Discover how to grow your own vegetables at home
Growing your own vegetables is rewarding as well as healthy and fun, but it can be frustrating if you don’t know how and where to start. While it is true that it is best to grow what you like to eat, you should also pay attention to the types of crops that are most suitable for those who are just starting out in vegetable growing. Ideally, grow all those vegetables that require little maintenance, are ready for harvest in the short term and suffer from few pests and diseases.
Here are the top ten vegetables that any beginner can start with:
Beet
Beets can be planted in shallow furrows, directly in the ground and take a few weeks to grow and yield a crop. The red beet variety is the most common and easiest to grow. It is a crop that can be grown at any time of the year, although the best time is in spring as it grows best in a temperate, humid climate.
2. Salad leaves
Salad leaves, like arugula and oak leaf lettuce, can be potted and harvested so that once cut, they will re-sprout without much maintenance. Salad leaves are a simple crop and have a high resistance to cold, in fact they grow better in the winter months than in very warm months.
3. Cherry tomato
Cherry tomatoes are easier to grow than traditional varieties, as they do not need support and grow sparingly in pots. March and April are perfect for planting so that their flowering and fruiting coincides with the warm summer season.
4. Pope
For the cultivation of potatoes it will be enough to plant the seeds in soil and cover the leaves with soil, once they appear for the first time, and then harvest them a few weeks later. Potatoes planted in early April will be ready to harvest in July, just before the environment becomes very warm and humid.
5. Peas
Sowing is done directly in the soil either in rows or pots. The ideal time of sowing will depend on the variety chosen, but in general terms, the best time is autumn and the pods can be harvested within 3 months.
6. Radish
It is a simple crop because it does not require much maintenance and also having a short cycle, it does not give time to suffer major pest problems. It has good tolerance to cold, although temperate climates are ideal, with soil temperatures between 5-35ºC for germination.
7. Lettuce
The good thing about growing lettuce is that it does not need demanding care. As with radish, because it has a short cycle, it is not affected by pests. By knowing how to choose the right lettuce varieties, you could have a crop all year round. Of the more than 200 lettuce varieties that exist, the most popular are: romaine, oak leaf, marigold and Tudela lettuce.
8. Chile
Chili is a variant of bell pepper, so its sun and heat requirements are high. With a germination temperature of 25 ºC and a soft and frequent watering we will have germination in 3 weeks. Fruiting occurs in spring and summer and can continue to be harvested until the first frost in autumn.
9. Zucchini
Zucchini are known for producing a bumper crop from just a few plants. Zucchini growth is very fast and being a summer crop, warmth is essential for good growth. It requires fertile soil with organic matter and regular watering. It can be planted from March to June and the first zucchini can be harvested after 3 months.
10. Garlic
To have garlic in our garden, it will be enough to bury and cover the cloves with soil without tamping. With moderate watering, they usually germinate after 2 weeks. They do not require much substrate but they do need to be in a place where they get sun. Like onions, they serve as insecticides for the garden..
Now, that we have already given you the best vegetables to grow at home, we invite you to subscribe to our specialized newsletter in which you’ll find gardening tips, home decorating ideas and much more from ROOTS. Adicionalmente, disfruta el resto de videos of our garden center in Tenerife we have prepared for you.