This post is dedicated to my beginner gardening mistakes… aka all the things I wish I would have done differently (sigh!)… If I could only go back in time…
If you are reading this and haven’t started yet, then this post is for you!
Below are 5 beginner gardening mistakes that I wish I would have done differently:
GARDENING MISTAKE 1:
NOT GIVING MYSELF A HEAD START
I have fallen in love with gardening, so this is two-fold:
I wish I would have started earlier in life. I love the ritual of watering my plants. I love hanging out with my kids outside. I love seeing the plants and their progress over a cup of coffee in the morning. I love getting in the dirt and find everything about the process really peaceful 😊 I’m happy that I’ve discovered it at this point in my life (about to be 33 years old!!) and am excited to continue growing food and flowers every season moving forward.
I also wish I would have started earlier in the growing season. I planted my seeds in early May and I wish I would have started in February or March… this would have given me a head start and probably another round or two of crops. As you remember, I experimented with the Burpee Seed Starting Kit (that blog post HERE) and I would recommend that or something similar to start plants – but instead of starting on May 5th, it should have been closer to February 25th. Oh well, now I know better for next year
GARDENING MISTAKE 2:
SHOULD HAVE PAID MORE ATTENTION TO MY SUN VERSUS SHADE CONDITIONS
Specifically less sun for my avocado tree – I wish I would have planted my avocado tree in a place that didn’t get full sun or in a planter/pot that was easy to roll in and out of light (perhaps something I could have moved under my patio). Right now, the intense Texas sun is burning my baby tree alive! It’s probably in the HOTTEST section of my backyard. Sadly, there are small holes in its leaves because it’s literally burning right through it! To combat this, I’ve set up an umbrella shade system to protect the plant. I let the tree get the morning sun, but around noon I will go outside and set up this little “cabana” until the sun goes down.
Less shade for my cilantro and dill too – I wish I would have placed my dill and cilantro in shadier locations. Cue the song “and another one bites the dust”. One day I was admiring how my cilantro was starting to look great… the green leaves started to take shape and look like the real deal. Then the next day is was dead.
I should have done a little more research about the proper care and conditions because that would have told me that cilantro thrives in cool, partial sun. I’ve gone ahead and ordered another packet of cilantro seeds and can’t wait to start over because I love it! It’s my second favorite herb, after basil, and something I regularly purchase at the grocery store.
I’ve also learned that this herb takes a bit longer than everything else (longer than 20 days to sprout)… so next time I will practice more PATIENCE!!
GARDENING MISTAKE 3:
SHOULD HAVE UTILIZED MORE CONTAINERS & USED IN-GROUND SPACE
When I first started, I ONLY wanted to do the Square Foot Gardening method (and I’m still loving it), but I also recognize that some vegetables are not doing as well as I expected. Specifically, my jalapenos and watermelons – for whatever reason they are thriving OUTSIDE of the boxes and that’s okay!
My jalapenos are not loving the raised beds. If I could start over, I wish I would have grown my jalapeno peppers in a small container vs. the square foot garden boxes. According to the book, you are allowed one pepper per square foot… so that’s what I did. I transferred one jalapeno seedling into four separate spaces. They still look ridiculously TINY and no where near producing fruit. Ironically, the one that I almost tossed because I didn’t have space for him is living in the mint container and is kicking the rest of the gang’s butt! It’s by far the tallest and best looking plant (note: still no sign of a pepper forming).
Watermelons should grow in the ground. I wish I would have planted all my watermelons on the ground. I’ve been following the Square Foot Garden method and in the book, it says that you CAN grow watermelons in the box but that you need to give it two plots instead of just one – so that’s what I did. Now I kind of feel like I wasted precious real estate.
However, I’m not sure I can speak to any watermelon success because all my plants are either male-only or not producing flowers.
Again, “too much heat” could be a culprit for why things aren’t going as well as I wanted… but I do notice that the watermelons on the ground are growing bigger and stronger than the one I planted in the Square foot garden box. I intentionally selected the #1 strongest watermelon seedling and transferred THAT one to the box (favorite child) and de-prioritized the rest of the seedlings to grow on the floor.
Now in an ironic turn of events, the floor watermelons are HUGE and the one in the box is barely longer than 12 inches… My watermelon seed packet says “90 days until harvest”, and I’m on day 75 or so with no sign of a watermelon fruit. I highly doubt one will suddenly appear in the next 15 days which makes me feel like all my watermelon efforts were a bust (tear).
GARDENING MISTAKE 4:
SHOULD HAVE GIVEN MY TOMATOES BETTER LIGHT
Tomatoes need full sun. If I could start over, I would have ensured that all my tomatoes received full sun and that there were not any trees blocking their precious light. This was something that I noticed from the very beginning when I was sketching out my sun map (blog post on that HERE) but didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
However, take a look at my outer boxes compared to my middle box. Please note that my neighbor behind me has two trees that extend branches and shadows into my backyard and over my outer boxes. It’s the only thing that can really explain the differences between tomato plants.
GARDENING MISTAKE 5:
WISH I PLANTED FLOWERS AS WELL
Flowers please! I wish I would have added some color and beauty to my backyard with some cheery flowers. As a beginner gardener I really wanted to take things slow and focus on one thing at a time. I tend to get “shiny ball” syndrome and start chasing a million different things because I want to try it all! Because getting my kids involved was such a priority to me, I thought it would be best to start with homegrown veggies.
I figured if I can show my children the full life cycle of something they grew themselves… they would be more inclined to make healthy eating choices and enjoy eating vegetables. But If I could go back in time, I would have picked some colorful flowers to add as well! I really want to try sunflowers because they make me happy. I definitely see flower gardening in my future, in addition to fruits and veggies!
IN CONCLUSION
As you can see, this was a little bit of a vent post! I’m getting a little frustrated and stumped on what’s going on with my garden. I feel like the only thing I’ve successfully been able to grow is basil and mint.
Everything else started off great, but is acting very stubborn. It’s as if something has stumped it’s growth. I don’t want to just blame the weather and say that “it’s too hot” but I’m really concerned that I’m doing something wrong.
To recap, my tomatoes, jalapenos, dill, watermelon, carrots, and most of my radishes have tanked. My basil is strong and I’ve been able to harvest about 8 good radishes (out of 32). I know that this is only my first attempt and there’s a lot of room to grow (pun intended).
The good news is that I’m not giving up! I will continue to learn and figure it out as I go. I have a lot of homework to do in terms of reading. I know that knowledge is power and I plan to apply what I learn.
That being said… if you have any hypotheses or recommendations for this amateur mama gardener… please help a girl out! I’m always happy to hear from you and learn from this wonderful gardening community. Let me know in the comments.