Want your plants to yield bigger veggies, fruits, or flowers?
Many passionate green thumbs share your ambition, and in this article, I’m sharing my top # tips and techniques for improving the growth size of crops.
Whether you’re entering a competition for the largest produce or simply enjoy harvesting those oversized beauties, keep the following in mind:
1. Start with the Right Varieties
If you’re yet to grow your plant(s), your chances of cultivating oversized crops will increase dramatically if you choose seeds that are likely to produce a larger yield from the get-go.
I’m talking about using seeds of oversized or “giant” varieties of your target plants. This requires a bit of research on your part, but you can easily find clues in the varieties’ names.
Here, take a look:
- Heirloom Tomato: Old Colossus
- Pumpkin: Atlantic Giant
- Carrot: Japanese Imperial Long
- Cabbage: Northern Giant
- Onion: Stuttgart Giant or Kelsae Sweet Giant
- Sunflower: Russian Mammoth or Grey Stripe Giant
- Cucumber: Mammoth Zeppelin
- Pepper: Super Heavyweight Hybrid
- Watermelon: Carolina Cross Giant
- Squash: Show King Giant
- Gourd: Giant Long
Other than choosing seeds from giant plant varieties, you should also pick native ones. Plants that are right for your region’s climate typically grow faster and bigger as they adapt more easily to the local environment.
2. Use Quality Soil
The better the quality of the soil, the healthier the plant, and the higher the chances of improving its growth size.
Quality soil doesn’t necessarily mean sandy, loose, nitrogen-rich, or acidic soil. No, soil is high quality when it delivers what the plant needs.
This means that the soil needs to be right for the crop with the matching particle type, adequate type/concentration of nutrients, and a proper drainage level.
3. Enrich the Soil
It’s not enough to just use the right type of soil and the basic level of nutrients to get oversized plants. For that, fertilizing is a must.
You can enhance the soil using compost, manure, and other organic fertilizers. You can also beef it up with inorganic fertilizers for an extra dose of minerals.
Don’t forget to feed your crops according to their needs to achieve the best results.
For example, large veggies are best paired with slow-acting fertilizers to ensure that the necessary nutrients are always present during their growth spurts.
Leafy vegetables almost always require higher nitrogen concentrations, while flowers and fruits thrive when the soil is rich in potassium, copper, magnesium, and phosphorus.
4. Water Sufficiently
If you’re growing larger plants, they’ll probably need more water and won’t tolerate underwatering as much. Even regular-sized plants don’t typically do well when their watering schedule isn’t adequate.
So be vigilant with watering and make sure the water reaches deep into the soil where the roots reside. A timer or an automatic irrigation system can help you maintain regular watering.
Still, this doesn’t give you a pass to over-water. Soaking wet soil isn’t healthy either.
While you’re at it, consider using carbonated water. This delivers more carbon dioxide to the plant, which supports photosynthesis and the production of energy needed for growth.
5. Provide the Appropriate Amount of Sunlight
Growing oversized crops calls for more of the appropriate level of sunlight for the plant. This doesn’t necessarily mean exposure to brighter light for longer periods – it can also refer to more shade.
It comes down to what the plant prefers.
If you’re growing a plant that thrives on direct sunlight, then you’ll need to deliver more of that. You can move the plant to a different spot or use reflectors to maximize exposure.
If your plant prefers low-light conditions, you can set up a cover or move them closer to the house.
6. Weed Regularly
Weeds are intrusive, opportunistic, plants that compete with existing plants for water and nutrients in the soil, and sometimes even hinder their exposure to sunlight.
Unfortunately, weeds grow quickly and abundantly, so you need to fight their aggressiveness by removing them before they turn into an infestation that may be impossible to eradicate without harming your plants in the process.
The problem is that you may not notice weeds in your garden until they’ve taken hold. As such, you need to perform periodical checkups to ensure they aren’t there.
7. Prune and Thin
Last but not least, you need to be on top of your pruning and trimming game when it comes to the crop, not the foliage.
Leaving too many fruits, flowers, or veggies on your plant means they’ll all be sharing the nutrients.
Instead, help your plant to focus on the few biggest and healthiest yields by removing the rest. Some gardeners will even thin their plants to just one fruit later in the season, veggie, or flower to ensure maximum growth.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.