Gardening and Horticulture - New vege garden tips

I have just put in a vege patch. We used a garden mix top soil to a depth of about 40 cm. (area is about 3 meteres x 1 meter)

We have planted brocolli, spinach, white onions and snow peas.

We have some issues - the area only gets full sun from about 9am - 12pm. The its part shade for a couple of hours. Will this affect any of these?

Also how much water should i be giving these seedlings - what is a good way to measure.

When should i start fertilising? (only planted this out 2 weeks ago), what should I use and how do I apply.

After 2 weeks the broccolli and spinach seem to be performing best. The snow peas look to be growing slowly and the white onions look like they are struggling.

Broccoli prefers full sun but cooler temperatures. It does not do well when the weather is hot. Spinach does well in partial shade to sun. Snow peas and onions prefer full sun. These are cool season crops and are best planted early spring and late fall. They don't do well in hot weather.

Full sun means at least 6 hours of direct sunshine. Your veggies are 'long day' plants, meaning that they need as much sun as is available in a day. If plants do not get enough sun to manufacture food for roots to feed the plant, then they will not thrive.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf21932949.tip.html

Soil should be evenly moist, not wet or dry. Use your finger as a moisture meter.

For fertilizer tips: http://msucares.com/lawn/garden/vegetables/soil/fertilizer.html