You finally have your own little garden at home, which not only helps you train your green thumb, but also gives you access to fresh and organic vegetables at any time. Eventually, the day will come when the GreenBox app finally indicates that it's harvest time. And to make sure you do everything right here, we'll explain in this post how to properly harvest your edible plants and thus help them continue to grow healthy and vigorous. The endless green fun can come!
The right time to harvest
The trained gardeners among you will certainly act on true intuition when harvesting.
Thus, the size and color of the plant usually announce when it is ripe for harvesting. With fruits like tomatoes, for example, this is of course easy for us. Here we are sure: the more glaring the color, the riper the fruit. But what about kitchen herbs or the various types of lettuce? Here, too, the size and shape of the leaves tell us the right time for harvesting. But you might have to look a little closer.
For example, a typical head of lettuce is ready for harvesting when it has acquired a lot of juicy green leaves, but they lie tightly together, forming the compact head in several layers. If the leaves fall apart here after harvesting, it was too early and the lettuce could not fully expand. Picking lettuce, on the other hand, consists more of loose leaves, which grow at a distance from each other. Here, the size and especially the color will tell you if they are ready for harvest. If they fall limp after some time, although they were previously crisp and green, you have probably missed the time and should harvest them quickly. The same rule applies to kitchen herbs: the greener, the riper. Here it is especially important to harvest basil, mint & Co year-round and regularly, so that the plant can fully develop and continue to grow. Of course, you should also pay attention to the individual growing conditions and harvest times of the respective plant variety. They give you a good orientation and ensure that the plants are edible for subsequent consumption. With our GreenBox, you are of course relieved of the considerations regarding the harvest time. Nevertheless, try to train your eyes and observe the changes of the plants during their growth.
Plucking or cutting - how to harvest properly?
Harvesting is not only for the extraction of edible parts of the plant - it is also indispensable for its care. Plucking or cutting, in fact, allows plants to develop new shoots and leaves. But how can you tell if a plant is plucked or cut, and what exactly is removed during harvesting?
Whether the inhabitants of your GreenBox are cut or plucked can usually be seen from the structure of the plant. Fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, chillis or strawberries, which clearly bear visible fruit, are simply plucked off after the end of the growth phase. In the case of lettuces, too, the harvesting method can already be recognized by the arrangement of the leaves. Heads of lettuce, such as iceberg or romaine lettuce, are cut off at the bottom of the main stem. The plant is harvested completely and must grow again completely. With plucked lettuce, on the other hand, a partial amount of the leaves can be removed at any time. These even grow back steadily and you are continuously supplied with fresh lettuce. As the name suggests, the leaves are picked or plucked.
Most kitchen herbs are also ideal for the plucking technique. Since most of them have individual stems and leaves, you can easily pull them off and let them continue to grow. With herbs, the large juicy leaves are taken first. If you want to harvest smaller leaves, you can even remove part of the stem. Of course, there are some exceptions with herbs, but these can also be seen in the shape of the plant. Chives, for example, should not be plucked if possible, because the stems are directly connected to the plant and can no longer grow when fully harvested. Simply cut off the desired amount of chives in the lower part of the plant.
Prolonged pleasure by repotting
In the garden and the great outdoors, plants usually have unlimited space and can spread endlessly both above and below ground. In the soil, they also benefit from moisture and natural nutrients. The temperature also remains constant there, so the plants are supplied with everything they need for healthy growth. In contrast, houseplants are naturally severely limited in both their supply and space. If the roots of the plants get through the openings of the saucer or a root network forms as a result, the plant substrate dries out more quickly and the plant is then dependent on an increased water supply. It is therefore high time to repot the plant in a larger container. Plants that you have grown in your GreenBox can continue to grow there for as long as you like. However, if you feel like adding new plant varieties or want to give your existing seedlings more space, then you should also think about repotting. Here we show you in a few steps what you need to consider to extend the joy of your plants a little longer.
Step 1: Preparations
If you don't have an outdoor place to repot your plants, spread some newspaper on your floor first to avoid major spills.
If you want to repot plants that were already in another pot in your home, we recommend watering the plant one hour before repotting. When the plant substrate is slightly moist, it is easier to remove the plant from the pot. Since the plants of your GreenBox are in a water tank, the additional watering is not necessary here.
Now prepare the new pots by spreading fresh soil on the bottom of the pot. The height of the plant substrate at the bottom is based on the size of the plant. It should sit in the same position after repotting as it did in its smaller pot, speaking at the top of the pot rim. Since our PlantPlugs are quite compact, you should therefore fill the larger pot generously with new soil so that the plants sit quite high up afterwards.
Step 2 Take out the plant
Plants that were previously already in a small pot, can be easily removed. To do this, place your hand on the surface of the soil and carefully turn the pot upside down. If you have watered your plant beforehand as recommended above, it is super easy to remove and you can put it directly into the pot intended for it. For larger plants, you should first loosen the soil on the sides of the pot with a dull knife. Then lay it sideways on the ground and gently tap the bottom of the pot so that the plant substrate gradually comes away from the pot. Now the plant can be pulled out. For really large and heavy plants, get a person to help you.
Step 3: New pot new luck
After you have already placed the plants in their new pots, all you need to do is fill them with soil or other plant substrate and the repotting is complete. Please note that the plants should not be fertilized for the next four to six weeks. Give them a chance to get used to the fresh plant substrate, so that they can draw nutrients and take root on their own. Watering is even more important now!
The GreenBox offers you ideal conditions for a variety of plants automatically harvesting and repotting but unfortunately it can not yet ;) So use this guide to give your plants a long life and provide yourself with fresh edible plants at home for a long time. You have just successfully repotted? Then it's time again for new co-inhabitants. Discover our plant variety in our online store now!