HO-6
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yard and garden
PLANTING THE vegetable GARDEN
John A. Wott
cooperative extension service horticulture department purdue university lafayette, Indiana 47907
PLANTING
Proper planting at the proper time is essential for successful vegetable gardening. Check the planting guide for dates.

Preparing the Soil
Check the soil for workability. If you can crumble a soil ball with your fingers, it's ready to plant. If it clings together, it’s still too wet. Working soil too wet will leave it hard and cloddy for weeks.
Before working the soil, spread fertilizer over the plot. Two or 3 pounds of a general analysis fertilizer (12-12-12) per 100 square feet is usually sufficient. For exact recommendations, have your soil tested. This also indicates whether liming is needed. Contact your local County Extension Agent for details.

After fertilizing, prepare the soil about 6 inches deep with a garden spade, plow, or roto tiller. Be
sure that all sod is turned under. If you spade by hand, shatter and slice each shovelful, so the soil is crumbly. Finish by leveling and smoothing with a rake or harrow.
Prepare the soil in the area you have planned for a certain crop just before planting. This spreads your work and insures a good seedbed for planting.

Planting Seed
Mark the rows by stretching a heavy cord between stakes at either end of the garden. Straight rows look better and also help to properly space the plants. Furrows for the seed are made by the hoe handle for fine seeds, or by the hoe blade for large seeds. Barely cover small seeds and have only 1
inch of soil over large seeds. Seeds planted too deep often do not come up.
Distance between rows varies with the kind of vegetable, so check the planting guide for proper spacing. Sow seed evenly and a little thicker than the plants will finally stand. Firm the soil with a rake. If the soil is dry, thoroughly water to get the seeds to sprout.
If you have a large garden, consider using a mechanized planter to save time and energy. These planters usually sow seed at the right depth and rate, cover the seed, and firm the soil, all in one operation.

Setting Out Plants
To avoid wilting and possible death of the plants, set out plants during the late afternoon or early evening. After marking the rows, dig a hole for each plant roughly twice as wide and twice as deep as the soil ball of the plants. (Watch the planting distance.) Set the plant slightly deeper than it grew before, add 1 cup of starter solution, and place soil around the roots. Starter solution is made by dissolving 1 tablespoon of water-soluble, high-phosphate fertilizer, such as 10-52-17 or 11-48-0, in a gallon of water. Finish by filling the hole, leaving a small basin around each plant.
If the next 2-3 days call for sunshine, cover the new transplants with newspaper "tents" to prevent wilting. Water as needed, but water thoroughly each time.
Frost Danger
On frosty nights, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants should be covered with boxes, blankets, hot
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. H. G. Diesslin, Director, Lafayette, Ind. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914.