Photo by Tara ElliotIf you are now in the process of clearing your garden and getting ready to grow vegetables, you may be thinking of the best vegetables to grow this time around. Perhaps you’ve already tried radishes, and the humble potato, but if you want to give yourself a challenge, you may find vegetables that are more difficult to grow than others. If you’re looking for a big challenge, here are some of the following to try.
Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes were originally a tropical plant, meaning that they need a long hot growing season of more than 100 days. The sweet potato plant doesn’t like cold soil, and this means that if you really want to get to grips with this, you’ve got to invest in a greenhouse. A polycarbonate greenhouse can provide a substantial level of heat, helping you to fight off the cold. Sweet potatoes tend to do better in southern climates, but if you live in the northern parts of the world, you could get a successful crop by growing the plant in raised beds, and making sure that you protect it from the cold.
Carrots
Carrots require special care. One of the biggest things you can do to get to grips with the humble carrot is to prepare the soil properly. Having the right type of soil is crucial, but also make sure that the soil doesn’t have any items within it, such as pebbles. If you want to grow straight carrots, you can’t have any obstructions, because the roots will grow around them resulting in very misshapen-looking vegetables.
Cauliflower
This is a tricky vegetable to grow because it has a long growing season. It prefers to thrive in colder climates. Cauliflower also doesn’t like extreme temperatures. So you have to start growing it early enough to make sure that it matures by the time summer arrives, but you’ve got to start it late enough so it’s not too cold. An additional challenge with growing cauliflower comes in the form of bugs, such as cabbage worms, as they will quickly eat the leaves of a cauliflower plant.
Eggplant
Eggplants are very sensitive to changes in temperature, but the biggest problem is with pests. The flea beetle can chew holes through your eggplants, causing a lot of frustration if you’re trying to get this perfect purple plant to grow. This is why if you don’t want to spray a lot of pesticides, you might struggle to grow this.
Onions
You’ve got to pick the correct onions to grow in your garden. Onions are very sensitive to the amount of daylight they get, but there are also different types of onions that need shorter days. So you’ve got to pick the right onion and make sure that you plant it at the right time of year.
Artichoke
The globe artichoke is a Mediterranean vegetable and can be difficult to grow because of the temperature fluctuations that it demands.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re trying to grow carrots or eggplant, the best thing you can do is research the type of plant you’d like to grow. Learn what their needs are, and this means you are more than prepared for the challenge.
