APT 4.0: Eps. 8: Square foot gardening - Planting More in Less Space

Title

APT 4.0: Eps. 8: Square foot gardening - Planting More in Less Space

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Creation Date

5-18-2021

Description

As Aggie Ps Talk 4.0: Urban Gardening webinar Pinakbet series almost comes to a conclusion, comes a technology which has long been practiced in some countries abroad, but not so much in the Philippines – Square Foot Gardening (SFG). SFG has been introduced in UPLB by Prof. Ryan Rodrigo P. Tayobong in 2016.

Episode 8, aired last May 18, features the webinar titled, “Square foot gardening: Planting More in Less Space.” Serving as resource speaker was Mr. Darel Kenth S. Antesco, university research associate at the Crop Production and Management Division of the Institute of Crop Science (ICropS).

In his discussion about SFG, Mr. Antesco defined square foot gardening as the practice of dividing the growing area into one square foot section. These sections are divided by lines called grids and planted with different kinds of vegetable. There are two types of square foot garden which the vegetable grower could choose from. The first one is the raised bed, which is simpler to prepare and easy to install, but is easily disjointed and prone to weeds and water logging. The second one is the elevated bed, which lasts longer, can provide good drainage, and avoids weeds, but requires more materials, effort, and time to build.

A square foot garden has the following features:

  1. Grids, which are the most distinct feature of SFG as it allows the vegetable grower to have at least 20% more plants;
  2. Encourages mix planting or thematic planting;
  3. Lessens root boundedness;
  4. Arrangement that is based on plant size and canopy;
  5. Allows for more plants in less space;
  6. Continuous cropping cycle;
  7. Possible to do in cemented portions of our backyard;
  8. Staggered planting;
  9. Staggered harvesting; and
  10. Low maintenance.

Mr. Antesco also shared that an ideal space for a square foot garden could be a cemented pavement like veranda and grounds or lawns. He also provided some important aspects in doing square foot garden. These include the following: seed germination, which considers the proper storage area for the seeds; planting calendar, which provides an estimate of activities and harvesting time; longevity of materials; and growing media should be sterilized.

In a pre-recorded video, Mr. Antesco showed how a square foot garden box is prepared using four pieces of wood as base frame. He also encouraged the use of bamboo, plywood, or any recycled material available in the locality. Moreover, since it has wheels that are attached underneath, it does not touch the ground since it is elevated. Likewise it can also be transferred to any place where there is enough sunlight.

A square foot garden allows for additional vertical pots that will maximize the vertical space of SFG. Furthermore, the plants in the SFG can sustain two life cycles. Hence, a ready supply of vegetables is assured in every home.

Watch the recorded webinar through this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn-bBzpwaLM

(IM Gesmundo)

College

College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS)

Language

English

Notes

Aggie Ps Talk 4.0: Urban Gardening Pinakbet Series

APT 4.0: Eps. 8: Square foot gardening - Planting More in Less Space

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