How to get best yield from Kitchen Garden/Terrace Garden

Every passing day, the value and the interest in Kitchen Garden are increasing among the people. This is mainly because of two reasons: One can get some peace of mind & rejuvenation from their busy lives and can get fresh vegetables and other food items without any toxic materials for the family.

Hence the number of people opting to have a Kitchen Garden in the urban areas are increasing.

Even if you have a well planted Kitchen Garden, many people face a common problem, that is Less Yield. There are many criteria for getting high Yield from the Kitchen Garden. Since this Kitchen Garden is grown in a small area, there are some steps that you should consider bringing out more yield from Kitchen Garden or Terrace Garden.

Since most of you have no technical knowledge about the same, we have brought the steps that one should follow to maximize the yield. Please Look at the below things, that you should follow.

How to Increase the Yield in Kitchen Garden or Terrace Garden

Type of Soil:

            Soil is the primary criterion that you should look out for. Instead of regular Red soil or Black soil, use organic matter like compost, vermicompost in right proportions. Follow the below proportion for higher yield.

•      Vermicompost - 40%

•      Cocopeat - 40%

•      Red Soil - 20%

Seeds:

        After Soil, Seeds are the other main aspect that one has to concentrate on. There are two types of Seeds, Hybrid and Non-Hybrid Seeds. Hybrid Seeds are tolerant to pest and disease incidence . While with Non-Hybrid Seeds you can have a number of varieties of the same plants. Though, each of them has plus points and minus points, select as per your requirement.

     Know the difference in more details Hybrid Vs Non-Hybrid

Sowing:

            Sowing of seeds is an important step in Kitchen Gardening. Since most of the people maintaining Kitchen garden do not have proper knowledge of sowing, it might result in the failure of germination. The Basic Thump rule for sowing is Twice the size of seed. and soak seeds overnight before sowing for better germination. Results are best with this technique.

Smart Plant Spacing:

                    Since you have a small space for Kitchen Gardening, you need to have plant the vegetables smartly. Plant spacing also pumps the yield in Kitchen Garden. Since you have less space, try to plant in triangle pattern rather than a square pattern. With Triangle pattern, you can fit up to 14% more plants. Also you can avoid overcrowding of plants with this type. Correct spacing of plants will result in less pest and disease incidence, low competition between plants for water and nutrients etc.

Intercultural Operations: Operations that we do between sowing and harvesting are Intercultural Operations. This includes weeding, mulching, and application of fertilizers.

•      Weeding: Removal of unwanted plants from the Garden is Weeding. You can remove those weeds manually with hands or you can use a sickle which will reduce your effects.

   •      Mulching: Mulching is optional in terrace gardening but it is important to retain moisture in Sunny Days and in Summer Season. For that, apply a 2 to 3-inch layer of organic matter just above the ground.

       •      Fertilizer Application: To apply fertilizers, you can make furrows just beside the seed furrows. Add organic fertilizers in these furrows. Few examples for organic fertilizers are green manures, marine compost, meat compost etc.

Watering:

            Plants doesn’t need water they need moisture.

You should not over water at the same time do not under water. On an average, you should water every alternate day which is more than enough for any kind of vegetable in any season. Since there is less requirement of water in Winter and Rainy season, it is ok to water in 2-3 days. But in Summer season, and if the leaves are drooping water the plants regularly.

            Leafy vegetables need water every day.

Pest and Disease Incidence:

                Pest and disease incidence is quite common at the same time very problematic. It reduces the yield considerably. Hence there are few techniques that you can follow to reduce Pest and Disease Incidence. Check the following Methods:•      Neem Kernel extracts 500 to 2000 ml per tank (10 liters capacity)

•      Garlic, Chilli, Ginger Extract

•     Cow’s urine.

•      Light trap

•      Yellow sticky trap

•      Neem as pest repellent

Shed Nets: 

            Shed Nets are getting popularity in the recent times. Shed Nets helps in enhancing the yield during Summer. Protects from pest and air borne diseases. It also protects from Natural and sudden weather disturbances. In this, you have to make a framework on top of which you should add the nest which is green in color. This reduces the amount of Sunlight to the plants. This Shed Net is more helpful in Terrace Gardening.

These are the different type of steps that will help you to increase the yield in Kitchen Garden or Terrace Garden.

Happy gardening...