How to Plan your Vegetable Plot – Part 1 – What to grow & where to grow it.

There are always lots of decisions when it comes to planning your own plot. Whether you have vegetables in the ground and what to plant next or if you are starting with a new plot, here’s how to start planning your own Vegetable Plot.

Florence Fennel Seedlings in the Mini Greenhouse

1. What do you want to grow?

Some people might think this is an easy question, however it is easy to get carried away with bright colours of carrots, beetroot and chard but not actually like to eat any of them.

It’s also easy to say I want to grow lots of things but I don’t have the space to grow them all. This is when you have to come to a compromise on growing for food and growing for fun.

Beginner Growers

If you are a beginner and new to growing vegetables, I suggest that you choose the vegetables that you would like to eat and then grow them. For some excitement, you could always add an exotic vegetable or two that you haven’t grow before as long as they don’t take up too much space.

My experiences

When I first started growing vegetables, one of the first exotic vegetable seeds I tried to grow was Kohl Rabi. It looked spectacular in the garden, like an alien vegetable and its well worth giving this one ago. I’ll be growing a purple variety of Kohl Rabi this year, so why not Follow my blog by typing in your email address under the Follow Me box to keep up to date with my Sow, Grow and Harvest of this monster vegetable.

Seasoned Growers

If you have been growing vegetables for a few years now, you’ll have your staple vegetables that you will always grow and even stick to certain varieties because you know these reliably grow in your vegetable plot conditions. Then there will be the challenge vegetables, that you introduce, year after year to see if you can grow them or not. There is also the new varieties that you may try each year, giving you a variety of vegetables growing in your plot or you may even introduce some fruit to your plot.

My experiences

This year we have introduced 6 summer fruiting raspberries and 6 autumn fruiting raspberries into our flower now fruit beds and we hope for a harvest this year

We have also got 2 Blueberries in pots and a blackberry bush in a bed which were planted last November. I’ll be updating our fruit garden as we go through the year, follow my blog and sign up to email updates.

2. What areas do I grow in?

You’ll need to ask yourself the question of what do you have to grow in? The answers could be:

Raised beds
Pots or containers
Flowerbeds or borders
Grow bags
Mini greenhouse
Conservatory

Raised Beds

These are beds raised up for easy tending to your vegetables. Raised beds can be varying heights but must be off the ground. The are very advantageous due to you being able to add your own soil mix instead of relying on what soil you have underneath.

Raised beds can also be used on top of concrete, decking or patio slabs.

Advantages of Growing in Raised Beds:

They are raised up so you are not squatting on the ground or kneeling to tend to the plants.
You can add your own soil mix, usually a mix of top soil and multi purpose compost.
If you have high raised beds, by not filling them up to the top with soil could help plants be protected from the wind.

Pots or Containers

If you have a small garden or have run out of room in your raised beds, containers are a lovely way to keep growing in a small space. You must consider how much room the plant needs before adding too many plants to one pot as this will cause overcrowding and you may not get any vegetables.

Things to consider when planting in pots

Watering will be required every second or third day due to the pot soil drying up in the sun. There are solutions like water reservoirs in the bottom of pots or a drip feed off a water butt or tap system.
Feeding will be required as a top up to the compost in the pot. Plant food will need to be watered in or added as pellets into the soil along the growing season to boost the compost. The nutrients in the original compost will get used by the plant and washed away so it will be necessary to replenish the nutrients to keep the plant healthy.
Pests can easily hide in the sides of the pots or under foliage so it will be necessary to check the plant for any signs of slug or snail damage or under the leaves for signs of disease. If you only have 1 plant growing in a pot and a pest attacks it, the plant may die leaving you with no plants, so it is best to keep on top of any plant damage that you see.
Waterlogged & Pot bound – Check that the root ball has not become pot bound because the pot is too small and also that the soil has become waterlogged because there is no drained hole in the pot, as this is detrimental to the health of the plant.

How many vegetable plants to what size pot?

Courgette – 1 Plant per pot sized at least 50cm diameter,
Dwarf Beans – 2 plants in Pot 20-30cm deep x 50cm wide,
Carrots – grow a variety which has small roots 5-10cm and in a pot of 30cm deep. Sow seeds thinly.
Cucumber – 1 plant in a 40cm wide x 30cm deep pot.
Tomato – 1 plant 40cm wide x 30cm deep pot.
Swiss Chard – Grow plants in a 30cm diameter pot.
Radish – sow seeds 1 inch apart in a 20 cm deep pot.
Potatoes – plant 3 seed potatoes in a pot 30cm wide x 30cm deep.
Kohl Rabi – 1 plant in a 20cm deep pot.
Garlic – plant bulbs 3 inches apart in 50cm wide pot.

Grow bags

Grow bags are literally a shallow bag of compost, these are mainly used for growing tomatoes and cucumbers. A hole is cut in the plastic and a tomato or cucumber plant is planted, they will need supporting. You can usually plant 2 or 3 plants in a grow bag. you will need to use tomato feed when the fruit is starting to form as there won’t be enough nutrients in the compost to continue the fruits growth otherwise. Also remember to cut drainage holes so the plants do not get waterlogged.

Mini greenhouse or conservatory

If you have a conservatory and want to turn it over to some of your plants that like heat, plants like peppers, and chillis will do very well under glass as they come from hot climates.

Similarly in summer a mini greenhouse helps young plants or seedlings grow on from the heat of the sun. Be careful not to place in direct sunlight as this will wilt the plants inside and take the cover off in the heat of the summer sun. Make sure if you have plants in cells or trays or small pots that watering takes place morning or night so the water doesn’t evaporate in the hot sun.