How to Raise Giant Vegetables

Research the optimal growing conditions for each vegetable you want to grow. You must tailor your soil and plant's location for each vegetable to grow them as large possible. Each vegetable has a preferred soil type, specific sunlight requirements and spacing needs.

Till the ground with a tiller in a garden or patch of land. Cover the tilled patch of soil with organic matter, such as dead leaves or compost, then till it again, mixing the organic matter into the soil as deeply as possible. For ideal growth, you should till organic matter into the growing area immediately after harvest in the fall, which will provide fertile soil for summer planting.

Mix sand into the soil for plants that require loose, sandy soil. The exact amount of sand depends on your soil. Hard clay soil, for example, requires more sand than loose, relatively clay-free soil. Add all-purpose vegetable fertilizer to the soil, following the directions specified on the fertilizer’s packaging.

Create mounds of dirt in the growing area, which will prevent water from forming puddles and drowning the plants. Sow your vegetable seeds into the soil at the depth specified on the seeds’ package. Ideally, you should start the seeds indoors in starter pods while it’s still too cool to plant outside, then transplant the starter pods to your garden after the last frost has passed.

Hand pull weeds or place a weed barrier around the plants to keep the plants from having to competing for nutrients from the soil.

Remove the first round of fruit that appears on the plant, and continue doing so until the plant is large and strong. Once the plant is sturdy and lush, allow the fruit to remain on the plant. Monitor the fruit as it grows, and take note of the one or two pieces that are larger than the rest. Leave the largest, fastest-growing vegetables and remove the rest. Continue to remove any new vegetables that appear, which will allow the plant to dedicate more nutrients and growth to the one or two remaining vegetables.

Fertilize the plants regularly with all-purpose vegetable fertilizer. Some plants require fertilization more often than other plants; consult a plant manual or growing guide for specific fertilization requirements for each type of vegetable you’re growing.

Harvest the fruit once it has reached its ideal size or the growing season ends.