Spring
vegie care If you caught the gardening bug during the COVID-19 lockdowns or have had a green thumb for years, here are some spring vegie care hints to keep your home grown harvests wonderfully productive.
SILVERBEET »
Sometimes known as chard, silverbeet is a versatile vegie that can be used in pasta dishes, soups, salads, savoury muffins, pastries and quiches as well as pizza toppings. Yates® Silverbeet ‘Fordhook Giant’ is a large, easy to grow variety that produces an abundant harvest of large crinkly, highly nutritious leaves with long, sturdy white stems. For smaller spaces and pots, Yates Silverbeet Compact Deep Green has rich green leaves on shorter stems.
»
Silverbeet does best in a full sun spot in the vegie garden or pots and to keep the plants productive and flourishing, feed each week with Yates Thrive® Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food.
»
A fantastic benefit of silverbeet is that you can pick individual stalks as you need them. Pick outer stalks regularly to promote fresh new growth.
»
Watch out for snails and slugs, which like to hide in amongst the stalks and devour the leaves. Control them by lightly sprinkling Yates Blitzem® Snail & Slug Pellets around the base of the plants.
ASIAN VEGIES »
Tatsoi, Chinese cabbage and buk choy are just some of the deliciously healthy Asian leafy greens that can be grown during spring. Promote lots of leaf growth by feeding each week with nitrogen rich Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food.
»
Leaves of Asian greens such as tatsoi and buk choy can be picked individually, providing a continuous harvest over many weeks.
»
Caterpillars, which can come in a range of sizes and colours, can rapidly chew through lots of leaves, so it’s important to regularly monitor for caterpillars themselves or signs of their damage or droppings. Spray plants each week with Yates® Nature’s Way® Organic Citrus, Vegie & Ornamental Spray to control caterpillars. It contains natural pyrethrin extract from the pyrethrum daisy, plus vegetable oil, and is approved for use in organic gardening.
