Did you know there are 2 ways to harvest lettuce? Or that a single basil, chive or parsley plant can (and should) produce multiple yields? Whether this will be your 1st Tower Garden harvest or your 5th (or more), a little help never hurts.
Gathering Gorgeous Greens
Most greens—such as lettuce, kale, collards and others—allow for 2 harvesting methods, so you may always have fresh ingredients on hand for salads and other healthy dishes.
- Whole head. Remove the entire plant and net pot from your Tower Garden, or cut all the leaves off at the base of the plant.
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Individual leaf. This technique keeps the plant alive and encourages continued production. When there are plenty of mature leaves present:
- Harvest only a few leaves at a time, from the bottom of the plant upward.
- Allow 2-3 leaves to remain so the plant may keep growing.
- Repeat every 2-3 days until the plant bolts, or begins flowering.
- After bolting, replace the plant with a fresh seedling.
Watch: How to Harvest Lettuce in Your Tower Garden
Picking Perfect Produce
While tomatoes, squash, peppers and other fruit-bearing plants may be quite different, a few harvesting best practices apply to all. Do the following to improve your chances of record yields:
- Harvest frequently to promote continued flowering and production.
- When harvesting, use a clean knife or shears to avoid injuring the plant.
Watch: How to Harvest Tomatoes in Your Tower Garden
Harvesting Healthy Herbs
It seems a little counter intuitive, but typically the more herbs you harvest, the more you will grow. And there’s no such thing as too many herbs! Here are a few guidelines to remember when harvesting herbs:
- Harvest frequently to encourage healthy, bushy growth.
- Harvest no more than 1/3 of the plant at a time.
- Once the plant bolts, replace it with a fresh seedling.
Watch: How to Harvest Herbs in Your Tower Garden
Saving Seeds
Harvesting seeds from your plants may not be something you’ve considered. But it’s a great way to keep growing your favorite crops for free! The following seed-saving steps will apply to most plants.
- After flowering or fruiting, collect seeds from open-pollinated plant varieties.
- Wash and dry seeds.
- Store seeds in an airtight container, and place somewhere cool, dry and dark.
