planting in those 4x4 spaces. So first, I would recommend raised beds. One of mine is at ground level with piled soil (occasionally double-dug) and the other has lumber sides and is 12" deep (actually potentially 16" deep if filled to the top). Deeper raised bed will give them more options and will allow more dense planting. A tall (say 6') vertical trellis should be put up on the north side of the bed. (I use nylon netting secured to bamboo pole uprights and a cross beam)

In a new bed, legumes and regular/sweet potatoes are excellent first crop because they don't need a whole lot of nutrients, legumes accumulate nitrogen in the soil, and the potatoes dig down deep with their roots that get left behind at harvest, and all the surface level potato tubers help to loosen up the soil.

Things like potatoes and sweet potatoes are best planted on their own and not combined with other crops because at harvest time, the entire bed is dug out. That said, I have grown regular potatoes in 3/4 of the bed and used the 1' strip to grow greens and bush beans. in other words, you can plant other things along the edges, especially if they get harvested before digging starts or if they finish up at around the same time. And you can also plant other crops in rotation AFTER the potatoes are dug. (I usually sow/plant fall crop after regular potatoes and plant garlic after sweet potatoes)

Do they want to start planting in this new bed now? Or are we talking next spring? Do you have enough growing season left to grow sweet potatoes? If not, bush beans and pole beans would be a good way to start right now.

It's a bit difficult for me to conceptualize your climate, but I think maybe favas and garden peas could be started in late fall/winter to coincide the harvest with when potatoes get planted in early spring. If they want to, they can save the 1' strip for fast growing spring crops like spinash, radish, lettuce, Asian greens, turnip, then when those are done, sow bush beans. There should be a low fence surrounding the potatoes to support the vines from flopping over.

Hmmm... Now that I started, I see I need more information about when they want to start planting to properly advise. I can't keep describing different combinations and crop rotations I have grown, or this will take all night. :lol:



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