The vegetable garden in April |
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|---|---|
Sowing in open ground |
Carrots, celery, cabbage, spinach, leeks, beans, radishes, turnip beets, broccoli, and parsnips; |
Sowing under cover |
Eggplant, summer lettuce, curly chicory, cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, squash, zucchini, peppers, chili peppers and watermelons; |
Plantations |
Potatoes, strawberries, raspberries, summer leeks, wild garlic, artichokes, tomatoes (under cover), asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes and parsnips; |
Harvests |
Radish, spinach, leeks, rhubarb, endive, cabbage, chard, lettuce; |
Aromatic plants |
Chives, parsley, dill, verbena, lemon verbena, basil (undercover), mint, rosemary, sage and chervil. |
What work in the vegetable garden in April?
Continue to care for the plots
Continue working the soil
Take care of existing plantings
Keep an eye on the vegetable garden to avoid pests and diseases
Harvest and plant to maximize harvests
Our tips for successful tomato planting from April
Bordeaux mixture: some ideas to do without it
Continue to care for the plots
Spring is here and although there are still a few days of bad weather, we must concentrate on the vegetable garden.
And for good reason, it is the start of a very productive period
thanks to the growing presence of the sun.
So, whether your vegetable garden is permaculture or not, we continue to take care of each plot.
It is necessary to weed in order to maintain easy-to-maintain growing areas.
Keep an eye on your plantings and try to control invasions of harmful plants.
It is also necessary to enrich the soil with compost to reinforce the nutrients present in the soil.
Continue your efforts by carefully preparing your future plantings to make your task easier while maintaining good organization in terms of rotations.
Continue working the soil
In April, it is important to decompact free spaces and aerate the soil using a grelinette.
Copyright (c) 2017 alicja neumiler/Shutterstock.
No use without permission.
The effort also continues on the floor side!
It is important to decompact free spaces and aerate the soil using a grelinette.
This simple gesture allows you to take care of future vegetable plants which will be able to grow in light and pleasant soil.
Also remember to add organic matter; you can add manure or mature compost depending on the plants that will take place in the vegetable garden.
Don't forget that summer vegetables like zucchini and peppers are very tasty.
They need rich soil to grow properly.
The month of April is also the perfect time for planting green manures in areas devoid of crops.
They will naturally enrich the soil and improve the quality of your substrate.
Take care of existing plantings
Continue to be exemplary in your plantings and sowing, for this you must:
Thin out carrot and turnip seedlings planted in March;
Divide the parsley, rhubarb, chives, sorrel, tarragon and artichoke plants;
Take care of crossing points to facilitate movement between cultures;
Butter the potatoes to obtain a better yield and protect them from the last cold weather;
Ventilate the shelters to ensure air circulation and promote the development of your plantations.
Keep an eye on the vegetable garden to avoid pests and diseases
The return of the sun combined with the April rains is an ideal combination for pests who take advantage of it to attack the fruit of your hard work.
Therefore, it is necessary to hoe and weed the first plantations in order to protect them.
Also think about linen flakes to avoid snails, slugs and other insects that are fond of young shoots.
Take the time to make a daily visit to your vegetable garden to inspect the plants for pests.
Also check for the presence of diseases and react accordingly, because humidity, still very present in April, quickly becomes a scourge.
Harvest and plant to maximize harvests
From April onwards, you should
take a walk
in your vegetable garden every day.
This simple gesture allows you to react quickly in the event of a problem and above all to avoid finding yourself with too much work on the weekend.
Remember that a daily visit is enough to obtain excellent performance.
In April, you can harvest parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, radishes, spinach, leeks, rhubarb, endive and cabbage.
Copyright (c) 2022 alicja neumiler/Shutterstock.
No use without permission.
In April, you can harvest parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, radishes, spinach, leeks, rhubarb, endive and cabbage.
It's also the time to plant early potatoes, summer leeks, wild garlic, artichokes, asparagus, new Jerusalem artichokes and parsnips that you will harvest from next fall.
But also, of course, tomatoes grown under cover.
Our tips for successful tomato planting from April
Usually, tomatoes are planted in the vegetable garden in May to be harvested in July.
Knowing that it takes 60 days to enjoy a ripe fruit, planting them prematurely in April allows them to be enjoyed much earlier or to be replanted with a second planting.
Find out how to succeed in the crazy challenge of planting tomatoes in April!
Choosing the Right Variety
There is a wide range of tomato varieties: from cherry tomato to beef heart tomato.
The choice depends on your climate, your preferences, but also the quality of your soil.
All of these criteria must be taken into account to ensure excellent yield and, above all, obtain tasty tomatoes.
To help you, here is our selection of varieties that are easy to grow:
Rome;
Saint Pierre ;
Nipple of Venus;
Rose of Berne;
And the essential cherry tomato!
Define an ideal location
The tomato is a vegetable species that requires certain conditions to grow properly.
Favor a sunny location since it needs heat to
ripen its fruits.
In terms of soil, the tomato needs a substrate rich in organic matter, slightly humid and with a moderate or even low level of nitrogen.
The composition of the soil influences development; light soil should be favored in April since it is an early crop.
Bet on the right period
To plant tomatoes in April, it is better to opt for growing under cover.
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No use without permission.
As explained earlier, tomatoes are planted in the vegetable garden in May, but they can also be planted as early as April.
For this, several conditions must be met, in particular the strong presence of the sun, the absence of frost and cultivation under cover.
Planting tomatoes successfully
To successfully plant tomatoes, you must follow the following steps:
Amend the soil with manure or compost and crushed horn from February;
Sow under cover in March;
Dig holes every 60 or 80 cm to space the feet sufficiently apart;
Install
your tomato plants
and fill with a mixture of potting soil and compost;
Insert the stake 3 centimeters from the foot;
Pack into a bowl;
Water abundantly and install protection such as a greenhouse.
Also read: When should we plant or transplant tomatoes to get a good harvest?
Use a greenhouse
For those who are not lucky enough to enjoy good weather in April, opt for the greenhouse solution.
It can be small, homemade and ideally disassembled, just as it can be more durable, even professional.
The greenhouse keeps your plants warm
and increases the quantity of your harvests.
As for tomato plants, they appreciate growing under cover since it allows them to benefit from maximum heat, even in April.
Also read: How to make a small garden tunnel greenhouse?
Here is a very easy tutorial for growing vegetables all year round!
Maintaining tomato plantations without false notes
Maintaining tomato plants is simple, you must:
Remove suckers during the growth phase (these are the stems that develop under the leaves);
Add fertilizer to make the plantations stronger since tomatoes are very susceptible to diseases;
Water carefully and treat preventatively with horsetail manure to strengthen resistance against mildew.
Tomatoes that will have more chances in April:
The 'sprig of lily of the valley' tomato;
The 'Tigrella' tomato;
The 'Marmande' tomato;
The 'Black Zebra' Cocktail tomato.
Protect yourself from possible illnesses and understand the risks
Planting tomatoes in April is not without risks.
Indeed, tomato plants are very sensitive to frost, humidity, diseases, etc.
Thus, planting in April, when the weather is uncertain during spring, can be more complicated to manage because
the plants vegetate.
Success varies from year to year and the care you take with your tomato crops.
Bordeaux mixture: some ideas to do without it
To improve the adhesion of the Bordeaux mixture and reduce the doses by half, use a wetting agent.
Copyright (c) 2018 Andrew Fletcher/Shutterstock.
Widely used, Bordeaux mixture is one of the gardener's historic allies.
However, it turns out that this ancestral remedy has some ecological limits.
This is why we suggest you focus on natural alternatives today!
What is Bordeaux mixture?
Bordeaux mixture is a fungicide containing copper sulfate and lime (calcium oxide).
It often comes in the form of a blue or white powder that should be mixed with water in order to spray it.
It is used as a preventive but also curative treatment, particularly to avoid downy mildew or powdery mildew.
What diseases does Bordeaux mixture act on?
Bordeaux mixture is a contact treatment which penetrates into the plant to fight against the following vegetable garden diseases:
Mildew;
Gray rot;
Scab;
Gummosis;
Moniliosis;
The blister.
What are the disadvantages of Bordeaux mixture?
Although it is effective and still widely used in France, Bordeaux mixture has some flaws.
Indeed, it contains
a high copper content
and once applied, it damages the soil and can lead to the death of an entire ecosystem.
In fact, earthworms and micro-organisms are not able to assimilate it.
As a result, this slurry does not encourage crop renewal.
Another disadvantage: it is toxic to humans and animals!
Surprising and yet true, this information is worrying and demonstrates how important it is to opt for other remedies.
Copper sulfate causes skin problems such as dermatitis, eczema and even more complex disorders such as conjunctivitis.
What are the alternatives to Bordeaux mixture?
There are several alternatives to Bordeaux mixture, you can find:
Horsetail manure: a natural fungicide made up of trace elements and minerals, it is rich in silica and helps fight pests such as insects or diseases.
It is effective for downy mildew, scab and peach leaf curl and is used as a preventative;
Nettle manure: natural solution capable of strengthening the immune system and stimulating plant growth.
It inhibits the development of parasites and allows crops to better resist attacks;
Baking soda: preventive treatment for the leaves of your crops.
It increases the pH and slows down the development of spores such as downy mildew or powdery mildew.
What reflexes should we adopt to limit the appearance of certain diseases?
In addition to natural alternatives to react to the attack of parasites such as insects or even diseases, there are even gentler solutions.
For example, it is enough to respect certain simple gestures, in particular:
Carefully choose the location according to cultivation requirements;
Avoid wetting the leaves during watering;
Take care to ventilate the tomato plants installed in the greenhouse in order to renew the air and dry the morning dew;
Respect the recommended distances between each foot to reduce disease transmission.