Written by: Shahirah Shahriar
Fast growing vegetables are ideal for gardeners who want to grow a lot, as not all vegetables take a long time to produce. If you reside in an area where the growing season is brief, don’t worry because today I will be listing a variety of nutritious, appetizing vegetables that harvest in a snap of a finger! Here are some fast growing vegetables:
Radishes (21 days)
Radishes are popular and easy to grow. Radishes contain low calories making them great vegetables for those who are on a diet. One cup of radishes contains 19 calories. Radishes grow in temperatures ranging from 10°c to 24°c. Their seeds sprout quickly around 3 – 4 days after planting them.
Lettuce (30 days)
Lettuce contains a good amount of fiber, iron, folate, and Vitamin C. The bioactive chemicals in lettuce have been proven to have anti-inflammatory, cholesterol-lowering, and anti-diabetic properties according to “Viva and Vitro Experiments”. Lettuce is also amazing for salads and is among one of the fastest growing vegetables. It’s best to grow lettuce in cooler temperatures around 16°c and 21°c. In high temperatures, lettuce should be grown sitting in the shady corner of your yard or in a pot up on the balcony.
Spinach (30 days)
Spinach is a great source of iron and can handle cold temperatures as low as 7°c. It grows fast and can be planted when the ground has thawed. When growing spinach remember to pick spinach daily so the leaves don’t get bitter by the time the spinach is fully grown.
Cucumbers (50 days)
Cucumbers are one of the freshest vegetables out there, and are packed with many nutrients such as: Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, folic acid, Vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc. Cucumbers belong in many well-known recipes such as cucumber salad. When growing, cucumbers can tolerate temperatures from 18°c to 23°c and even temperatures under 13°c. They are fully grown from 50 – 70 days and their length ranges from 3 – 24 inches long. Also remember to grow cucumbers using a lot of room so it can grow to its biggest potential length.
These are just a few out of the many fast growing vegetables out there and in case you need something, you can always refer back to this article. Don’t forget to water your plants, let the sun shine down on them and give them plenty of love. I wish you the best on your gardening journey!
Works Cited
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“How to Grow Radishes.” West Coast Seeds, www.westcoastseeds.com/blogs/how-to-grow/grow-radishes#:~:text=Radishes%20can%20be%20grown%20all.
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Old Farmer’s Almanac. “Spinach.” Old Farmer’s Almanac, 28 Feb. 2019, www.almanac.com/plant/spinach.
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Ferrer, Ana. “7 Fun Facts about Radishes.” WebMD, www.webmd.com/diet/features/7-healthy-facts-about-radishes#:~:text=Radishes%20had%20reached%20Massachusetts%20by%201629.&text=Radishes%20are%20members%20of%20the.
Kim, Moo Jung, et al. “Nutritional Value, Bioactive Compounds and Health Benefits of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.).” Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, vol. 49, June 2016, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889157516300230
src=”https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/?s=50, img class=”avatar” alt=”Niki Jabbour, et al. “10 Fast-Growing Vegetables You Can Harvest Quickly.” Birds and Blooms, 14 Apr. 2021, www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/fruit-and-vegetable-gardening/fast-growing-vegetables/.
Albert, Steve. “Spinach Growing Tips.” Harvest to Table, 2016, https://harvesttotable.com/spinach_growing_tips/