Tricks for your summer urban vegetable garden

How to create an urban vegetable garden this summer? Depending on the season, certain vegetables, fruits or herbs will grow better than others, and there is also special care and recommendations for making your summer garden a success!

Not all vegetable species will sprout and grow correctly during a time of year when heat can be scorching, even for plants. That's why you must take the hours of daylight and high temperatures into account to correctly select what you're going to plant.

As we've mentioned in previous articles, all you need is a spot with enough sunlight to start your own garden. Whether you have a raised, vertical, or potted garden on your balcony, keep in mind what you're going to plant.

Using sprouts is easier than germinating your own seeds and you'll see results more quickly. Let's take a look at what you can plant this summer to take full advantage of the season's long days.

If you have already planted during the past few months, July is the month when urban vegetable gardens are at their peak, mainly for peppers, tomatoes and green beans.

What to plant on our urban vegetable garden

Light is essential for these products, which need a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight per day, therefore it is the perfect time of year for vegetables such as:

Celery, (Apium graveolens).

Broccoli, (Brassica oleracea).

Cucumbers, (Cucumis sativus).

Zucchini, (Cucurbita pepo).

Eggplant, (Solanum melongena).

Peppers, (Capsicum Annuum).

It is also ideal for tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), which need a lot of light and high temperatures.

Endives (Cichorium endivia) and different lettuce varieties (Lactuca sativa) are best at the end of summer, since at high temperatures lettuce can shoot up, damaging the harvest.

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea), lamb's lettuce and strawberries (Fragaria vesca), for example, aren't good options because they don't cope very well with direct light and heat.

What can you plant in the summer and throughout the year? The best crops for any time of year are onions (Allium cepa) and carrots (Daucus carota).

Special care for our urban vegetable garden

Above all, daily watering and special fertilizers. And, why wouldn't you? Plan your vacations so that your garden doesn't go without water for more than two days in a row.

- The strong sunlight makes it possible for the leaves of plants to burn up if we don't water them properly: it's best to do it early in the morning or late in the evening.

- Did you know that less frequent deep watering is better than more frequent superficial watering? Doing this helps roots to find the bottom of the pot or the ground, which strengthens them and helps them to survive droughts.

- Apply fertilizer in moderation. It's best to wait one month after planting your sprouts, and always use the directed amount (if you don't, you could burn the plant). It's always better to use organic fertilizers that don't contain chemical substances.

- And don't forget to weed and check for insect infestations.

By using these simple tricks, your summer garden will soon bear fruit! Can you think of any other tricks to share? Share your opinion!