How to grow early vegetables without a greenhouse

Recommendation points

• General issues of growing early vegetables
• Soil preparation
• The simplest structures for growing early vegetables
• Greenhouses
• Growing healthy, seasoned seedlings

Many people believe that growing early vegetables is available only to those who have a full-fledged solid greenhouse in their household. This opinion is wrong. Yes, in a greenhouse, if you have heating and the necessary equipment, you can grow vegetables all year round. However, the financial costs will be appropriate.

Building and maintaining a greenhouse requires a significant investment and a lot of time, as well as the availability of relevant knowledge and experience. So, in most cases it will be unprofitable for an ordinary household farm. A built greenhouse can pay off for more than one year. In this article, we will talk about simpler and less costly ways to get early vegetable products that anyone can master..

Vegetables are the most valuable food product, which, if used correctly, is able to satisfy the body’s needs for all vitamins and microelements. The most useful are exactly those vegetables that we grow ourselves – in personal plots and dachas. The deteriorating economic situation prompts many people to return to their gardens, and the most enterprising owners, living in their own house in the city or in the village, even manage to earn a little extra money with this type of activity, especially if we take into account the early vegetable production.

General issues of growing early vegetables

Obviously, it is not enough just to grow something in your garden, you need to strive to expand the range of vegetables, as well as to increase the period of their fruiting. So, for example, subject to special simple agrotechnical techniques, cucumbers can fall on our table from mid-May to late September, and fresh tomatoes can be harvested within 3-4 months, and not 1.5-2, as many are used to.

If you decide to start growing early vegetables, then first of all, you need to pay attention to the fact that for this you need to use early varieties or hybrids. The difference in harvesting, for example, early and late tomatoes or peppers can be 40-50 days. It is recommended to buy seeds in specialized stores. This will give you confidence that the contents of the sachet match the labeling on the package. In addition, here you can get valuable advice from the seller regarding the choice of a particular variety that is suitable specifically for your conditions..

The optimal timing of planting, both seeds for seedlings and planting them in the ground, should be given special attention. The correct planting time is a potent agricultural technique, and this is especially true for early vegetable production. Here you should adhere to the exact dates indicated on the packages with seeds and in other sources describing a particular crop – that is, not earlier, and not later.

Soil preparation

Early vegetable growing is always associated with the intensive cultivation of any crop, therefore, one simply cannot do without light fertile soils and organic fertilizers. The area where it is planned to grow early vegetables must be well prepared, preferably in the fall, or in early spring in the February-March windows. For digging in the fall, it is necessary to add rotted manure, best of all goat manure, matured compost and ash. This will enrich the soil with essential microelements and beneficial microorganisms..

A site for planting early vegetables is best chosen on the southern or southeastern slopes. Here the soil dries out and warms up faster, becomes “mature”, that is, suitable for starting work.

If your plot is flat, then planning the layout of the beds should be in length in the direction from north to south, or from north-east to south-west. With this arrangement, the sun’s rays will evenly warm the earth throughout the day..

On flat areas, special attention should be paid to lighting. Early vegetables should never be planted near tree crowns, they will shade the plants from the sun. Trees can only be located on the north side. In this case, they can provide some protection from cold northerly winds, and will not shade crops from sunlight..

To accelerate the maturation of the soil, you can use the creation of high bulk ridges, the temperature in which during the day is always 3-6 degrees higher than on a flat surface. The use of bulk ridges is especially advisable in areas with a high level of groundwater, and if the soil is poor in necessary substances. Such ridges will give the greatest effect when an insulating layer of compost and manure is added to them. It is better to cut loose ridges in the fall, then in the spring they will ripen and warm up faster. This will make it possible to speed up the planting of seedlings or seeds, which means that the crop will appear on your table much earlier..

When constructing high fill ridges, one must take into account the fact that the ground under them cools faster at night. It can be dangerous for plants during frost periods..

The simplest structures for growing early vegetables

The most primitive structures that provide a good result when growing early vegetable products are wind shields and screens. Practice shows that in places protected by shields, the temperature is several degrees higher than in an open area. Such screens can be of various lengths and heights. For example, a shield 1–1.5 meters high and 3-4 meters long can be made from the stems of tall plants such as corn and sunflower. The production of windscreens significantly improves the microclimate in the places where they are installed, which will make it possible to plant seedlings or seeds 15–20 days earlier than usual. It is advisable to combine wind shields with the method of cutting high ridges.

Paper is an excellent material for protecting plants from spring frosts, and paper bags for dairy products and juice are perfect for creating a suitable microclimate when planting seeds of thermophilic crops such as zucchini, watermelon, melon and others in the holes. In such bags, the bottom is cut off, resulting in a four-sided pipe. Then it is cut from all sides by 2-3 cm, these “wings” are bent, and the bag is placed on the hole. For stability, you need to warm up a little earth on the wings.

Plastic bottles are perfect for the same purpose. To do this, you need to cut off their upper part, the one with the lid, and set it on the hole, with the sown seeds. In case of frost, you just need to screw the lid.

These elementary methods make it possible to plant seeds two to three weeks earlier, and not only maintain an optimal microclimate in the hole, but also provide reliable protection of a newly hatched plant from pests.

To create an improved microclimate for a group of plants, you can use arched tunnel shelters. The frame for such structures is made, as a rule, from a rod or metal wire rod. Bent arcs are installed every 0.6-1.5 meters and tied on both sides with twine or wire. A film is subsequently pulled onto such a frame, which is tied with a wire from the ends, and covered with earth on the sides. This method of fastening is quite simple, however, it is not very convenient to use. For airing, each time you need to rake off the earth, and then rake it in place. It will be more convenient if, on one side, the film is covered with earth, and on the other, it is nailed to a wooden plank. During ventilation, the film is simply wound onto the bar.

Greenhouses

The greenhouse is, perhaps, the most common protected ground structure and is most often intended for growing seedlings. In principle, greenhouses differ from arched tunnel shelters only by the presence of side strapping. By design, one-pitched and two-pitched greenhouses are distinguished. Of the gable ones, the most expedient is a collapsible portable greenhouse with a film coating. Heating in greenhouses is usually biological.

In general, there are a lot of designs and manufacturing options for these structures. For the construction of greenhouses, craftsmen use any building materials available on the farm, for example, old window frames and the like. It should be noted that this does not reduce the efficiency of using such a structure, and significantly reduces money investments. Many amateur gardeners grow seedlings of various crops in greenhouses not only for themselves, but also for sale. This helps to replenish the family budget a little during the season, which, you see, is never superfluous..

Growing healthy, seasoned seedlings

To get early vegetable production of crops such as cucumber, tomato, pepper, eggplant, cabbage, it is imperative to use potted healthy seasoned seedlings. There are several general rules for growing seedlings to get early vegetables:

1. These seedlings should always be grown in pots. This will ensure quick survival, the stronger plants will better tolerate spring frosts..
2. The success of growing seedlings in February and March directly depends on the light. During this period, the illumination on the windowsills is about 100 times lower than in summer, and without “additional lighting” with fluorescent lamps, the plants stretch out and get sick.
3. The temperature regime in this situation is of great importance. Its parameters depend on the age of the seedlings, on the time of day and on the nature of the lighting. Please note that temperatures should be much lower at night than during daytime. The more light, the higher the temperature can be, since in low light and high temperatures the plants will be elongated and pale, and it will be impossible to get a normal harvest from them.
4. Soil nutrition is an important factor. The soil should be light and loose, and also provided with all the nutrients necessary for the plant..
5. Proper watering plays a huge role in growing healthy seedlings. The most viable plants are considered to be grown with moderate watering. Excess moisture greatly pampers the seedlings, and its lack leads to the production of oppressed plants.
6. It is extremely important to harden the seedlings, since from the greenhouse conditions they get into the harsher conditions of open ground. To do this, in warm weather, pots with seedlings are taken out into the open air, first for 1–2 hours, gradually increasing this time. 10–12 days before planting plants in open ground, reduce watering, preventing the plant from wilting. Unhardened seedlings after planting can simply die from sunburn, since glass and plastic film practically do not allow ultraviolet rays to pass through.

So, let’s summarize. What is needed in order to grow early vegetables without spending large financial resources:

• you need to use early varieties and adhere to the optimal planting dates;
• it is necessary to choose the right land plot and prepare the soil;
• for early planting of heat-loving crops, you can use paper bags, plastic bottles, as well as windshields and screens;
• such simple structures as arched tunnel shelters and greenhouses will help you create a favorable microclimate for early planting of seeds in the soil;
• for growing early vegetable products, only potted healthy seasoned seedlings are suitable.

Recently, buying organic vegetables and fruits has become an extremely difficult task, especially for early products. Growing early crops in your backyards will provide your family with healthy and safe vegetables and help diversify your diet. They are always expensive, so if you wish, the surplus can be sold, which will help to slightly improve the state of the family budget during the season..