9 Free Vegetable Gardening Hacks Every Gardener Must Know

Gardening hacks are all about saving time, effort and money so it's a plus, as a gardener, to have a few tricks up your sleeve especially when you're gardening on a part time basis. Here are 9 best hacks that every gardener must know in order to achieve maximum success at a minimum cost.

1. DIY plant labels

Ice cream containers, yogurt containers and cream containers make the most amazing free plant labels. Carefully cut containers into strips about 1.5 to 2 cm wide and then use a marker or pen to write at the blank side. These plant labels can last for many seasons. Use permanent markers to make them waterproof and suitable to be used not just indoors but also outdoors

2. Potato farming Gardening hack

One of the best ways to grow potatoes is by placing them on the surface of a raised bed and then covering thickly with mulch. This mulch can be something like straw, hay or dried leaves. Once the potato plant appear through the mulch, cover them with more mulch and then let them grow until the plants are ready to harvest which is around a couple of weeks after flowering. To harvest, simply pull away the mulch and pick your potatoes.

3. Protect your plants from slugs the easy way

Plants with thorny canes like thorny rose schrubs offer an excellent instant fence effect against slugs. To help protect your seedlings from slugs, cut the thorny cane into smaller pieces of about 40cm and lay them like a fence around your seedling area. You can also stack two to three canes on top of each other. It won't stop every slug but it is sure to make a huge difference.

4. Repurpose pallets into seeding trays

Pallets can be found for free in many locations. You can also buy them at very cheap cost. Create a frame at any size you want and nail the pallets at the back. Just make sure the pallets have the 'HT' symbol which stands for 'heat treated' and not chemically treated. It has many advantages over its plastic made counterparts

5. Make seed trenches easily

If you're struggling to make straight seed trenches inn the garden then look no further. Cut a piece of bamboo just under the width of your raised bed and lay it over the surface. Press firmly down to your desired depth ,lift and you now have a perfectly straight trench. This amazing technique can also be done using an old broom or mop handle or a long piece of wood.

6. Multi Sowing

Made popular by Charles Dowding, the technique of Multi sowing allows you to grow more plants in less space and it also means that you need less compost to get them growing. For example, beetroot, radish and turnips can be grown 4 to 5 seeds to a module and then transplanted. As the clumps of seedlings grow, they will push away from each other. Multi sowing also means that sowing and transplanting times are greatly reduced.

7. Make your own biodegradable seedling pots

Cardboard rolls from t-rolls make fantastic biodegradable plant pots suitable to start seedlings. Peas and beans work especially well. When it comes to transplanting, you can place the whole cardboard roll directly in the ground. It will breakdown and add more carbon to the soil hence enriching it. Your plants will also suffer little to no transplant shock. Feel the rolls with home made compost and sow your seeds. Store these in boxes such as old ice cream creates or cardboard boxes to prevent the compost from falling out.

8. Easily transplant seeds with old rain gutter

This hack is one of the most interesting things to do in your garden. Fill an old rain gutter with compost and then sow seeds. This works very well for peas. When it comes to transplanting, create a trench in raised bed and then slope the seedlings straight from the rain gutter into the trench and boom! They have been easily transplanted. It works for other seedlings too like lettuce and salads.

9. Perfect carrot and parsnip germination

Permaculturist Bill Mollison devised an excellent way to ensure that your parsnips and carrots get excellent germination. The trick is to not let the seeds dry out during germination by watering after sowing and then placing a plank over the row of seeds to reduce evaporation. Remove the plant once you notice the little seedling appear.

Hope you enjoyed reading this very informative blog. Put it into practice and save yourself some time, energy and money.