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Month: April 2021

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Sidedressing

Apply additional fertilizer along the row 4 to 6 inches from the base of the plants when the plants are established. This additional fertilizer or sidedressing is usually in the form of additional nitrogen.

When to sidedress: 
BeansAt 3- to 4-leaf stage
Bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoesAfter first fruit set
Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower3 weeks after transplanting
CornWhen 8 inches high
Cucumbers, watermelonWhen vines begin to run
Mustard, turnips, collardsWhen plants are about 1/3 grown
OkraAfter first pods are harvested
OnionsWhen tops are 6 inches high
SquashWhen plants are 8 to 10 inches tall
Information gathered from Alabama Cooperative Extension System

Support the Montgomery Botanical Gardens when you shop on Amazon and a portion of your purchase will go to improve the Gardens.

1. Go to smile.amazon.com

2. Click the ‘Start Shopping’ button

3. Shop as usual.

Gardening Calendar

APR-2021

April: Annuals & Perennials

Plant annuals or bedding plants.

Divide mums and root cuttings. Dig and divide dahlias.

Information gathered from Alabama Cooperative Extension System

Support the Montgomery Botanical Gardens when you shop on Amazon and a portion of your purchase will go to improve the Gardens.

1. Go to smile.amazon.com

2. Click the ‘Start Shopping’ button

3. Shop as usual.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Rotating Crops in Your Garden

Rotating vegetable plantings reduces infestations that damage your garden. Learn keys to successful crop rotation.

Among the joys of gardening are poring over seed catalogs and sketching a layout for next year’s vegetable garden. When planning your vegetable garden, keep in mind the importance of crop rotation. Planting different crops in a location as opposed to planting the same crop in the same spot each year can reduce problems with insects, nematodes, and diseases.

Disease-causing organisms and nematodes slowly accumulate in the soil over time. Growing the same crop in the same location year after year allows these organisms to reach levels that can cause infection of plants or simply kill them outright.

Another reason to rotate is that some crops use more of certain nutrients. Growing the same crop in the same spot can deplete the soil of those nutrients.

The table of vegetable plant families provided here offers you an easy guide to follow when choosing a crop to plant. Do not plant anything from the same family in the same location or in the same soil 2 years in a row. This is the key to successful crop rotation in a home garden.

Information gathered from Alabama Cooperative Extension System

Support the Montgomery Botanical Gardens when you shop on Amazon and a portion of your purchase will go to improve the Gardens.

1. Go to smile.amazon.com

2. Click the ‘Start Shopping’ button

3. Shop as usual.

Gardening Calendar

APR-2021
April: Vegetable Seed
  • Plant tender vegetables such as beans, corn, squash, melons and cucumbers.
Tips for Growing Squash: All types of squash are highly susceptible to frost and should be seeded in the garden after danger of frost is over. Squash are normally planted in hills 15 to 36 inches apart in rows 36 to 60 inches apart. Plant seed about 1 inch deep. Squash usually do not do well until soil and air temperatures are above 60 degrees F. When the first blooms appear, apply a small amount of fertilizer as a sidedress application and water it in. After harvest begins, an occasional light fertilizer application maintains vigorous growth and high productivity.
Information gathered from Alabama Cooperative Extension System

Support the Montgomery Botanical Gardens when you shop on Amazon and a portion of your purchase will go to improve the Gardens.

1. Go to smile.amazon.com

2. Click the ‘Start Shopping’ button

3. Shop as usual.