In this article we are going to tell you about the process of how to grow edible plants at home, in pots or if you have a garden or a space like this, it is small and you can enjoy the sensations that you experience when you grow your own food.
In addition, so that you can take advantage of the great benefits that consuming organically harvested vegetables and plants can have for your health.
In previous articles we have talked about what edible plants are and the top 20 most common edible plants in Colombia so that you can go through them if you have not already done so.
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Can I grow at home even if I don’t have a garden?
As we saw in the article on the 20 edible plants, these are divided into vegetables, fruits, grains, cereals and roots.
Depending on the space you have available to plant, you can determine which edible plants can be grown at home and which of the five types mentioned above.
For example, if you have little space, a good option is to make vertical gardens or use pots. And here is the answer to the question about what edible plants can be planted in pots, surely you can only plant vegetables such as chard, spinach, basil, cherry tomato, coriander, celery, long onion, chives and others of the like, which are plants that do not require much root space and can spread out, are easy to stick and grow very fast.
If available from a small garden or a patio, you can possibly plant zucchini, zucchini, squash, beans that are on trees, lulo, etc. in addition to the previous ones. In general, plants and shrubs that are small and medium in size.
If you have a larger space, then you can set the goal of planting tubers such as potatoes, cassava, yacon, vine beans, peas, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, peanuts and, in general, larger plants and shrubs or that in their growth expand too much to be able to bear fruit.
You must take into account the climate in which you find yourself and investigate which edible plants are already adapted to your climate so that you do not waste energy and do not get disappointed trying to plant something that you know in advance is not grown in your place of residence. .
How to grow edible plants at home
In general, it is very similar for all plants, although each one has its particularities.
For example, some like the sun and others the shade, others require a lot of water and others are more resistant to drought, some grow upright and others are creepers or vines. Knowing these and other conditions you can have a greater chance of success with your planting.
Next we are going to explain the process that we carry out on how to plant edible plants at home.
- Step 1. Prepare the planting space
If you are going to plant in a pot, this first step is skipped. But if it is a garden, patio or plot, planting beds, you must clear the land to remove weeds, loosen the soil preferably with a hoe, cut some tree leaves or branches that limit access to the sun for your plants, etc.
- Step 2. Fertilize the planting space
After clearing the planting space, you need to use potting soil to ensure that your plants will have all the necessary nutrients.
In our case we use composted organic fertilizer, chicken manure and urine (due to its high nitrogen content) to generate a nutrient-rich compost. We also use liquid compost or earthworm humus that provides great results.
After fertilizing the entire planting space, we recommend covering the land with pruning debris, straw or dry leaves so that the sun does not reach the fertilized land directly and can kill all the microorganisms that are found in it.
- Step 3. Sow the seeds or seedlings
Now yes, the planting process arrives. We recommend doing it in the morning or afternoon when the sun is not so strong.
Make some holes in the ground of the right size for your seed or seedling and put it directly.
For example, we plant beans and corn directly to the granite, but vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, chard, beet, etc., we plant the seedling, that is, a small plant that was planted and germinated in a smaller space and that when it has the right size it can be transplanted to the planting space.
- Step 4. Water the seeds or seedlings
After sowing the seeds and seedlings, we must water so that the soil and the plant go through their union process and prevent the seedling from dying or the seed from germinating.
The irrigation process should be done with some frequency depending also on the type of plant you are planting and the conditions in which it develops more easily.
- Adapt tutor for plants
This last step does not apply to all edible plants. It applies to some plants such as beans and peas that require additional furniture or a tutor so that the plant grows, becomes entangled and can bear fruit.
For example, it is widely used to put some sticks that are resistant to prevent them from breaking due to the weight of the plants when they are already big and some horizontal ropes to where the plant will grow.
For this type of plants, you must be observing, so that you do this entableu at the right time and the growth of the plant is not limited.
In broad strokes we explain the process of growing your edible plants at home, but this requires research to understand how others do it, what works for others, or you yourself do your own experiments.
We recommend that you live this beautiful process with your children, nephews, nephews, neighbors, so that they know it, fall in love, ask a lot and can fall in love with edible plants for children, that when they see the whole process they will eat with more desire and also enjoy its wonderful benefits.
Be passionate about this story and start living on food sovereignty!