Gardening thread! If you are interested in growing your own fruits and veggies, take a look at this thread to learn some tips from a new gardener!! Feel free to share this thread to encourage your friends to try something new! It’s seriously so much fun!!

Let’s start with cucumbers. They are super easy to grow! Cucumbers are a vining plant. Vining plants need lots of space to grow so I put them in their own pot. Cucumbers grow really fast and they yield a lot of product at once.

If you’re a first time gardener, cucumbers are a good start! Very low maintenance. Peep the pickles I made from my fresh cucumbers!

Next is peppers! Peppers are my favorite to grow! The larger peppers are all carnival peppers and just look at them! They’re gorgeous and so sweet! I also grew cowhorn peppers, jalapeño peppers, ghost peppers (idk why lol), and serrano peppers which are all spicy.

Cowhorns are the long thin peppers in the first picture and they are so good! Especially when they turn red. The longer you leave peppers on, the better they taste! Here’s some more pepper pics!!

Keep in mind that some peppers are harder to grow! I struggled growing different blends. This is why it’s so important to do your research beforehand! Peppers along with most of the other plants I grew needed a lot of nitrogen and phosphorus to grow.

Next we have tomatoes! Tomatoes are also pretty easy to grow. It’s a good idea to let them grow on a trellis so they have support. I grew yellow pear tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes. All of the heirloom tomatoes I grew were red but one of them came out yelllow!

Next on the list is cabbage! Cabbage is very low maintenance and it’s so fun watching it grow and curl into a cute little ball! I would say that cabbage required the least maintenance out of everything I grew.

I will say that caterpillars love to eat cabbage, broccoli, collards and more. So unfortunately I had to buy a spray to get rid of them I’m a terrible person I know.

Next we have watermelon. Watermelon are also pretty easy to grow but boy do they need a lot of water! They need multiple gallons a day. I grew two different kinds. They were really small but they were so juicy and sweet!

Next we have strawberries!! Strawberries are another low maintenance plant. My only problem was that they grew so small!! Even though they were small, they were still really sweet!

Last on the list is zucchini. Zucchini is tricky to grow in my opinion. The plant is dramatic when it needs water as you can see It’s a vining plant so it needs space. They attract these bugs called spider mites that eventually got ahold of my other plants so it was a mess.

I gave the zucchini plant the right nutrients but I was only able to grow a few. Most of the zucchini’s that formed died soon after. I will say that it was the best zucchini I ever had!! The longer you leave them on the bigger they get! Look at how gorgeous the flowers are!

Most important things I’ve learned:

1. Do your research! Every plant is different. Every plant requires different nutrients, different soil types, and different care overall. Next year I plan on getting a journal so I can keep track of everything in one place.

2. Give them love and attention! This is super important! Don’t just plant them and leave them! They are like children. They need encouragement and words of affirmation. It’ll be so worth it in the end! Everything I’ve grown has tasted 10x better than the store bought version.

3. Make sure the pH is correct. Plants require different pH levels. You can buy a pH tester to make sure the soil is at the correct level.

4. BE PATIENT!!! This is not a quick process. Make sure you look up when you should plant your fruits and veggies to give them ample time to grow in the proper environment. It’s really all trial and error. Plants are super resilient so don’t be sad if you run into problems!

Right now I’m growing broccoli, collards, and cabbage! They are great fall/winter plants! Most of my fav fruits and veggies aren’t able to survive the winter. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product in the next few weeks! P.S. Don’t be like me. Give your plants space!