Have you always wanted to start your own veggie garden, but you do not know where to start? Well, Knittex is here to help. Whether you are planting in your garden or a planter box on your balcony, Indigo Garden Centre in Midrand and Knittex have just what you need.

Knittex and Indigo Garden Centre

Knittex has been a proudly South African shade cloth manufacturer since 1964 and is a world leader in the supply of knitted synthetic fabrics for the agricultural, industrial, mining and commercial industries. Indigo Graden Centre has been in business for 20 years, and they supply a wide variety of garden products.

Protecting your vegetable garden

Knittex Code 40 Black/White shade cloth is the perfect cover for your home vegetable garden.

Isabel Ballot from Knittex explains that in the past the company used to manufacture black shade cloth for winter and white shade cloth for summer for vegetables gardens. They have now decided to combine these two to produce the Code 40 Black/White, also known as Veggie Net.

“This shade cloth lets in just enough sun and UV factor to promote growth, and also protects your plants from all the elements like wind and hail,” Isabel explains.

Start your vegetable garden

You can find most of the supplies for your vegetable garden at any nursery or hardware store.

  • Step one, fertiliser – Johnny Goosen from Indigo Garden Centre says that prepping your soil is one of the most important steps. Fertiliser (Superphosphate) is needed for root strength. You can sprinkle it over your soil and use a garden fork to work it into the soil. This is a chemical and if you are planting seedlings, it will burn the roots if it comes in direct contact. This is why working it into the soil is so important.
  • Step two, seeds – For this example Isabel and Johnny used cabbage seeds. The second step in your process is to draw lines in the soil. This will mark where your seeds go and ensure you get the spacing right. You do not have to plant one seed at a time; you can sprinkle the seeds evenly in each line. Make sure to spread them out evenly.
  • Step three, water – Cover the seeds with ‘n light layer of soil before watering properly. Make sure you use enough water; this will help the soil to make firm contact with the seeds.
  • Step four, Veggie Net – Next you can install your veggie net. You do not have to install the net at a specific height, but make sure there is enough room for you to work and water your plants. You can use wood, bamboo or steel stakes to secure your veggie net. Plant them on the corners of your garden, place your Veggie Net over the stakes and secure it to the stakes.

There you go, your own vegetable garden.

Planter boxes

If you do not have a physical garden and you live in a flat or small townhouse, or if you do not want to use up the garden space for a vegetable garden, you can transfer the whole concept to a raised bed.

Important to know about a raised bed

  • The minimum depth of your planter box should be 300 mm, deeper is fine.
  • Mix your soil in your planter 50/50 with compost and potting soil, before beginning to plant. Potting soil retains more water and has feeding value for about six months.
  • For both raised beds and ground gardens your vegetables will need a minimum of four hours sunlight a day.

Watering your plants

  • Water your seeds every day for the first three weeks. Do not use too much water or your seeds will rot. Just keep the soil moist; in summer you might have to give more water.
  • When the seedlings sprout, give water every second day for one week. Then move to watering every third day for one week, and so on, until you only have to water your garden once a week.
  • After three months you can use a liquid or organic fertiliser. Giver fertiliser every three months to keep putting nutrients back into the soil.

The Knittex Veggie Net can be bought from a roll or in pre-packaged packages at any nursery, hardware shop, or ordered directly from Knittex.

To learn more about Knittex and the netting solutions they offer, you can visit their website www.knittex.co.za. You can also send photos of your veggie garden project and Knittex will post them, there is even a prize or two for the best gardens.