Interactive Growing Guide

Our guide features a searchable database where you can filter crops by hardiness zone, season, or category. It offers a customizable view—toggling between a visual grid and a sortable table—and provides detailed modals for every plant, including growing tips, companion plants, and an faq.

✦ Your Complete Growing Companion ✦

The Gardenpedia

Vegetables · Herbs · Fruits · Flowers · Companion Planting · Seeds & Soil · FAQ

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Companion Planting Quick Finder

Select any crop to instantly see what grows well with it — and what to keep far away.

Companion planting uses natural plant relationships to boost growth, deter pests, attract beneficial insects, and improve flavour. Select a crop below to see its best friends and worst enemies.

📋 General Companion Planting Rules

✅ Plant Together

The Three Sisters (corn, beans, squash) is the oldest known companion trio. Beans fix nitrogen, squash shades weeds, corn provides a trellis.

🌼 Pest Deterrents

Marigolds, nasturtiums, and borage repel pests throughout the garden. Plant them liberally as borders and interplanting throughout beds.

🚫 Keep Apart

Fennel is allelopathic — it inhibits most vegetables. Keep it isolated. Onions/garlic stunt beans and peas. Brassicas and strawberries compete heavily.

🐝 Attract Beneficials

Dill, fennel, and cilantro attract parasitic wasps that prey on garden pests. Let some go to flower to maximise beneficial insect habitat.

Seeds & Soil Basics

Quick-reference cards for getting the fundamentals right — from seed to harvest.

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Starting Seeds Indoors

Use a seed-starting mix, not garden soil — it's lighter and sterile.
Sow 2–3 seeds per cell; thin to the strongest seedling once sprouted.
Keep seeds consistently moist but never waterlogged. Bottom-watering prevents damping off.
Most seeds germinate best at 65–75°F. A heat mat speeds things up significantly.
Once sprouted, move to bright light immediately — at least 14–16 hrs under grow lights or a very sunny south window.
Label everything. Memory is no substitute for a marker and a popsicle stick.

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Hardening Off Seedlings

Never transplant directly from indoors to outdoors — the shock can kill even healthy seedlings.
Start 7–14 days before transplanting by placing seedlings outside in a sheltered, shaded spot for 1–2 hours.
Gradually increase time and sun exposure each day.
Bring plants in if temps drop below 50°F or if hard wind or rain is expected.
By day 10–14, seedlings can handle full sun and stay out overnight (if frost-free).

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Direct Sowing Outdoors

Check soil temperature, not just air temperature — most seeds need 50°F+ soil to germinate.
Prep a fine, crumbly seedbed with no large clods. Small seeds can't push through compacted soil.
Sow at a depth of 2–3× the seed diameter — tiny seeds like carrots need barely a dusting of soil.
Mark rows clearly before covering. It's easy to forget where you planted.
Keep the seedbed consistently moist until germination — may need daily light watering in dry weather.
Thin seedlings to the recommended spacing — crowding is one of the most common beginner mistakes.

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Understanding Soil pH

pH measures soil acidity on a scale of 1–14. 6.0–7.0 suits most vegetables.
pH affects nutrient availability — even rich soil can starve plants if pH is off.
Lower pH (acidify) with sulfur, pine needles, or peat moss. Takes weeks to months.
Raise pH (sweeten) with agricultural lime. Apply in fall for spring planting.
Test your soil with an inexpensive kit from a garden centre — worth doing every 2–3 years.
Blueberries love acidic soil (pH 4.5–5.5); brassicas prefer slightly alkaline (6.5–7.5).

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Building Soil with Compost

Compost is the single best thing you can add to any soil type — clay, sand, or anything in between.
A good compost pile is roughly 3:1 brown to green by volume (carbon-rich to nitrogen-rich).
Browns: dry leaves, straw, cardboard, paper bags, wood chips.
Greens: vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, fresh grass clippings, plant trimmings.
Keep the pile as moist as a wrung-out sponge and turn every 2–4 weeks to speed breakdown.
Apply 2–4 inches of finished compost to beds each year — you can never add too much.

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Watering Best Practices

Water deeply and infrequently to encourage deep roots. Shallow daily watering creates weak root systems.
Water at the base of plants, not the leaves — wet foliage encourages fungal disease.
The best time to water is early morning so leaves can dry before nightfall.
Stick a finger 2 inches into the soil before watering — if it's moist, wait another day.
Drip irrigation or soaker hoses are far more efficient than overhead sprinklers.
Container plants dry out much faster than in-ground plants — check them daily in summer.

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Mulching Benefits & How-To

A 2–4 inch layer of mulch retains moisture, suppresses weeds, and moderates soil temperature.
Organic mulches (straw, wood chips, leaves) break down over time and improve soil structure.
Keep mulch 1–2 inches away from plant stems to prevent rot and rodent damage.
Best options: straw for vegetables, wood chips for pathways and perennials.
Black plastic mulch warms soil — ideal around heat-lovers like tomatoes, peppers, and melons.
Refresh mulch each spring as it breaks down, especially after a cold wet winter.

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Fertilising Basics

The three main nutrients: N (nitrogen) for leafy growth, P (phosphorus) for roots and flowers, K (potassium) for overall health.
Leafy greens and corn are heavy nitrogen feeders. Beans and peas fix their own — don't over-feed them.
Avoid high-nitrogen fertiliser on fruiting crops like tomatoes — it makes lots of leaves and few fruits.
Apply a balanced fertiliser (e.g. 10-10-10) at planting, then switch to low-nitrogen once flowering begins.
Slow-release granular fertilisers are more forgiving than liquid feeds for beginners.

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Reading Seed Packets

Days to maturity counts from transplant for started plants, from germination for direct sown.
Germination rate (e.g. 85%) means 85 of 100 seeds will sprout under ideal conditions.
Sow depth is critical — follow it closely, especially for tiny seeds.
Seed spacing is what you thin to, not necessarily what you sow at.
Check the packet date — most vegetable seeds are viable for 2–5 years if stored cool and dry.
F1 hybrids produce vigorous plants but seeds saved from them won't breed true.

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Seed Saving 101

Only save seeds from open-pollinated or heirloom varieties — not F1 hybrids.
Easiest seeds to save: tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuce, peppers. Hardest: brassicas (cross-pollinate easily).
Let seed pods/fruits fully mature on the plant before harvesting for seeds.
Dry seeds thoroughly for 1–2 weeks before storing — moisture is the enemy.
Store in paper envelopes inside an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
Label with variety name, date, and any special notes. Unlabelled seeds become a mystery quickly.

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Raised Bed Soil Mix

The classic Mel's Mix: ⅓ vermiculite, ⅓ peat/coir, ⅓ compost (by volume). Excellent drainage and nutrition.
Minimum depth: 6 inches for most vegetables. 12 inches is better; 18 inches ideal for root crops.
Avoid using straight garden soil in raised beds — it compacts badly.
Top up with 1–2 inches of compost each season to replenish nutrients and structure.
Consider adding biochar (10–20% by volume) to improve water retention long-term.

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Crop Rotation Basics

Rotate crop families around the garden each year to break pest and disease cycles in the soil.
The basic 4-year rotation: Brassicas → Legumes → Roots → Alliums/Others, then back to Brassicas.
Never plant tomatoes or peppers where other nightshades grew the previous year.
Legumes (peas, beans) leave behind nitrogen — follow them with nitrogen-hungry brassicas or corn.
Keep a simple garden map each year — even a rough sketch — to remember what grew where.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about starting and growing a productive vegetable garden — from your first seed to your first harvest.