These 11 Easiest Vegetables to Grow Makes Gardening 10x Better
These 11 Easiest Vegetables to Grow Makes Gardening 10x Better
Posted on 2018-01-24 by Chris
What if I told you there are numerous easiest vegetables to grow that can make gardening 10X better and fun?
What’s more?
They require no special care or technical expertise.
You’d think there must be some hidden catch, right?
But there’s not. It’s absolutely true.
Today in this post, I’m going to walk you through 11 easiest vegetables to grow.
So, what makes some vegetables easier to grow than others? I’ve looked at four factors as follows;
1. The growing season – If a given vegetable has a short growing season, the growing becomes much easier.
2. Moisture requirement – as minimum as possible. Watering is a very difficult gardening task. Therefore, the little of it required the better.
3. Temperature – as flexible as possible.
4. Space – utilizes space efficiently.
Based on these four parameters, I’ve been able to come up with this list that can be used by both newbies as well as experienced gardeners.
Let’s jump in…
11 Easiest Vegetables to Grow
Potato
Potatoes are generally grown from seed potatoes – these are tubers specifically grown to be disease free and provide consistent and healthy plants. To be disease free, you should select the areas where seed potatoes are grown are with care.
Luckily, potatoes are so easy to grow, that gardeners end up with “accidental” potatoes every year!
Their growth is divided into five phases:
During the first phase, sprouts emerge from the seed potatoes and root growth begins.
During the second, photosynthesis begins as the plant develops leaves and branches.
In the third phase stolons develop from lower leaf axils on the stem and grow downwards into the ground and on these stolons new tubers develop as swellings of the stolon.
This phase is often (but not always) associated with flowering. Tuber formation halts when soil temperatures reach 27 °C; hence potatoes are considered a cool-season crop.
Tuber bulking occurs during the fourth phase, when the plant begins investing the majority of its resources in its newly formed tubers.
At this stage, several factors are critical to yield: optimal soil moisture and temperature, soil nutrient availability and balance, and resistance to pest attacks.
The final phase is maturation:
The plant canopy dies back, the tuber skins harden, and their sugars convert to starches – and then your potatoes are ready!
Read: 13 Easy to Grow Vertical Garden Plants
Lettuce
Generally grown as a hardy annual, lettuce is easily cultivated, although it requires relatively low temperatures to prevent it from flowering quickly.
Lettuce is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. It grows quick, is relatively convenient to harvest because you just have to simply snip the tops off the plants or select leaves as needed
It also takes up very little area. They are able to grow even in containers, possibly accompanied by flowers or tucked under taller plants.
Lettuces meant for the cutting of individual leaves are generally planted straight into the garden in thick rows.
Heading varieties of lettuces are commonly started in flats, then transplanted to individual spots, usually 20 to 36 cm (7.9 to 14.2 in) apart, in the garden after developing several leaves.
Lettuce spaced further apart receives more sunlight, which improves color and nutrient quantities in the leaves.
Lettuce grows best in full sun in loose, nitrogen-rich soils with a pH of between 6.0 and 6.8.
Heat generally prompts lettuce to bolt, with most varieties growing poorly above 24 °C; cool temperatures prompt better performance, with 16 to 18 °C being preferred and as low as 7 °C being tolerated.
Zucchini
Zucchini is very easy to cultivate in temperate climates. As such, it has a reputation among home gardeners for overwhelming production.
The part harvested as "zucchini" is the immature fruit, though the flowers, mature fruit, and leaves are eaten as well.
One good way to control overabundance is to harvest the flowers, which are an expensive delicacy in markets because of the difficulty in storing and transporting them.
The male flower is borne on the end of a stalk and is longer-lived.
While easy to grow, zucchini, like all squash, requires plentiful bees for pollination.
In areas of pollinator decline or high pesticide use, such as mosquito-spray districts, gardeners often experience fruit abortion, where the fruit begins to grow, then dries or rots.
This is due to an insufficient number of pollen grains delivered to the female flower. It can be corrected by hand pollination or by increasing the bee population.
Bok Choy
Bok choy (Brassica rapa) is also called Chinese cabbage.
This Chinese vegetable is a cool weather vegetable that grows best in spring and fall.
Growing bok choy is done from seed. Planting bok choy can be done by directly seeding the garden soil or by starting plants indoors until the weather is right for transplanting later.
Either way, when planting bok choy, germination occurs within seven to ten days.
Bok choy used to be limited to meals in Chinese restaurants, but these days you are just as likely to find it growing in backyard gardens.
It's a quick growing vegetable and there are a surprising number of varieties to try.
Takes relatively shorter time to mature. Depending on the variety and the weather, bok choy should be ready to harvest in 45 - 60 days.
eet
All beets grow best in fertile soil with a pH between 6.2 and 7.0. Water the prepared bed, and plant beet seeds half an inch deep and 2 inches apart, in rows spaced 12 inches apart.
Beet seeds germinate in five to 10 days if kept constantly moist. Repeated watering can cause some soils to crust on the surface, which can inhibit the emergence of seedlings.
Cover seeded rows with boards or burlap for a few days after planting to reduce surface crusting. This technique is also useful when planting beets for fall harvest in warm summer soil.
Just be sure to remove the covers as soon as the seedlings break the surface.
Scallion
Scallions grow so fast.
Actually, you can re-root scallions from the grocery store.
You may even have luck regrowing the ones you've used for cooking if you leave a couple of inches of stem attached to the roots.
You don't even have to plant them in the garden. Scallions will happily grow in a glass of water. When something is this ridiculously easy to grow, you might as well take every opportunity.
Read: Small Space Gardening: 14 Mind Blowing Ideas (#7 is my favorite)
Onion
Onions are best cultivated in fertile soils that are well-drained.
Sandy loams are good as they are low in sulphur, while clayey soils usually have a high sulphur content and produce pungent bulbs. Onions require a high level of nutrients in the soil.
Phosphorus is often present in sufficient quantities, but may be applied before planting because of its low level of availability in cold soils.
Nitrogen and potash can be applied at regular intervals during the growing season, the last application of nitrogen being at least four weeks before harvesting.
Bulbing onions are day-length sensitive; their bulbs begin growing only after the number of daylight hours has surpassed some minimal quantity.
Most traditional European onions are referred to as "long-day" onions, producing bulbs only after 14 hours or more of daylight occurs.
Southern European and North African varieties are often known as "intermediate-day" types, requiring only 12–13 hours of daylight to stimulate bulb formation.
Finally, "short-day" onions, which have been developed in more recent times, are planted in mild-winter areas in the autumn and form bulbs in the early spring, and require only 11–12 hours of daylight to stimulate bulb formation.
Onions are a cool-weather crop and can be grown in USDA zones 3 to 9. Hot temperatures or other stressful conditions cause them to "bolt", meaning that a flower stem begins to grow.
Ginger
The easiest way to get started growing ginger root is to get a few fresh rhizomes of someone who does grow ginger, at the time when the plant re-shoots anyway (early spring).
Otherwise just buy some at the shops at that time.
Make sure you select fresh, plump rhizomes.
Look for pieces with well developed "eyes" or growth buds. (The buds look like little horns at the end of a piece or "finger")
Some people recommend to soak the rhizomes in water over night. That's not a bad idea, since shop bought ginger might have been treated with a growth retardant.
Pea
Choose an open, weed-free site in full sun. Grow peas in a moist, fertile, well-drained soil.
Try to dig plenty of well-rotted compost into the soil several weeks before sowing to improve soil fertility and help retain moisture.
It's best to avoid sowing peas on cold, wet soils as they tend to rot away. If space is at a premium then try growing peas in containers or patio bags.
Provide supports - Peas produce tendrils to help them climb upwards.
Erect wire netting, or push upright twiggy sticks into the ground along the length of each trench to provide your peas with supports to cling to.
Water regularly- Once pea plants start to flower it's best to water thoroughly once a week to encourage good pod development.
You can reduce water loss by applying a thick mulch of well-rotted manure or compost to lock moisture into the soil.
Radish
Radishes are a fast-growing, annual, cool-season crop. The seed germinates in three to four days in moist conditions with soil temperatures between 18 and 29 °C.
Best quality roots are obtained under moderate day lengths with air temperatures in the range 10 to 18 °C.
Under average conditions, the crop matures in 3–4 weeks, but in colder weather, 6–7 weeks may be required.
Radishes grow best in full sun in light, sandy loams, with a soil pH 6.5 to 7.0, but for late-season crops, a clayey-loam is ideal. Soils that bake dry and form a crust in dry weather are unsuitable and can impair germination.
Harvesting periods can be extended by making repeat plantings, spaced a week or two apart. In warmer climates, radishes are normally planted in the autumn.
The depth at which seeds are planted affects the size of the root, from 1 cm (0.4 in) deep recommended for small radishes to 4 cm (1.6 in) for large radishes.
During the growing period, the crop needs to be thinned and weeds controlled, and irrigation may be required.
Swiss chard
Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) is an easy-to-grow, heat-resistant heirloom that does not bolt; it has a mild flavor.
Growing Swiss chard works best in rich, moist soil with a soil pH between 6.0 and 6.8. Plant about 12 to 18 inches apart in fertile soil, watering directly after planting.
Work nitrogen-rich amendments such as blood meal, cottonseed meal, feather meal, or composted manure into the ground before planting.
Other options include applying a timed-release vegetable food, such as 14-14-14, according to label directions, when planting and every couple of weeks during the growing season.
Like all vegetables, Swiss chard does best with a nice, even supply of water. Water regularly, applying 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week if it doesn’t rain.
You can measure the amount of water with a rain gauge in the garden.
Apply organic mulch such as compost, finely ground leaves, wheat straw, or finely ground bark to keep the soil cool and moist and to keep down weeds.
Mulching will also help keep the plant leaves clean, reducing the risk of disease.
Read: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening with Zero Skills
Kale
Kale is a leafy vegetable in the Brassica or Cole crop family.
It is usually grouped into the "Cooking Greens" category with collards, mustard and Swiss chard, but it is actually more of a non-heading cabbage, although much easier to grow than cabbage.
The leaves grow from a central stem that elongates as it grows. Kale is a powerhouse of nutrients and can be used as young, tender leaves or fully grown.
Kale can be grown as a cut and come again vegetable, so a few plants may be all you need.
The plants can be quite ornamental, with leaves that can be curly or tagged, purple or shades of green. It is considered a cool season vegetables and can handle some frost, when mature.
Carrot
Carrots are grown from seed and can take up to four months (120 days) to mature, but most cultivars mature within 70 to 80 days under the right conditions.
They grow best in full sun but tolerate some shade.
The optimum temperature is 16 to 21 °C. The ideal soil is deep, loose and well-drained, sandy or loamy, with a pH of 6.3 to 6.8.
Fertilizer should be applied according to soil type because the crop requires low levels of nitrogen, moderate phosphate and high potash.
Rich or rocky soils should be avoided, as these will cause the roots to become hairy and/or misshapen. Irrigation is applied when needed to keep the soil moist.
After sprouting, the crop is eventually thinned to a spacing of 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) and weeded to prevent competition beneath the soil.
Conclusion
You’ve just read about some of the easiest vegetables to grow.1
Now all you have to do is choose one, give it a try and before you know it, you’ll become an expert in even growing the complex ones.
Just take the first step.