The Secret to Happy Plants

July 22 - What's your best gardening tip?

Well, you've seen the beginning of my garden here but it's grown quite a bit since then. We've had some Roma tomatoes, some peas, beans, and lots of lettuce already; all which were delicious!

Recently a little cucumber has started growing and I'm already looking forward to making pickles once I have enough cucs to keep me busy in the kitchen for an afternoon!

I can't say I'm a professional gardener but I do think I have a little bit of green on my thumb ;) It hasn't always been that way, but it's getting there!

The best tip I can give you {and I'm not joking here} is to water your plants.

Ok, I'll wait for you to stop laughing.

Better? Great. As I was saying, you want to make sure your plants aren't drying out!

When I first started trying to keep something alive {other than myself}, I couldn't figure out why my plants weren't thriving. They weren't dying but they sure as heck weren't really growing much!

I was a busy college student and didn't exactly put "watering the plants" at the top of my to-do list everyday. Heck, the plants were lucky if they got watered once a week! It wasn't that I was thinking plants only needed water on Sundays, it was more because I just plain didn't have time between taking classes for two degrees, working a paid job, an unpaid internship, and trying to do homework.

When life settled down and I was able to bust out my watering can more frequently, I noticed the plants perked up and actually grew. {Huh, who knew, you water plants and they grow!}

Now I water my outdoor plants depending on the weather. If it's going to rain, I hold off. But if it's supposed to be sunny I try and water my plants before work. I usually water them about 5 times a week.

My indoor plants are mostly outdoors for the summer but I do have two low-water, low-light plants that stay in. They get watered once a week, sometimes once every two weeks. It just depends on how moist the soil is.

If you're anything like I was and didn't realize just how much water plants need to thrive try adding another day or two to your watering schedule every week. You may be surprised just how nice they grow!
{and if all else fails just add some Miracle Gro to that baby and watch it go!}

What are your gardening tips?


This post is part of the Summer Blog Challenge. 
To see more posts inspired by the challenge visit my Summer Blog Challenge page!