How to Grow Raspberries

The beginning of spring is the best time for you to plant and grow raspberries. Growing raspberries is actually a good way to have fresh and abundant stock of it that can be perfect for the holidays, and it is also a nice way to boost your health, since raspberries is packed with so many vitamins that will surely prevent illnesses and diseases that can limit your chance of having a happy life.

If you want to grow raspberries, here are the things that you have to do:

Choose The Area Where You Want To Plant It

It is always best to prepare the area where you want to plant your raspberries. This is because you want to make sure that your plants will have enough sunlight, water, and will be planted in a well draining soil. You must also protect your raspberries from birds or trolling raccoons. So you might want to cage your raspberries so you can get a good harvest of it.

Choose The Type Of Raspberry That You Want To Plant

In general, there are two common types of raspberries:

1.  Summer bearing – this is a type of raspberry plant that produces raspberries during the summer only. Once the season is up, it will stop bearing fruits and conserve its energy for the next fruit bearing season, which is next summer again.
2. Ever bearing – this is a type of raspberry plant that can produce raspberries from spring to fall.

Buy Your Canes

Most garden supply stores or even online retailers have raspberry canes. These are the ones you plant, in order to grow your raspberry plant.

Planting Your Canes

Make sure that your soil is acidic. You can do this by adding compost or mulch. By the way, if you have used the soil for tomatoes previously, this might not be the best area where you want to plant your raspberry. This is because according to experienced farmers, raspberries and tomatoes suffer from the same disease, which can be easily transferred through a contaminated soil.

Plant your canes at least halfway down. Make sure that the soil is firm above, in order to hold the canes in place. You might also want to support your growing canes with trellises so that it will not grow unruly. Prune the branches, and remove the ones that are stagnant. These branches will not produce fruits, and will only use the plant’s energy for nothing.

If this is your first time to grow raspberries, it might be better to go with the purple or black ones. They are easier to grow. The red ones are more challenging to grow.

The nice thing about raspberries is that you can use them in a lot of ways. You can eat them raw, make shakes or juices out of them, or even make sauces that are delicious on top of cakes, ice cream and more! Raspberries can also be canned if you want to preserve it and give it as gifts this coming holiday season.

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How to Grow Pumpkins

The nice thing about growing pumpkins is that you can use almost every part of it. The flesh of the pumpkin can make mouth-watering soups for the cold weather, and the seeds can make healthy snacks, when you roast them. Growing pumpkins is actually ideal for people who are just starting to learn how to grow a vegetable garden. This is because growing them is very easy and fun. They also grow in most regions in the country, and their seeds are also inexpensive. You can even use the seeds from a pumpkin that you have bought from the grocery.

Here are a few simple steps for growing pumpkins in your own backyard:

 Planning Your Planting

Pumpkins do not grow healthy during the cold weather, so this is the best time for you to start planting your seeds. Spring is actually a good time for you to plant your pumpkin seeds so that you will have a good harvest just in time for the Halloween carvings.

 Preparing Your Soil

Since pumpkin plant crawl and they grow in vines, you have to make sure that there is an ample space in your garden for you to plant pumpkins. 20 to 30 yards of open space is good enough for one pumpkin patch. Make sure that this area also has enough sunlight during the day, because pumpkins love the warm temperature. You should also make sure that the soil is well draining. Ideally, pumpkins grow better when your soil is clay based.

 Seeds

There are different types of pumpkins that you can plant at home. If you intend to use the pumpkins for the Halloween carving, then you might want to get seeds of larger pumpkins so that you can make nice decorative jack-o-lanterns for the holiday.

 Planting

Your pumpkin seeds should be planted at least 2 inch deep in the soil. You should also make sure to give space in between seeds, so that their roots under the soil will have an ample space to grow. After planting the seeds, cover the soil with compost to give your soil enough nutrients, to ensure healthy and abundant pumpkins during the harvest.

 Nurturing & Nourishing

Make sure that you water your pumpkins are watered regularly to keep the ground moist. Try to avoid the pumpkin leaves when watering, because the moist can often attract fungus, which can hurt your plant. This being said, it is best to water pumpkins early in the morning, so that it will have enough time during the day to dry out. Remember, fungus love moist and dark places. So fungus are likely to attack during the night time.

 Harvest Time

It is easy to tell when the pumpkins are ready for harvesting. If you see them in full size already, and that they have turned into orange already, then this is already a clear sign that your pumpkins are ready for picking and carving to make nice jack-o-lanterns.

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How to Grow Potatoes in a Container

Potatoes are one of the most commonly purchased crops in the market today. Many of us use potatoes at least 3 times a week, making delicious hash browns for breakfast, mashed potatoes for lunch and dinner, and practically using them in so many ways in a lot of the dishes we know.

Potatoes grow in a wide variety of sizes. Larger varieties obviously require more space for them to grow into the right size. But if you have limited space at home, and all you can use are containers to grow potatoes, this is also possible!

If you want to know how to grow potatoes in a container, follow the steps below and achieve great results on your harvest.

 Step 1: Fingerling Potatoes

Since you have limited space, the best variety of potato that will best grow in a container is the fingerling variety. This type of potato does not normally grow more than 3 inches. Use seed potatoes that are small. If they are 3 inches or sometimes bigger, you might want to cut them into two to three pieces.

Step 2: Produce Sprouts

Get your seed potatoes and arrange them in a tray. Spray water to moisten them, and place them under the sun. Soon, they will produce sprouts. Once they do, get them, because at this point, they are now ready for planting.

 Step 3: Prepare The Container

Make sure that your container has holes. This will allow excess water to drain. You do not want water to sit in your container, as this will rot your potatoes for sure. Once you already have the holes, place a wire mesh inside the container, then pour in your potting soil. The wire mesh will prevent the soil from spilling, which can happen, when you start watering the potatoes.

 Step 4: Planting The Sprouts

Once your container is ready, place your potato sprouts inside, and plant them at least 2 inches deep. If you are planting your potatoes in a big container, you have to make sure that they are at least 4 inches away from the sides of your container, and that they are also 6 inches apart from each other. That way, they will be able to have enough room to grow for its roots. You should also place 2 inches of oil on top. Mixing compost and manure will enrich the soil too. Actually, you have to add soil (2 inches) every time your potato plant grows 6 inch taller. That being said, you will have to make sure that your container is deep enough to accommodate the additional soil that you have to place, as your potato grows.

 Step 5: Harvest Time

When your potatoes grow flowers, this is already a good sign that they have fully matured already. Ideally, you need at least 2 months from the time you have planted the sprouts in order for you to do your harvest.

This is how to grow potatoes in a container that turn out wonderfully.

image courtesy of Hair Squared/flickr