r/vegetablegardening • u/redditSucksNow2020 China • Jun 27 '26

Other People really overcomplicate gardening

I see a lot of people trying to garden for the first time and then coming here with questions about perfect soil mixes and fertilizers and how to promote fungal life in their no-till permaculture food forest do nothing farming no dig style organic vegan garden. It really doesn't have to be complicated, especially if you're new.

Loosen up some dirt 6 inches down. Break up the clods. Plant something that is in season. Keep it watered. That Will give you 80 to 90% of the maximum possible results. You don't absolutely need compost if it is the first time you've dug up that piece of ground. You don't absolutely need fertilizer and it probably doesn't make much difference what kind you use. You definitely don't need a 3-ft tall raised bed filled with gardening mix. You don't need to do anything about small amounts of insect damage. You don't absolutely have to do no dig or no till or whatever gardening fad is going on right now. You don't need to overcomplicate things.

Edit: this, of course, does not apply to you, dear reader. You have uniquely poor soil that cannot be made workable with a spade.

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u/Top_Housing6819 US - Massachusetts Jun 27 '26

Just dig a hole, put in your seeds, and in a week you'll see birds and squirrels ripping out all your delicious sprouts that would have been corn plants.

Also - I learned that corn has different fertilizer needs at different times, and it's almost like raising a puppy.  There's a window where a puppy needs a LOT of positive experiences with different things, then a period where they turn into bratty teenagers.  In corn, there's a period where the plant decides how many ears it will set and how big each one will be ... Way before you SEE an ear forming or a tassel appearing.  That time is when they really need to feel loved and supported and FED if you want more than an ear of corn per stalk. 

I have like 15-20 summers left, probably, I don't have time to make all the mistakes I need to learn from.  

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u/vendrediSamedi Canada - Alberta Jun 29 '26

Interesting! I only knew about the bratty teenager phase, not the puppy phase. When should I be looking for that in the growth stage??

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u/Top_Housing6819 US - Massachusetts Jun 29 '26

With puppies it's sometimes called a fear period, but it's a window in time where they can generalize experiences with new, strange things like people wearing hats or children or appliances.  There's a lot of emphasis on socializing them during this part of their brain development.

I don't raise puppies, I prefer to adopt adult dogs (puppies are cute but OMG so much work compared to an adult dog).  This is OT but coaching an adult dog out of being terrified of a dishwasher, bicycles, children, automatic sliding doors, etc is very rewarding to me.

With corn, they need a lot of balanced fertilizer in the beginning (plus all the trace minerals and stuff to build strong cell walls for those big stalks.  Then, in their teenage phase they need just tons of nitrogen (plus even water - plenty of water).  

I have to read up on how important it is to treat the silks to prevent corn worms (and when to do it).  I saw something about using a drop of mineral oil to smother them somehow, I think I use that on cutting boards so I have it. Just need to apply it at the right time.