10 BIGGEST Vegetable GARDEN MISTAKES: And How to Avoid Them

Gardening for the last 13 years has taught me several lessons, many of which I learned the hard way. In this video, I share my picks for the 10 biggest vegetable gardening mistakes.
Learn from my vegetable gardening mistakes and avoid making your own. What lessons have you learned in the garden? Share in the comments below and let’s learn together.
Introduction 00:00
Mistake #1 00:29
Mistake #2 01:14
Mistake #3 02:05
Mistake #4 02:49
Mistake #5 03:34
Mistake #6 04:28
Mistake #7 05:06
Mistake #8 05:48
Mistake #9 06:17
Mistake #10 06:59
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[@etiennelouw9244]

I started my garden in 2021, I dug up the grass and used concrete slabs and large cement blocks to off grass. I then covered the sifted soil with cardboard, I cut holes in the cardboard and inserted "grow tubes" (cut from large soda bottles) and planted my veggies in the grow tubes. I am a pensioner so am cash strapped living in Cape Town, South Africa where we also had a water problem 3 years ago. I then asked God to bless the soil and only watered inside the grow tubes. This kept weeds at bay and used very little water. So with no mulch or compost off I went, the harvest has been huge for such a small veggie patch. I started a compost bin at the same time and it is better to start and just go for it than to do nothing at all. Yes, lots of mistakes as well.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Wonderful! Good for you.

[@joeystanford4225]

Simply Great! 👍

[@Val-ee4hd]

Do you have a way to show us what you did? I would like to see it if you can. :)

[@k.p.1139]

Yep! I plant to much, and don't water enough. But, this year, I stopped and said, rather than make this massive list of "what I want to eat and put up". I'm going to go with "do what I can" . It's taken me a while to realize, planting more and getting a horrible harvest, is more frustrating than planting some and actually being able to eat what grows. Back to the basics but not fearing making mistakes. Sometime you just might surprise yourself on what you can actually do! Thanks for the reminders!

[@GardenerScott]

Great list of mistakes that many of us have made at one time or another. They can be easily corrected with time and attention and the aid of gardeners like you. Thanks!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks so much!

[@ahmedsyria5800]

CM

[@ihopeugrow]

My biggest mistake was spending too much money buying the most expensive soils, wood, containers, bajillion gazillion of seeds and hiring gardeners(mostly to weed, mow or move things around). My idea was to become self-sufficient on vegetables which tbh, we don’t eat very often. But I still continue to garden because I find it fascinating to get tons of harvests from the plants I grew from tiny seeds. I just put whatever I harvest in a box with a free sign and set it right infront of my gate. All my neighbors love it!

[@Lilly63may]

I am a newie at this. I am glad I came across your warnings. I will keep all that advice, thank you

[@wagz2003]

I'd say ignoring the importance of soil is probably top of my list. :) Now, I pay MORE attention to the soil than the actual planting, and have much more success!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ahmadfadli5724]

Overplanting is my go-to mistake I barely skip. It is so tempting although I realize that I have no space left in my garden

[@lgrillo]

You are not alone! That is by far the easiest mistake to make for me, too!

[@GardeningUpbeat]

I am myself a Gardener and was thinking who else do the mistakes like me..he he..That's why, thought to watch this video and found that, I am not alone. Specially, the Overcrowding mistake which I usually do. Great video Ma'am and I am sure, it took lots of editing efforts to produce this video. Since I also do the same thing, I would like to provide one input - Please take a break and show more footage before you start an another topic. For example, you have started talking about Mistake No 2 as soon you have finished the Mistake No 1. Here, you can take a small gap and this way, viewers would get few seconds to digest the first mistake if they are making. And, this video can go to 10 minutes and people would watch as you speak very sweetly. Please don't get me wrong...I just thought to share my ideas with you as you can easily have many more Subscribers and this is what I found after uploading many videos. Anyway, Take Care, Happy Gardening n See you around 🙂

[@Vector_Ze]

Wow, she has 104K subscribers now. That's pretty good, I would say. Of course, you can never have too many.

[@VladAuTravel]

Good point! Great video for beginners! When you start gardening, you want everything at once but later you realise you don't have enough time and hands! 😁

[@neverlostforwords]

Yes I too have made those mistakes and many many more. Every gardener is learning constantly, and learning from mistakes is valuable as you don't usually make those mistakes again. Here's another mistake to add to this list. Immediately after harvesting, DO something with the harvested produce to keep it from spoiling. You can eat it fresh, cook it, refrigerate it, give it to someone who will eat or cook it that day, or prepare it for storage (eg wash and chop basil leaves, and freeze them in ice cube trays then bag them up and place the labelled bag in freezer). Happy gardening, folks!

[@MsOrionsmom]

I'm bucket gardening this year.

[@bookie7316]

Thank you for a wonderful concentration of helpful advice. This past spring I started small to build a garden of fruits and vegetables. I am excited that I put two raised, metal planting beds myself, My first lesson was I needed to add more planting material to the raised beds. But I have had some growing success and I am delighted. I will move one of the planting beds to a sunnier location. I have built a compost bin. I have purchased good tools. My most difficult problem is a back that complains due to the heavy lifting. Thanks again for your helpful advice and inspiration!

[@theagoratoad]

I learned the hard way recently about over crowding lol I got some tiny carrots and potatoes, edible but sad looking

[@jamesguimary1252]

Miss pretty ♥️ over sunlight is also bad for plants

[@aolson8185]

Thank you, Angela! I appreciate all of the tips and encouragement in your videos.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

You are so welcome!

[@sunhannah2937]

Great List, I've been gardening for a year now and still making some of those mistakes LOL.

[@andersonomo597]

I'm guilty of all 10 - as well as 11 - not biting the bullet and pulling stuff out when it's 'done'!!

[@lareinewilliams8700]

Your video provides extremely good advice for me. Thank you for sharing.

[@wiseherb1426]

Such amazing content and so painfully true, I think every garden enthusiast has committed at least one of these errors haha had to subscribe!

[@nathansansone3858]

#8 and #9 are lovely tips that are good for beginners as well as vets. I’d put em farther up the list, personally… glad I found your page. Smart gardener !

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@ItsJustGardening]

Wow you hit most of my mistakes last year. Thank you

[@jackiejohnson7158]

Thanks Angela! Appreciate all your help 😊

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

You are so welcome!

[@sharilynn3024]

Number one has been my hardest one to break!! I live in central NM ( hi neighbor!) and having a yard, albeit small, made me go crazy!

[@MinhLe-vj9ij]

A perfect presentation, I learn a lot from your show. Thank you.

[@GreenLove1]

Wonderful video. Even though I have been gardening for a while and have made all the mistakes, I am still learning and often re-making the mistakes! I think my biggest one still continues to be overplanting, ever year I re-learn that plants can grow to potential only if they have enough resources and are not competing! I'll get there eventually (I hope!)

[@lotusflo12]

Great nuggets. I’m guilty of most. Congrats on a 100k. You deserve a million subbies💕

[@redbougainvillea]

Great list-spot on! ❤️

[@susie3790]

Always great information. Thank you

[@CnithTheOnliestOne]

The insect one... some of us do a sacrifice planting. Ie you plant one or two of a variety that will be grown just for the bugs. It sounds weird but it works.

[@rondamagliane1854]

Your garden is GORGEOUS I'm so jealous I love my garden but my goodness I would love to see yours in person just amazing

[@jerseygirl5486]

Fantastic list of mistakes! I have been guilty of most of these. I will be sharing this video to everyone I know. Thank You 🌱🌻🌿🌶

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Glad it was helpful!

[@noemiperez4011]

Love your information

[@BlacksTropicalHomestead]

Hello SoilSista! New subscribers here! Got my notebook and taking notes. Great video with excellent tips, thanks for sharing. Many blessings to you 🙏🏾

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks so much!

[@PrentisHancock1]

Excellent tips! No matter how much we think we know, there's always someone who knows a lot more. I certainly learnt a lot from this video, Angela. Thanks. And subbed.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thank you so much!

[@plantloverz.f.2983]

Great video 👌 wonderful tips🌿I really enjoyed your videos 🍀 thanks for sharing 🌺

[@phoenixAZ13579]

Great insight, appreciate the exchange of information!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@dustinhaus1165]

One thing that really helps is to keep a journal. Particularly what you planted. Nothing worse than having a plant you love, and did really well, but you have no idea what it exactly is. The space thing goes up too. Tomato cages do nothing for an indeterminate, They need an 8ft post

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Great tip!

[@AmzBackyardOrchardandVineyard]

awesome update! im so happy to learn im not alone! lol thanks for the update

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Glad to hear it!

[@sagarlondon1]

Excellent Tips

[@elainejohnson6488]

Yep, made all in your top 10 and a few more.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Ha! Me too!

[@armymom8378]

You are Amazing ! You make it simple to understand step by step . I just found your channel and subscribed. Looking forward to learning from you and enjoying every minute of it ! Thank you !

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Awesome, thank you!

[@whatsup848]

I had hornworms totally defoliate two pepper plants in a couple days. Found them on other pepper plants and my tomato plants. Used a black light over a couple weeks and stopped the destruction.

[@BestGranny10]

Wouldn’t Neem oil work? My collards were being decimated daily! Now growing back after 2 days 😀grasshoppers 😐

[@whatsup848]

@@BestGranny10 Not sure. Some of the worms were the size of my thumbs.

[@sacredmetaphics]

A very excellent video.

[@BestGranny10]

Thanks love your page🌺🪴

[@cilenahutchinson3308]

Hi, I'm Cilena & I live in Jamaica & I do learn a lot from ur videos & now I know how to go about caring for the crops that I want to grow.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Wonderful!

[@GmamaGrowz]

Once I can identify the good guys from the bad guys, I think my garden will be better 🤩 Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[@kathrynmettelka7216]

Very helpful.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TheFarmerTv99]

Amazing video thank you 🙏 so much for sharing this

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

You are so welcome

[@MrNoucfeanor]

My garden only gets between 5-6hours of sun, just gotta make due with what I have.

[@rogerstemen3834]

😂sorry for your dead worms but you have the funniest way to remember them

[@pamelapitrone7639]

Very nice work!!!!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks a lot!

[@alisonburgess345]

Super video.

[@mister_recker]

3:13 thank you from east Mesa!

[@CharlieRogers50]

Great list! However I've got a number one that most of my friends have made: #1: Over-watering I live in Missouri and frankly we routinely get rain. The thought process for rookie gardeners in my area is "If some is good, more is better". Definitely NOT the case. The bottom line is they do little to no research on how much water their particular vegetables require, and then wonder why their garden didn't turn out well. They usually decide after one season that they're just not cut out to have a garden, when a little research and consistency in watering is all they need.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Good point!

[@urbangardeningandchickenke1018]

Excellent information

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cathysteele924]

I love your content, Angela! I’m in North Texas, zone 8A, but we live sort of in a forest. My challenge is trying to figure out how much sun a given space gets in a day. I don’t know why this is so hard for me, because no one else ever seems to comment that it’s a challenge for them. I even asked on one channel if anyone knew of a widget that could be set down in a certain location, that would then tell you how many hours of sun that spot got in that day. They all laughed. My husband doesn’t like gardening things visible from the house, so I have to go out on the property away from the house to plant, and since I’m not out there all the time, it’s hard to know about the sun hours. 🤷‍♀️ I sure wish someone would invent that widget!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

There is one: smile.amazon.com/Luster-Leaf-1875-Rapitest-Calculator/dp/B002XZLLXU/ref=sr_1_14?crid=B1GWSRYL1G2S&keywords=sun+sensor&qid=1642791396&sprefix=sun+sensor%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-14 I've never used it, but it may be worth a try!

[@cathysteele924]

Oh, my!!!! Thank you so much! Since I didn’t know what to call it, I never could find it when I looked on Amazon or anywhere else. I’m so grateful. Already ordered one. God bless!

[@phoenixeasyrider6026]

So glad I noticed this video when it popped up on the youtube watch list. My latest attempt at gardening wasn't great (understatement). If you would have given a list of 20 I think I may have hit them all! I could of fed my wife and I organic veges for a year with money I've spent on gardening so far. OMG, I not giving up, I just need to get better. I'm so thankful I found your channel because I also live in the Valley. Do you have a Patreon page? I want to read something you wrote. Any recommendations? LOVE THE VIDEO!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Hi, yes I teach monthly classes online through my Patreon: www.patreon.com/growinginthegarden You can also check out my blog: growinginthegarden.com/ or my book: amzn.to/3sViMeL

[@FourSeasonFarming]

One of the few good gardeners which sharing the most valuable experience😘

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

So nice of you

[@FourSeasonFarming]

@@GrowingInTheGarden In this busy world you spend the time and answering comments!? Extremely kind ❤️❤️❤️

[@thedhewa]

I had ever made some of those mistakes 😅

[@pietieko1]

Nice

[@christinap5148]

Hi! I'm so glad I found your channel! It's so hard to try to follow other people's gardening tips when they live in much different climates than AZ. Thank you!!! Have you ever tried a greenstalk vertical garden? I'm thinking of that as a start to help maximize my limited space.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

I used one for a while - I prefer growing in raised beds, but if you don't have a lot of space they are a good option for all but our summer months. During the summer they heat up so much it is hard on the plants.

[@christinap5148]

@@GrowingInTheGarden Thank you so much for your insight! It's hard to navigate when other people use something like a greenstalk and have great success, but our hot dry climate is so different from theirs. I'm so glad I found your channel to help me navigate growing what works for our area!

[@billastell3753]

Using a raised bed can be a mistake. If you don't get rain and can't water raised beds are not a good idea. They dry out much faster than in the ground garden. They also rot & fall apart quickly. The raised beds in this photo will be lucky to last a year. If you live in a wet area raised be can be good but build them with strong material that won't rot.

[@mamokamika4212]

You are so beautiful. Thank you for the tips. Love your garden!

[@melodyludwick6038]

On mistake #10 what type of beans are they ? I remember my Grandma growing that red/pink mottled color of beans, and would like to do the same. Thank you for the GREAT tips. I am beginning to start my first Raised Beds.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Barlotti - Best of luck to you!

[@jamesguimary1252]

Nice vidio 👍

[@MrSampson93]

Hello I have been watching your videos and would like to find out how you set up your watering system from start to finish. I cannot find any videos that might already be up. Help please

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Here's a video that may help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmS3ZWBonMiCi6M I am also planning to do another more detailed one in the future.

[@naturedegree5671]

Fantastic and lovely presentation Friend obrigado friend lovely presentation Friend obrigado

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks!

[@jamesguimary1252]

This ten mistakes is also in plants like flowers

[@brianoliver5640]

Yep, made all of them lol

[@heidibriggs3384]

Question for you we struggle with squash bugs and cabbage worms horribly what have you found to help with these little guys?

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

growinginthegarden.com/organic-pest-control-that-really-works/

[@dlhvac1]

A big mistake is using rocks instead of mulch to retain moisture . Some of what you said is only good for desert growing. In Florida it very different. Citrus roots are surface feeders they don’t grow down most citrus feeder roots are in the top 18”

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Good tip. Good to know. Each climate presents different challenges for sure.

[@garrybaker6725]

I like your watering system. does it have a brand name?

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

I use the grids from Garden in Minutes, here is a link: shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1897453&u=2736599&m=118440&urllink=&afftrack= Use code Angela10 to save $10 off $100.

[@joannekleehammer9841]

I have made just about every one of these mistakes and have to admit unfortunately some of them continue to be made. I wonder what you use for mulch? I have used shredded leaves which seem to attract pill bugs. I have used straw but am always hesitant due to expected weed seeds. Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

I typically use wood chips. Here is a video that may help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpDQgqZoZsdsa9k

[@brm1279]

I woke up this morning to see the mess of a nightly visit from the javelina family. I can´t complain bcs I´ve created a sanctuary in a drug neghbrhd where there are humans screaming, shooting and doing their drug and stolen car businesses. One night there was even an execution in front of our property. So to have the desert animals visit is a blessing.

[@kathrynmettelka7216]

Be safe!!

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

That sounds difficult, Stay safe.

[@zoelynch295]

I love javies. Sorry for your situation. Making a beautiful garden is a great response. Blessings and prayers for safety.

[@feirmebeardonn4597]

You can't add sunlight? What are grow lights then?

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Hard to add grow lights outdoors in the garden.... but true you can add them indoors.

[@erbanyllasynnah103]

👍

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks for watching!

[@nabihahabibullah1577]

💐❤️💐

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Thanks for watching!

[@mrchubbybunny1462]

I was really disgusted by the super big worm in this video.

[@GrowingInTheGarden]

Should have put a warning beforehand.... :)