4/5/2011

Intensive Growing Techniques

Know how. Know now.

Vaughn Hammond Extension Educator University of Nebraska –Lincoln Kimmel Education & Research Center [email protected] 402-873-3166

Know how. Know now. Raised Beds

. The ground floor standard for intensive production . Creates the ideal soil environment for vegetable production . 3-4 foot wide and as long as you need . With or without enclosure

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Know how. Know now. Advantages

. Raised beds warm more quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and earlier. . Raised beds drain better. . The soil in raised beds doesn't get compacted, because they are constructed with accessibility in mind. . It's easy to tailor the soil for your raised bed to the you plan to grow there. . After the initial construction process, raised beds require less maintenance than conventional beds.

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Know how. Know now. Steps of Productivity

Know how. Know now. Intensive Planting

. Ideally leaves from one plant just touch neighboring plant or slightly . Planting in beds rather than rows . Square . Equidistant . Acts as a natural . Reduces . Retains moisture . Cools the soil

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Know how. Know now. Interplanting . Growing 2 or more types of vegetables , usually only 2, in very close proximity to each other so that they combine certain characteristics to each plant’s mutual benefit. Generally, intensive planting techniques are being practiced. . Example---Long season and a short season crop

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Know how. Know now. Interplanting Considerations

. Plant height . Growing period . Root structure

Know how. Know now. Interplanting Approaches

. Planting sun loving plants next to shade tolerant plants Tomatoes and lettuce . Combine plants according to above ground growth , onions and lettuce . Combine plants according to below ground growth Deep rooted carrots with shallow rooted cabbage . Combine long season with short season Peppers and spinach . Combine heavy feeders with soil builders Kale and

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Know how. Know now. Advantages

. Efficient use of space . Insects – aromatic confusion

Know how. Know now. Companion Planting

. Plants are grown together in order to take advantage of some complementary physical or chemical relationship that is beneficial to one or both of them

. A more sophisticated form of interplanting All companion plantings are interplantings but not all interplantings are companion plantings

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Know how. Know now. Ways Companion Plantings are Benefical . Roots of one plant excrete substance that help the other plant—Marigold roots excret a substance that repels nematodes . Strong aroma—Sage aroma repels cabbage worm butterflies . from one plant attracts or acts as a trap crop keeping insects away from another type of plant . Complimentary nutrient needs—corn and beans

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Know how. Know now. Succession Planting

. Planting new plants immediately upon harvesting the mature plants resulting in 2 to 3 per year from the same space—peas to peppers . Timing and plant knowledge is critical! . Corn after peas

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Know how. Know now. Rotation

. Planting a given crop in a different spot in the garden each year to balance the depletion of soil nutrients, reduce insect concentrations and to help control disease

. Not just different crops but different families

Know how. Know now. Rotation Example

. Heavy feeder followed by soil builders followed by light feeders

. Must know your crops nutritional needs---leaf crops consume nitrogen, root crops consume potassium . Do not follow carrots with another root crop

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Know how. Know now. Vertical

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Know how. Know now. What is gardening by the square foot? . Intensive gardening technique developed by Mel Bartholomew . Based on the concept . 1ft X 1ft planting grid . Combines several intensive gardening techniques to increase garden biodynamics and yield

Know how. Know now. The 10 Basic Tenets

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Know how. Know now. Benefits of Sq Ft Gardening

. Much less work . Water savings . Reduced weeding . Reduced use . Accessibility

Know how. Know now. Strong Focus On…..

. . Permanent raised beds . Biointensity

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Know how. Know now. Summary

. Each of the individual techniques are not too hard to accomplish in themselves. The difficulty is combining more than one technique and the difficulty increases with each additional technique8

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Extension is a Division of the Institute of and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska– Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture.

University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

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