If you are a beginner gardener, you need to read through these common first time gardening mistakes. I am here to save you!
I made each of these gardening mistakes when I first started gardening, so I wanted to share them with you to save you the heartache.
The Truth About Gardening Mistakes
The truth is gardening can be intimidating! Variables like soil composition, the time of year, and your weather can determine success or failure of your newly planted darlings.
There can be a lot that goes into starting a vegetable garden, but I promise you this: it’s worth it! And it doesn’t have to be complicated.
To get started, here are the top seven gardening mistakes I made as a first-time gardener. After reading this, head back to my blog and check out the helpful posts in the Garden category. I’ve laid out everything you need to know from seed starting to mapping and planning to planting and maintaining a thriving garden!
Top 7 Common Gardening Mistakes Beginners Make
Gardening Mistake No. 1: Not enough sun or wrong location choice
The thing about not enough sun is this: you’ll get a weak or limited harvest. Because sunshine is vital to a plant’s growth, it will take a long time for budding flowers to grow, which are then pollinated and turn into fruit.
Not enough sun also means weak and leggy stems, and no one wants that!
Don’t worry, plenty of gardening can be done in partial sun, just be sure to give your garden the environment it needs. It does matter. Full sun for warm-air loving plants like the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes) is typically eight hours a day. For fall/winter planting or cool weather crops (lettuces, greens, cruciferous family) plants need at least 5-6 hours of sun.
Choosing a location matters!
Garden Mistake No. 2: Too much or too little watering
Water, soil, and sun – your new best friends for growing veggies and flowers. But the water really makes a difference. It’s the first variable I start to tweak when things look off. Most plants need daily or every other day watering, especially young seedlings or plants growing in containers.
Plants that produce in the summer need the most water (they get the most sun/heat/dryness). Plants that are growing in the winter need the least water and sun. Research what conditions your plant specifically needs, and work towards that.
I find that watering early in the morning before direct sun is best for my garden. Please don’t water the leaves during midday sun, or they can burn. You can also water in the evening and let the plants soak in water all night, BUT you risk attracting mold because wet soil + lack of light can equal fungi, which is difficult to control once started. To be on the safe side, water in the early morning.
Gardening Mistake No. 3: Planting in the wrong season
There is an ideal time for all vegetables to grow to their full potential. For example, tomatoes do best with A LOT of sun and heat. That warm burst of flavor is built by our beautiful blazing fireball in the sky. But note: in warmer zones, garden centers will sell you tomatoes in December. Don’t let them fool you. Your tomato will struggle to bear fruit and you will be writhing in agony waiting for your pretty red tomatoes to pop out. Buy a tomato plant in April-June (zone dependent) and eat your first little cherry tom in just two months.
Be sure to know when the best time is to plant either seeds or seedlings, and how long the maturation time is. Plant accordingly.
Garden Mistake No. 4: Planting veggies together that are incompatible
I once planted green bell peppers right next to my grape tomatoes and guess what I got? A tiny green bell pepper that could barely feed Polly Pocket’s family.
Search “companion planting” on Pinterest and Google, there are hundreds of guides like this one on Mother Earth News! There are lots of pretty pictures on what to plant with what. I especially love planting compatible veggies with herbs and flowers! Use it, love it, do it.
Gardening Mistake No. 5: No fertilizer or compost
Fertilizing does not need to be a big thing; it just needs to happen every one-two weeks until you see buds on your plant. I recommend getting something organic, balanced and natural like this fish emulsion. It is my secret weapon! For flowers I recommend this one. Please don’t be tempted to use grass and lawn fertilizer. I cringe when I see people do this! The nutrients are not balanced (too much nitrogen) and will only grow your plants big, lush, and green but you’ll never see a flower or fruit.
Honestly, fertilizing for fruit bearing plants is not complicated: 1) Get the fish emulsion. 2) Fertilize upon planting and continue fertilizing every weekly until you see buds or flowers start to form on a plant. I do a foliar spray with fish emulsion and follow the directions for mixing on the bottle’s label!
Adding compost* will enrich your soil and ALL plants love it. Not only does it add beneficial nutrients but it also adds something called humus (not hummus!) which aerates and improves water drainage whether you have clay soil or sandy soil. Adding compost balances your soil situation whatever type of soil you have!
I recommend working some compost into the top layer of soil whether you have plants already in the ground, if you are just adding in soil for the first time or if you are amending last year’s soil. You can buy compost (by the bag or by the yard) if you don’t make it yourself.
*If soil is really overwhelming to you, don’t worry. Store-bought organic potting soil or raised bed garden soil is completely fine. Start with that, and then fertilizer and compost can be added later.
Garden Mistake No. 6: Not enough space between plants
Some veggie plants will literally take over your beds. Take squash for instance. They grow vigorously, suck the nutrients from the soil deeply, and physically grow so big that they will choke out anything in their path.
One of my biggest tips can go a long way for you: note what size they’re going to be *at full maturity* and follow plant spacing guidelines. This is indicated right on the seed packet in most cases, and they will tell you exactly how far apart to space your plants.
Pumpkins and melons for example take over. These plants want to spread out so I always recommend a different space entirely for them. Tomatoes, broccoli and zucchini are examples of veggies that grow to be bigger than you think, be sure to give them tons of room.
Gardening Mistake #7: Not rotating crops
Yay, you successfully gardened into your second year!! That’s awesome. While it’s tempting to plant tomatoes where they did so well last year, I’d advise you not to. Why? Crop rotation will help balance the soil’s nutrients, reduce disease, and among other things, increase soil fertility. Rotate those tomatoes to a different bed and better yet, next time amend the soil with a cover crop where they had been growing. There is a lot of info out there on crop rotation, I recommend getting the book, Vegetable Gardener’s Bible.
These are a few tips that scratch the surface of first-time gardening. I hope this beginner guidance will help you create a plan for your new garden and avoid some of the newbie gardener pitfalls and that it helps you cut back on the common gardening mistakes!
For some more beginner friendly gardening tips, check out these posts:
How to Read Seed Catalogs and Seed Packets
Happy harvesting friends! xo, Christine
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