Top 10 Beginning Gardening Mistakes

The Top 10 Mistakes Beginning
Gardeners Make

New gardeners make 10 common mistakes when starting a vegetable garden

Planting Too Much Garden
Wrong Varieties
Planting Too Early
Poor Soil Preparation
Poor Garden Spacing
Not Enough Light
Incorrect Watering
The “More is Better” Trap
Not Mulching
Ignoring Pollinators
If you’re growing vegetables in containers, click Here for the ins and out of container vegetable gardening.

As a final note, here’s something to remember about starting a vegetable garden: You are going to make mistakes.

You may even make some of these mistakes, in spite of my warning. If you do, all is not lost.
Embrace them, mistakes are your teachers, if you pay attention. Your plants will recover from most of them, and you’ll be a better gardener.

- See more at: Starting a Vegetable Garden, Starting a Garden

 

I would add Ignoring Pests to that. I didn't know what a Harlequin Bug was until this year and didn't deal with them the instant one appeared. Now I'm infested. :/ Drowned a few million in a tote full of soapy water but the survivors are moving onto the other plants now. Using a shop vac to suck them up, heh.

 

Well said to both of you. I learned all of the above the hard way. We have now concentrated our efforts on what grows well here/ 5 years of rabbit manure and lime has the soil good. It is wet all year so water is more of a problem as we have to drain it more than add water. Using the landscape mats has fixed the mulch problem and keeping it small has improved yield. It is also much easier to manage a smaller garden. Less waste, more in the canner and freezer.

 

I agree kingfish. I practice very concentrated gardening my cherry tomatoes and beans all grow on one trellis but I have to stay on top of trimming and harvesting daily. Fortunately I like to spend 30 min morning and nite in the garden as it relaxes me. And it looks haphazard as i let volunteer plants grow so mine looks more like a semi controlled jungle.

Yeas the article missed bugs both looking for pests and buying beneficial bugs. Many people make the mistake of buying lady bugs when they don't need them. Ladybug's are the ultimate opportunist. They only stay if there is food. Aka aphids or other bugs.

If I find a good bug pictorial I'll post it. I posted the pic of an immature ladybug awhile back because many people get rid of those as they look like miniature gators and not lady bugs.

I'm a huge fan of praying mantis but they are particular where they nest

 

I guess this might fall under planting too early, but here cool weather vegetables do much better planted in the late summer instead of late winter early spring. I can get peas, spinach, greens, the brassicas to start but it gets too warm too fast most years. With a cold frame we pick greens well into the new year (most years)

 

Japanese beetles are my biggest pest. I pick/squeeze them twice daily. Have a gallon plastic oil jug with most of the top cut out that I shake them into the diesel fuel "bath". The others just get mashed. Give you that green finger/thumb look--lol. Squash bugs are another so I check under leaves daily for eggs.

 

This type of Japanese beetle trap has worked exceptionally well for decades...although the first ones were made of steel...

There is also an in-ground larvacide that will help in really bad infestations...

 

@techsar. Do you have a name or a.link for that?

Atm it looks like the tail end of an old bomb. Lol

 

Department of Agriculture - UPDATE
These folks would Know where to find them. They hung them.

Japanese Beetle Traps – Useful Monitoring Tool | What Grows There :: Hugh Conlon, Horticulturalist, Professor, Lecturer, and Gardener
May NOT be a very good idea to use them.

 

Amazon.com : Tanglefoot 300000666 Japanese Beetle Xpando Trap : Insect Traps : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Is this it?

 

Yes, there are several versions. But read the above link.

 

@Ganado - that is similar to what we used. Gemplers.com also has some.

@kellory - There is the chance that some beetles from adjoining areas may be attracted to the traps, but on the flip side, they don't care much for property lines. If they are in your neighbors' gardens, it is only a matter of time before they infest yours. As far as the article's claim that most are not trapped, I disagree (from experience). Granted, you have to keep them maintained, i.e. not allowing them to overflow, but huge numbers will be caught. Our grape arbors were literally defoliated by them prior to using the traps. We used the traps and had to empty them every couple of days over the summer. Given the quantity of beetles trapped, we decided to use the in-ground treatment and the infestation over the next three years vanished...as in you couldn't find one of the beetles anywhere! This was in SW Pennsylvania, so the climate is somewhat moderate.

 

My mistakes as a new gardener (yes, I know you all thought I'm perfect - sorry to disappoint).

• Not using enough fencing. It wasn't high enough and it wasn't buried deep enough. What the deer didn't get, the groundhog did.
• Not clearing weeds back six feet from the fence. Fertilized soil helps everything to grow.
• Using the wrong fertilizer. I got blossom end rot on my tomatoes because I tried to use Miracle Grow, which is all Nitrogen and intended for flowers. I lucked out: I noticed it early enough that I could add phosphorus, and they grew out of it within two weeks.
• Multiple Cropping without knowing the risks. I tried to grow two pumpkins. The vines took over half my garden and came back the next year as squash.
• Using tomato cages without knowing how much work they are to keep clear. I used to travel a lot, and one trip took almost two weeks, and I had to spend a day freeing tomato vines from between the cage sections, where they had grown while I was away.
• Believing that doing "Hot" compost is easy. Trust me: it's not. It's quick (two or three weeks), but it is definitely not easy.

 

Lol we have all done those mistakes. well done! You are now officially in the garden growers hall of fame. Welcome to the club.

I grew squash and pumpkin too close together once. I do t even know what to call the hybrid I got. Squashkin? Pushkin?

 

Great post, Ganado! I think we have done all of these things. My husband and I work it together and both grew up with gardens and still make silly mistakes.

 

My apples trees that I planted last year were hit hard by Japanese beetles this year. The damage was huge, most leaves chewed apart. I removed the bugs and now see new leaf growth so I know they survived the attack.

I found this great article on using oils as a deterrent. 9 Clever Ways To Use Essential Oils In The Garden I will be trying garlic oil because it seems to be the strongest. @ditch witch they say pepper oil will deter dogs.

 

Lol I might have known it would be you who caught that joke o.o

 

I love Praying Mantis! They will eat anything that doesn't eat them first, I saw a pic of one eating a small bird. They fly but if there's food they will stay around and don't tend to move.There's plenty of food here for them!
Where can I buy them? How can they ship them when they are cannibalistic?