twinturbotom
New Member
I'm new to gardening and excited to learn through experience and some advice from the experienced (YOU!).
We had a pretty big rain storm recently and it made me think about the proper way to care for my plants. Some of my new smaller plants ended up having leaves that were pretty dirty from soil being thrown around in the rain splashing down. I went and wiped off the soil from the leaves... this is a good thing right?
also... Some of the plants, like my cabbage for example, have very healthy leaves (vibrant colors held off the ground by the plant) while other leaves are discolored and hanging down on the soil. I gently pulled on the not so healthy leaves and some came right off, while others didn't. Should I prune the not so healthy leaves or let nature take its course? This example is valid for several of my plants.
Final thing. When I bought my topsoil to fill my raised beds (thread with garden build up if your interested) the bulk supplier was out of sand and soil conditioners (vermiculite, perilite). I wanted to use these things to stop the "puddling" when watering / raining...So the plants are just in top soil now. I was planning on troweling around and mixing in a little sand and soil conditioners around the plants while adding some compost around the plants. Is this a good idea or should I not mess with my freshly planted garden?
I appreciate any feed back on plant care you can give. As I research these topics I see arguments for yes and no.. which is why I'm turning to your thoughts.
Thanks!
We had a pretty big rain storm recently and it made me think about the proper way to care for my plants. Some of my new smaller plants ended up having leaves that were pretty dirty from soil being thrown around in the rain splashing down. I went and wiped off the soil from the leaves... this is a good thing right?
also... Some of the plants, like my cabbage for example, have very healthy leaves (vibrant colors held off the ground by the plant) while other leaves are discolored and hanging down on the soil. I gently pulled on the not so healthy leaves and some came right off, while others didn't. Should I prune the not so healthy leaves or let nature take its course? This example is valid for several of my plants.
Final thing. When I bought my topsoil to fill my raised beds (thread with garden build up if your interested) the bulk supplier was out of sand and soil conditioners (vermiculite, perilite). I wanted to use these things to stop the "puddling" when watering / raining...So the plants are just in top soil now. I was planning on troweling around and mixing in a little sand and soil conditioners around the plants while adding some compost around the plants. Is this a good idea or should I not mess with my freshly planted garden?
I appreciate any feed back on plant care you can give. As I research these topics I see arguments for yes and no.. which is why I'm turning to your thoughts.
Thanks!