All About Plant Selection

MMMmmmmm – veggies.  There are few vegetables I’ve met and didn’t like.  With so many different varieties of veggies to choose from, I figured the best way to begin the selection process was by limitations:

1. The size of my backyard.  Rough estimate ground area for growing; 15 x 15 ft.
2. Viable growing method. (Alternative methods; possible project for next year)
3. Budget.  Must be less than $1000 start up.
4. Vegetables we commonly eat.
5. “Freeze” ability - Able to freeze well for storage throughout the year.  (Root cellar; possible project for next year.)

I began by making a list of all the veggies/herbs I thought my family would like to eat:

Artichoke	Chard	Radish
Asparagus	Chives	Rosemary
Basil	Cilantro	Spinach
Beans, green and yellow	Corn	Squash, Acorn
Beets	Cucumber	Squash, Butternut
Broccoli	Eggplant	Squash, Yellow Summer
Brussels Sprouts	Lettuce	Thyme
Cabbage	Onion, Bulb and Green	Tomato
Cantaloupe	Peas	Turnips
Carrots	Peppers, green and hot	Watermelon
Cauliflower	Potato	Zucchini

Notice how I first limited the list by including only those veggies my family and I would eat – not by which ones I would like to grow.  I would like to grow pumpkins and ornamental gourds (the ones birdhouses are made out of), and grains like quinoa or buckwheat; however, I cannot justify the space these crops use for the return on yield or use. 

Next limitation; I began a detailed research into the plants themselves, asking questions like how much space they needed to grow, how much water they need, what kind of soil did each prefer, how to increase yield, and how much fertilizer to use and how often.

I picked up a book on basic botany and refreshed my high school science lab knowledge on plants in general.  By doing so, I picked up some very useful information on root systems that made all the difference in my final plant selections.

Roots 101

The purpose of a root system is to absorb water and nutrients from the surrounding soil and transport them to the stem. The main parts of a root system are the main root (aka taproot, grows straight down vertically), secondary roots (the ones that grow out horizontally), and the root cap (aka the apex).

There are several types of roots:  Fibrous (bulb onions, corn), Adventitious (tomatoes, asparagus), Conical (carrots), Fusiform (radish), Tuberiferious (potato) and Napiform (turnips).   Fibrous roots have many spreading branches.  Adventitious roots grow out of a cut stem or leaf.  Conical roots are wide at the top and taper to a point at the apex. Fusiform roots are tapered at both ends, forming an oval shape. Tuberiferious roots have branches that form rounded knobs.  Napiform roots grow wider than long.

The exterior of a root is covered by a layer of cells that make up the epiblem (or rhizodermis).  From these cells grow root hairs.  The root hairs job is to increase the surface area from which the plant can obtain water and nutrients.  Root hairs live for days at a time, die, and are replaced by new ones near the apex.

That is important enough to repeat by shouting - NEAR THE APEX. Why is this important?  If you recall from the first paragraph, the apex of the root is the bottom part of the taproot.  New root hairs, which transport water and nutrients, grow from the bottom of the tap root, which itself is growing ever downward.  If you damage the tap root and the root hairs, the plant has to be able to support its current size on the remaining undamaged roots until it can repair itself. 

Upon realizing this, I felt the practice of trimming the roots of any plant to be foolish.  o.O

If the roots are heavily damaged, the leaves must be pruned off and water drastically reduced until the plant can repair and replace its root system.  To me, that’s a weaker plant, not a stronger one.  I have not yet found any evidence that a plant replaces its damaged roots with more or hardier roots to compensate.  Once the plants roots have repaired, then growth will again resume from where it left off.

Soil structure is also important – try to grow a plant in soil that is mostly hard clay, and the taproot will be unable to penetrate adequately, thereby stunting the growth of the plant or killing it altogether.  While it is true most plants can adapt to soil conditions to some degree, it seems to me the better, healthier plant has the soil adapted to its needs.  But more on soil later….

My next step was to examine the individual root systems of vegetables on my list.  After combing the internet, I came across this useful publication. http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137toc.html 

(This website provides many additional publications well worth reading on rainy days).  Next, I made a spreadsheet to compare the plant stats against soil and water needs, with the aim of grouping plants together that had similar attributes.  Individual cultivar (variety; i.e., Cherokee Purple tomato vs. Brandywine tomato) was not a consideration at this point. You can see the results in the table below:

(A caveat before reading further:  The information below is generally accurate as relates to the average, normal, healthy plant in standard beneficial conditions of soil, climate, etc.  It is not meant to be exact; there are differences in every plant, and varying conditions in climate, soil, and growing methods make all the difference in the growth and production habit of a plant.)  

RC - Root circumference, from base of plant, avg.
RD - Root Depth, avg.

FD - Feeding Depth (zone where the heaviest concentrations of roots are found)

Soil - Soil type needed (WD-well drained, M-moist, H-heavy, D-deep, L-loam)

W - Water amount needed; Amount in inches/frequency in days

W% - How wet the soil needs to be at a minimum, with 0% being dry and 100% wet

SagH - Plant Spread Above Ground, Horizontal (at harvest)

SagV - Plant Spread Above Ground, Vertical (at harvest)

Veg	RC	RD	FD	Soil	W	W%	SagH	SagV
Artichoke		4 ft		WD,D			6 ft	4 ft
Asparagus	2 ft	2ft	0-3 ft	WD	1/20	40	3 in	4 ft
Basil			0-12 in	WD			1-2 ft	2-4 ft
Beans, gr			1-6 in	WD,M	1/5	50	2 ft	2 ft
Beans, yw			1-6 in	WD,M	1/5	50	2 ft	2 ft
Beets	2-4ft	6-10ft	0-5 ft	WD,D,M	1/14	20	1 ft	1 ft
Broccoli				WD	1/5	70	1 ft	2 ft
Brussel Spt				WD	1/5	70	2 ft	2-3 ft
Cabbage	3.5 ft	5 ft	0-2ft	L,M	1/10	60	2 ft	1 ft
Cantaloupe	15 ft	4 ft	0-12 in	WD,L	1/10	60	V	V
Carrots	1 ft	2.5 ft	1-12 in	L,M	1/21	50	16 in	1 ft
Cauliflower	2 ft	3-12in	0-12 in	L,M	1/5	60	2 ft	2 ft
Chard	3-4ft	6ft	0-2 ft					1 ft
Chives
Corn	2-3 ft	3-5 ft	0-2 ft	WD	1/14	50	2 ft	5 ft
Cucumber	3 ft	4 ft	0-12 in	WD, M	1/7	50	V	V
Eggplant	2 ft	5 ft	0-2ft	WD	1/7	50	20 in	2-3 ft
Lettuce	2 ft	6 ft	0-4 in	WD,M	1/7	60	V	V
Onion, bulb	2 ft	3 ft	20-32in	L,M	1/7	70	6 in	19 in
Peas	2 ft	3 ft	0-2 ft	WD	1/7	40	V	V
Pepper, gr	2.5 ft	3 ft	0-12 in	L,M	1/7	50	2 ft	2-3 ft
Pepper, hot				L,M	1/7	50	V	V
Potato	2 ft	3 ft		WD	1/7	70	V	1-2 ft
Radish	1 ft	2 ft	1-4 in	L, WD	1/5	70	6 in	6 in
Spinach	1 ft	6 ft	2-6 in	WD,M	1/5	70	1 ft	1 ft
Squash, Acorn	14 ft	6 ft	0-12 in	WD	1/10	40	10ft+	1 ft
Squash, Btrnut			0-12 in	WD	1/10	40	10ft+	1 ft
Squash, Smr			0-2 ft	WD	1/5	70	3 ft	3 ft
Tomato	3 ft	5 ft	0-2 ft	M,D	1/5	50	V	V
Turnips	2.5 ft	5.5 ft	0-3 ft	D,M,L	1/7	70	1 ft	1 ft
Watermelon	20 ft	4 ft	0-12 in	WD,L	1/21	40	15+	1ft
Zucchini			0 – 2 ft	WD	1/5	70	3ft	3ft

*Notes: 

• Data was gathered from multiple sources, including personal observation.
• Empty cells = no data found or known (yet)
• The SAGH(V) values (plant spread above ground, horizontal/vertical) relates to the size at harvest, not full maturity of plants.  Measurements were not given where multiple variants and cultivation methods result in highly diverse and individualized harvest sizes (i.e. tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.).
• Feeding Depth (FD) where 0 is included; most roots begin 1-2 inches below the actual top of the soil, not at 0 (which is the soil surface.)
• All herbs will be grown in same conditions as basil, not in the planned garden plot, and so were omitted from the results. 
• Root circumference and depth are based on mature plants.  A majority of plants are harvested before full maturity (example:  radish is ready at 30 days for harvest, but not fully mature until 90 days when it goes to seed.)

After studying my chart, I decided that if I were to save seeds for next growing season, I would have to plant two additional small beds for plants to grow to full maturity (but, more on seeds later…)

A quick word on budget; the goal is to make this project as inexpensive and cost effective as possible.  I think of the project as having two phases; Install Phase and Maintenance Phase. I put the $1000 mark as extreme in my mind for install, but hope the actual cost will be under $500.  However, unforeseen expenditures (cost of soil amendments, frames, irrigation, and such) during the install phase will probably occur. Then, there’s the family curse – everything we buy is either already broken or will be shortly.  o.O   So, putting in the garden may run more than $1000.  Maintenance phase should cost under $500 a year definitely.  I will keep an ongoing separate list with details of the actual costs and post it at the end of each Phase, whether a success or fail.

Of course, there is always the possibility of failed crops due to human error, pests, weather events, and toddlers o.O  Generally speaking though, any amount that comes in under $5000 during Install Phase and provides all our vegetable needs for an entire year would still be a tremendous savings of thousands of dollars, not to mention gmo free, pesticide free, chemical free, and more nutritious food for my family.

From this point on, additional information on soil, water, growing methods, planting methods, training methods, composting, mulching, and pest control – all of which will be covered in additional posts – will serve to refine and/or enhance plant choices, rather than eliminate them (hopefully).

Besides, I wouldn’t want to get overly technical in deciding what to grow.  o.O