Several important things should be done in the garden after the seeds are up and the plants are planted. Remember that thinning the plants is just as important as keeping the weeds out of your garden. And, improper watering can do more harm than good in the garden.

The best time to "thin-out" vegetables is when you are weeding for the first time. Pull out the smaller plants when they are 1 to 2 inches tall and the soil is moist. Be careful not to damage the roots of the remaining plants. Press the soil firmly with one hand while pulling the neighboring plant with the other hand. If it is hot and dry, give the plants a gentle and thorough watering after thinning to perk them up.

A small well kept garden will out produce a large weedy garden. The time to stop weeds is just as they are coming up. Once weeds gain a foothold, weeding means hard work. Shallow roto-tilling or hoeing a day or two after a rain is an excellent time to weed. Hoe off weeds in the heat of the day so they dry out and die in the sun. Don't water after weeding since weeds will re-root. And don't let a few late season weeds spread thousands of seeds over your soil. You'll just have to fight them next year.

If you water for a brief period each day, you will only wet the upper inch of soil. A sudden hot spell could severely damage your garden if you forget to water for a couple of days or are out of town for the weekend. During dry periods, one thorough watering each week of one to two inches of moisture is usually enough. The soil should be wetted to a depth of 6-12 inches each time you water and not watered again until the top few inches dry out. Any watering system that wets the plant leaves, increases disease damage, especially if the foliage remains wet overnight. If you use sprinklers, water your garden in the early morning or early evening.

This page was last updated April 2003

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