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 1 4/5/2011 Know how. Know now. Know how. Know now. Advantages . Raised beds warm more quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and plant 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 plants you plan to grow there. After the initial construction process, raised beds require less maintenance than conventional garden beds. 2 4/5/2011 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 mulch . Reduces weeds . Retains moisture . Cools the soil 3 4/5/2011 Know how. Know now. 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 crop and a short season crop 4 4/5/2011 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 Carrots, 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 beans 5 4/5/2011 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 6 4/5/2011 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 . Pollen from one plant attracts or acts as a trap crop keeping insects away from another type of plant . Complimentary nutrient needs—corn and beans Know how. Know now. 7 4/5/2011 Know how. Know now. Know how. Know now. Succession Planting . Planting new plants immediately upon harvesting the mature plants resulting in 2 to 3 crops per year from the same space—peas to peppers . Timing and plant knowledge is critical! . Corn after peas 8 4/5/2011 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 9 4/5/2011 Know how. Know now. Vertical Gardening Know how. Know now. 10 4/5/2011 Know how. Know now. What is gardening by the square foot? . Intensive gardening technique developed by Mel Bartholomew . Based on the Victory Garden 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 11 4/5/2011 Know how. Know now. Know how. Know now. 12 4/5/2011 Know how. Know now. Benefits of Sq Ft Gardening . Much less work . Water savings . Reduced weeding . Reduced pesticide use . Accessibility Know how. Know now. Strong Focus On….. Compost . Permanent raised beds . Biointensity 13 4/5/2011 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 Know how. Know now. Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture 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. 14.