Cultivate a Green Thumb

It’s so fulfilling to watch something grow under your care. Whether it’s your business or your kids, raising something from scratch is a whole lot easier with your online calendar.

Gardening is another great way you can capture those feelings. Planting a seed and watching it grow into an entire plant is a miracle of nature. But as any gardener can tell you, a thriving garden takes time and attention to detail.

Cultivating Your Calendar

If you’re looking to work that green thumb of yours, these nine tips for using an online calendar can get you growing in no time:

  1. Prepare Your Plot of Land

First things first: You need a spot to plant your garden. You can start small by growing a few plants on the back porch or tilling up a patch of dirt in the yard.

Schedule a day in your online calendar to get this done. You don’t want to put this off because it can affect the entire growing season if you fall behind.

2. Know the Best Planting Times

There are so many varieties of flowers, bushes, and crops that you can grow. Each plant has an ideal time for planting.

Do your research, and consider your climate zone. Generally speaking, plants can go in the ground earlier if you live closer to the equator.

Think about whether you’re starting from seed or working with sprouted plants. Seeds need to be planted a few weeks earlier than existing plants.

Set reminders in your online calendar once you’ve picked what you’re going to plant and found out when the best time for planting is. It’ll push you to get going when the time is right, so your gardening can have the best possible start.

3. Get a Head Start

Some plants can begin to grow indoors before being transferred outside. So why not get a head start? Plant some seeds in a cup next to a sunny window, and you’ll have shoots already coming up when planting season begins.

Use your online calendar to plan a timeline for your little indoor plants. Don’t let them live in pots too long, or they may not bear flowers and fruit as they would if they were planted in the ground. Timing this correctly will make all the difference in the outcome of your plants.

4. Set a Watering Schedule

Your plants won’t grow without plenty of water. On the other hand, too much water can be just as damaging. Different plants might need watering schedules tailored to their needs. For example, tomatoes need a lot of water in order to grow, while succulents can easily be overwatered.

Set up a watering schedule to ensure that your plants are getting the right amount of water — no more, no less. Find the right balance for your garden, and use recurring reminders to tell you when it’s time to turn on the hose.

5. Keep an Eye on the Weather

The elements will significantly affect how your garden grows. Staying up-to-date with the Weather will let you know the conditions your plants will be growing in and any steps you should take to protect them.

Make a note of important weather updates in your online calendar. For example, if heavy rain is in the forecast, you can postpone your watering schedule for a day or two. Likewise, if high winds or hail are on the horizon, you can take precautions to protect your plants from injury.

6. Weed Ruthlessly

Weeds: the bane of every gardener’s existence. They need to be removed from your garden constantly so they don’t overrun what you’re trying to grow. This can be tedious and unforgiving, but it’s part of the gardening experience.

If you can’t bring yourself to weed frequently enough, use calendar events to invite other members of the household to your weeding schedule. You can set reminders for them, just as you would with any other chore.

7. Keep the Creepy-Crawlers Away

Little bugs can create big problems. For example, they’ll eat away leaves and kill plants before they can fully blossom.

To combat the little monsters who threaten your crops, you can use different types of insecticide to keep them away. Use your online calendar to schedule spraying times: Apply chemicals too often and that will harm your plants and make fruits and vegetables inedible. But, on the other hand, doing so too frequently can hurt your harvest.

8. Beware of Jack Frost

Some plants grow best toward the end of the warm season. The trouble is, cold snaps can freeze their leaves or outright kill them.

Don’t let your hard work go to waste. Mark your online calendar with frost dates to be aware of when your crops might be in danger of freezing.

Do some research to learn the best way to protect your plants: Will simply covering them cut it, or should you take them indoors if the temperature dips into the 30s?

9. Time to Harvest

Your labors’ fruit, or vegetables, will be harvested at the end of the season. Add harvest dates to your calendar to make sure you pick them at their peak.

For some plants, this may be multiple times a season. Record when you pick from each plant and put a reminder on your calendar — that’s timed for the next harvest.

 

The best part of gardening is enjoying what you’ve grown, but the process is rewarding. So put gardening chores on your calendar, and get ready to put lots of fresh produce in your pantry.

Image Credit: by Mariakray; Pexels; Thank you!