12 Common Vegetable Gardening Mistakes To Avoid At All Costs

There are many reasons why more and more people have started growing their own food. A few of these reasons include putting yourself in control of the fertilizers and pesticides that are applied to the foods you'll consume, keeping grocery costs down, and even boosting your mood by spending more time outside working in the dirt. Whether you're looking to start your own vegetable garden for one of these reasons or have other motivations, you want your efforts to be successful.

Learning what you should do when growing vegetables — as well as what you should be careful to avoid — is essential. And, unfortunately, there are several mistakes people can make with their vegetable garden. These mistakes could prevent the plants from growing to their full potential, leave you with low-quality veggies, open the door for pests and diseases to creep in, and more. If you want to learn how to steer clear of these common mistakes, you've come to the right place. Ahead, we'll share some information about each error to help you learn what you should do to avoid it. We'll also share some tips for what you should do instead to ensure each vegetable plant lives up to its full potential.

Assuming that you can plant your vegetables in just any type of soil is a mistake that you'll end up regretting. If the soil pH, nutrients, structure, or drainage properties are off, then the vegetables you plant aren't going to have a good chance of survival. Even the simplest summer veggies to grow at home aren't going to thrive if the soil is unable to meet their needs. While the specific soil needs can vary based on the types of vegetables you're trying to grow, there are some general guidelines that can help you get started.

First, it is important to check the pH of your soil to make sure that it is not too acidic or basic. A pH between 6.5 and 6.8 is ideal for most crops, so if your soil is far outside of this range, you may want to look into amending it before planting the garden. Peat moss or sulfur can help lower the pH of a basic soil, while lime can help raise the pH of overly acidic soil. Soil that is overly compacted or that doesn't drain properly will also be problematic for the vegetables in your garden. Without pockets that allow for circulation and make it possible for nutrients and water to reach the roots, those veggies won't grow. Try incorporating some compost in the garden and aerating it regularly to address these problems.

Meeting the sunlight needs of any plant in the garden is important. However, when you're growing vegetables, it is even more essential if you want them to remain healthy and actually produce the veggies that you want. Without sufficient sunlight, your crops won't get enough energy to grow. They'll be weak, won't produce many (if any) vegetables, and will also be more likely to fall victim to a pest infestation or a disease.

So, if you're looking to start your own edible garden, you must be very purposeful when choosing where to put it in your yard. The precise sunlight needs vary based on the specific veggie plants you want to grow, but don't plan on planting anything in a location that gets less than four hours of sunlight per day. Veggies like spinach, kale, carrots, radishes, and potatoes should do fine with this much sunlight. However, if you want to grow peppers, tomatoes, or zucchini in your garden, you'll need to choose a spot that gets about eight hours of direct sun each day. Otherwise, your dreams of making spaghetti and zucchini noodle pasta with veggies from your own garden won't be possible.

If you don't choose the best time to plant your tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, lettuce, and other veggies, you're only setting your garden up for failure. If you plant too early in the season, the cold temperatures may stop the seeds from sprouting or kill young plants. Plus, the soil may still be too hard and clumpy from cold winter rains and freezing temperatures. Planting too late can be just as detrimental. If the temperatures have warmed up too much, preventing the plants from becoming overly stressed (and not providing the yield you're looking for) will not be easy.

So, how are you supposed to know when to plant? Sadly, there's no universal "magic date." The ideal time will depend on where you live and the specific temperatures and weather conditions in any given year. Start by learning which USDA hardiness zone you live in, and then check when the final spring frost occurs on average. While some veggies, such as beets, cauliflower, and lettuce, should survive through cooler conditions or a stray late-season frost, others will not fare so well. If you want to plant yellow squash, zucchini, eggplants, and other more tender veggies, you should not start before daytime temperatures are consistently falling between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Just as two different people may have very incompatible personalities or lifestyles, plants can also clash and prevent each other from growing to their full potential. So, while a raised garden bed can make growing veggies at home easier, that won't be the case if you set yourself up for failure by planting incompatible veggies together. The reasons to avoid planting certain crops can vary. One common reason, however, is when two types of vegetables possess a very similar type of root system. Their roots will end up competing for nutrients and water, preventing one or both plants from growing to their full potential. Fennel and asparagus shouldn't be planted together for this reason. The same is true for tomatoes and potatoes.

Garden veggies can also be incompatible if one releases allelopathic chemicals that are toxic to the other. For example, allelochemicals are released by sunflowers when they grow. The chemical can prevent tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, and other nightshade vegetables from growing to their full potential. Pest problems are another reason to separate certain vegetables in the garden. Cabbage, for example, is known to attract several types of pests, which can threaten many plants, such as potatoes and beans. Instead, consider planting rosemary, thyme, or celery near cabbage plants as these herbs can help repel pests.

Some vegetables, such as lettuce, squash, and beans, can be directly sown in an outdoor garden. These veggies grow quickly. This means that they'll have enough time to grow even when you wait until outdoor temperatures are ideal for planting. However, this isn't true for all veggie seeds. Planting some of these crops directly in the garden bed will end up being a mistake that will likely leave you sorely disappointed.

Some plants take longer to grow and produce their healthy veggies. If you wait to plant these as seeds directly in your outdoor garden, they won't have time to fully mature. A few examples of these warm-season vegetables include peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. Other veggies, such as cauliflower and broccoli, should also be started indoors before being transferred to your garden. In many regions, the temperatures during the heat of the summer are simply too high for these crops. So if you start them outside, they may not thrive before being ready to enjoy in the early fall. Instead, try starting them indoors towards the end of August and moving them outside closer to the beginning of the fall.

If you avoid the mistake of directly sowing seeds that should ideally be started indoors, there's still one more thing that might go wrong. You must be careful to avoid moving the young plants directly outside. Those veggie plants are used to the safe conditions inside your home — no heavy rains, no strong spring winds, no widely varying temperatures. If you simply move them directly to the garden, they're going to become overly stressed. This has the potential to cause a whole host of problems, including a reduced rate of growth, browning or wilting leaves, and more. If conditions are overly extreme and your plant becomes too stressed, there is also the potential that it will die.

Fortunately, you can help your plant gradually adjust to the harsher outdoor conditions and greatly increase its chances of survival. This process is referred to as hardening off. Instead of just plopping the young and tender plant in the soil, you'll want to gradually build up the amount of time it spends outside each day, adjusting to the conditions. You'll want to start by looking at a calendar (and the average temperatures for your hardiness zone). Decide on the ideal date to have the plant fully transitioned to the outdoors, and start hardening it off two weeks prior to this date. For a few hours each day, put the plant in a shady spot that is relatively blocked from wind or rain. After a few days, start giving the plant more time in the sun, ultimately leaving it out 24/7 for the last two days. While you want to make sure the plants are ready, if the forecast is calling for temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit or very high winds, you should keep the plants inside for the day. Once you've finished the process of hardening your young plants off, you can transplant them to the garden.

Watering mistakes are common when growing vegetables. Overwatering and underwatering can both cause issues. Plus, the specific watering needs vary between different types of vegetable plants. First, it is important to understand how important water is to the growth and development of vegetables. While all plants require water to grow, vegetables, in particular, need it to make sure they receive all the nutrients they need. After all, most have a water content of at least 70%.

Aim to give most vegetables approximately 1 inch of water every week. However, depending on your soil structure and how well it holds moisture, you may need to adjust this. For example, because sandy soil drains so quickly, veggies planted in it will likely need additional water. The amount of water you need to physically add will also depend on how much rain has fallen during the week. Also, remember that those newly transplanted veggie plants will have slightly higher watering needs than those that are more established.

While we're on the subject of meeting the moisture and watering needs of your vegetable plants, we'd be remiss not to mention the importance of mulching. Failing to mulch around the vegetable plants can result in too much moisture being lost from the soil. Mulch plays other important roles in a vegetable garden as well. It helps keep weeds from taking over, prevents the soil from overheating, and minimizes the chances of rotting when veggies drop off the plant and hit the garden floor.

Before you run out to grab any bag of mulch from your local garden center, you should consider which mulch is best for your garden. Compost is one of the best options when mulching a vegetable garden because of its organic composition, which will help improve soil fertility. You could also consider applying a layer of small pieces of bark, peat moss, or even pine needles. When applying mulch, keep in mind that you'll typically want a layer of at least 3 inches, but up to 5 if you're choosing pine needles or another very light material.

Forgetting to plan for pests in your vegetable garden is a mistake you will want to avoid. While none of us want to discover damaged plants from pests, it is an unfortunate reality of gardening. And, if you're not prepared and ready to act, the damage will only get worse, threatening more of your crop than it should. There are few common pests to be on the lookout for. One of these is aphids. They can affect many garden veggies, such as cabbage, tomatoes, and lettuce. These pests suck the sap from plants, threatening their growth or causing the leaves to curl or turn yellow. When the infestation gets out of control, the "honeydew" waste they produce can lead to additional problems, such as fungi growth. To clear up an aphid problem, consider using insecticidal soap, neem oil, or physically removing the aphids with a blast of water and squishing them between your fingers. You may also plant more flowering plants around your vegetable garden to attract some natural predators.

Cabbage worms are another common pest. In addition to cabbage, they can also damage broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and other members of the cabbage family. These pests leave holes in the leaves and in high numbers, can decimate a huge crop. Consider using row covers to protect susceptible plants and removing any that you see. Welcoming birds to your yard with birdhouses or feeds can also help, as the birds will eat the cabbage worms off the plants.

Overplanting is another mistake that novice gardeners can fall victim to. There are actually two different mistakes you might make. The first is physically planting too many veggies in a garden bed. While the amount of space that is required between veggies can vary, they aren't going to grow well if they are crammed close together. There needs to be sufficient room for air to flow between the plants. Moreover, if too many plants are right on top of one another, there won't be enough moisture or nutrients in the soil for them all. This can cause them to compete for resources, decreasing the chances that they'll all get what they need to thrive. To avoid this, be sure to check the recommendations on the labels for the plants you choose — and stick to them.

The other overplanting mistake relates to biting off more than you can chew. Whether it is your first year planting a vegetable garden or your 20th, it is important to be realistic about how much time and effort you'll need to commit. Biting off more than you can chew will either leave you overextended or result in many of your plants not thriving or even dying. To be safe, start with a smaller garden than you think you can handle. Assess what went well at the end of the season and scale up (or down) for the following year.

You might know the trick for choosing the best zucchini of the bunch when shopping at your local farmers market or grocery store, but do you know the best time to pick zucchini and other vegetables directly from the plant? If not, you'll want to take some time to learn how to do so before the time comes to harvest them.

This is another area where there is no cut-and-dry answer or "magic date." The best time will depend on the specific vegetable, when it was planted, the growing conditions, and where you live. There are a few general things you should look for, including the size, texture, scent, feel, and color. The seed packet or plant labels for your crops will often share specific information about each of these factors to help you know what to look for.

Did you pick up some packs of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, or tomato seeds a few years ago with every intention of finally starting that vegetable garden? If life got in the way, and you're only just now ready to really get things going, you might think that the seeds from a few years ago are still good. However, this may or may not be the case, so you'll want to avoid just blindly planting any old seeds and assuming that they'll grow as expected.

Vegetable seeds do not have an unlimited shelf life. While some seeds, such as cauliflower, endive, kale, radish, squash, and tomato, can remain viable for four or more years, others have a much shorter lifespan. For example, onion, lettuce, parsley, and parsnip seeds only remain viable for about a year. Others, such as pepper, beans, asparagus, and celery, have a slightly longer lifespan of two to three years. Beyond the potential range of viability for seeds, it is also important to consider how they were stored. If stored in a moist or humid environment, their lifespan can be further decreased.