Vegetable Gardening Tips

Q. I'm a brand new Mittleider gardener this year, and my garden is doingSO well!! It is really amazing. I've never had such success. Even myseasoned Pro gardener Grandma is impressed with my garden. Thanks so muchfor everyone's help and expertise.Here's the question. I was reading the message...
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Q. I live in Southern Ontario,Canada. We at times get much rain, and at times no rain for weeks.Will heavy rains do any damage to the growing of plants in the "Mittleider Method" ? A. Heavy rains will not be a problem in the Mittleider Method. In fact the Grow-Beds, or Soil-Beds, as well as...
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Automated Watering – Bed Lengths Q. I have 2 - 66' grow boxes and 3 - 32' ones. Do you think I can do the PVC water pipe with the #57 drilled holes for the whole 66 ft? Or should the pipe be enlarged to 1"? A. Grow-Boxes 66’ long will very likely be hard to water. Most water will come out in...
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Q. I had a question regarding soaker tape. my garden is to big for me to try to water with a hose and sock ( 50 + soil beds 60 feet long). But the cost of running pvc and all the fittings and the 400 feet of main line would run me over 2000 dollars just for materials not including the cost of...
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Q. What do you recommend for watering, either Soil-Beds or Grow-Boxes? I have irrigation (lawn style) available in my new garden. Do you like drip watering or sprinklers or other? What would you see as the ideal from an effectiveness and convenience point of view? A. To answer your questions...
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Q. Can I mix the fertilizers with water and use that to feed my plants? How do I do it? And when is it appropriate? One other thought - my watering method is the PVC with the tiny (#57)hole. If this method is used, since there is very little contact with a dry mix, Will the PVC method the use...
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Watering Soil-Beds or Grow-Boxes with pre-drilled 3/4" PVC pipe is fast, works better than a hose or sprinkling, and saves water. Pictorial instructions are on the Garden Master CD, The Mittleider Gardening Course, Grow-Bed Gardening, Let’s Grow Tomatoes, and Gardening By The Foot. First, start...
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Q. I came across a question and answer you gave previously (another article which states that 1" of water in the beds is needed each time you water) and it confused me somewhat. I have a question about putting an inch of standing water on the beds every day. Conventual wisdom is an inch of water...
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If the soil has proper drainage it is hard to over-water, but easy to under-water. To enjoy the highest quality and flavor of fresh garden produce, frequent applications of water are recommended - four to six times per week is ideal. Small amounts of water are used because you only water 17% of the...
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The suggestion to stop watering lettuce 10 days before harvest is ill-advised. Lettuce is a good example of vegetable plants'; need for water all the way through the growing cycle. Water usage by growing lettuce plants actually increases every day right up to the harvest, and the only...
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Q. Won't soaker hoses work as well as PVC for automating my watering? And sprinkling is easiest of all, why not just sprinkle everything? A. Problems with drip or soaker-hose irrigation include: 1) Water must be left on for long periods of time; 2) There is no way of knowing how much water...
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Q. Regarding irrigation, I found a couple of black "soaker" hoses (the type that basically weep out water)and tried them in my grow boxes. They worked very well for me as an irrigation setup for my grow boxes. I did wonder if the black color of the hose could heat up during hot sunny days and...
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Q. I have been watering every day and the ground is now GREEN. Am I doing too much watering? Also when trellising cucumbers or melons, should I cut all but one main stem? And I don't seem to see how to trellis Zucchini or yellow squash. A. Nothing's wrong with having your ground green under...
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Q. Our BIG problem right now is drought. What is the most efficient way to water a garden in drought conditions? A. The Mittleider method of watering is great for saving and making the best use of available water. The narrow ridged beds keep all the water right at the root zone of your plants. ...
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Q. 2. If you spread the Weekly Feed down the center of the bed and you're quite certain that it's going to rain shortly, is it OK to just leave it there for the rain to wash in? Or will it burn the plants somehow? We've getting thunderstorms every night in a row, and my garden is full of...
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Q. We water our gardens with irrigation water. How do we do the Mittleider method? I have pressurized irrigation, but the water comes from the river and clogs the pipes with mud, rocks, worms, and even fish! And my parents have flood irrigation - how do we do the beds to accommodate that? A....
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Q. I am in the process of starting work on the irrigation part of my conversion to the MittleiderMethodGardening system. I would like to ask if the small #57 holes in the pvc pipes present any special trouble with stopping up? A. A #57 hole in a Schedule 200 PVC pipe will not plug up much at all...
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Q. I am going to try the Mitleider method this year. Watering is done by irrigation once a week. Is this alright? Is there anything different I should do? A. No matter what "Method" you use, plants need constant moisture, and must have it or they die. In the arid West, irrigation turns on a...
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Q. What is best, watering from above (sprinklers) or watering from below (flooding or soakers)? A. Sprinklers are the worst - for several reasons, including 1) the great waste of water from evaporation, 2) the waste of water and encouragement of weed growth by watering the aisles, 3) the...
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