by Mark Levisay
This is the time of year that we’re all thinking about what to plant in the garden. Cold hardy plants like broccoli and spinach should already be in, but what about tomatoes, or maybe zinnias? The last couple of weeks of April have been relatively cold, and we even had some frost on April, 19 in our yard. April can be a risky time to put out our most sensitive plants. The long range weather forecast has us dealing with cool weather for another week or so and we’ll have to watch the forecasts to see what May is going to look like. Right now it appears that the cool weather will hang on through May 14th!
What you should be getting ready to plant in May
Most garden centers are getting in their annual flower seedlings and have plenty of perennial flowers and shrubs available. Most of the shrubs and perennial flowers can probably go out right away, and if you’re planting annual flowers from seed you can go ahead and put them in the soil as it will be a week or more before they germinate. Annual flower transplants might wait a week or so to actually go into the soil. Buy them if you have a chance but keep them in their flats so you can put them in the garage on a cold night. Our region’s last frost can be as late as May 10th, so it’s better to err on the side of caution.
Herbs
Many herbs can go into the garden right away, as thyme, rosemary and sage are perennials—at least in our garden. We’ve already planted dill and parsley seed and the dill is coming up. Last season’s parsley did well over the winter and is ready to harvest now. Being a biennial it will go to seed when the summer weather gets hot. Basil is a big exception, as it is very cold sensitive and should probably be sheltered until mid-May.
Vegetables
As far as vegetables go, we’re just about ready to put most of them in. Most of these are going to planted as seeds so the soil temperature is going to affect their ability to germinate. Beans, cucumbers, squash and corn will all do best in warm soil, though certain varieties have been bred to do better in cooler soils. I am personally looking at planting these during the second week of May. If I was planting watermelons or cantaloupes I’d even wait a couple more weeks until the soil is really warm.
Since our growing season is so long I’d plan to do multiple plantings of all of my vegetables (every 3 or 4 weeks) so save some space. You can also do plantings of the warm season vegetables in areas vacated when you harvest spring vegetables. I usually put squash in where the broccoli and cabbage were planted, and often follow peas and lettuce with beans. If you are planting corn, consider planting it in “blocks” of 3 or 4 short rows, which aids in germination and helps fill the ears with kernels. Planting several blocks 2 or 3 weeks apart will keep your harvest going for a long time.
Tomatoes “hardening off” outside in pots before being planted in the garden.
Tomatoes and peppers are generally going into the garden as established plants. They’re pretty sensitive to cold, so I usually wait until mid-May to put them out. I’ve started a lot of them indoors under fluorescent lights and they’re starting to get big. This week (4/21) I’m going to transplant them from their “6 packs” to 3” or 4” individual pots and start hardening them off. This means slowly introducing them to the outdoors during the day and increasing the amount of sunlight day by day. They’ll come inside during cold nights. Two to three weeks from now they’ll be ready to go out into the garden. If you’re buying your plants they should be hardened off already, though you should still wait to put them out until danger of frost is past. I try to put up my tomato supports and route my soaker hoses now so that the tomato patch is ready to receive the plants when they’re ready.
Some people buy squash, cucumber and melon seedlings to put out in the garden. The cucurbit family of plants are difficult to transplant on top of being cold sensitive. I’d look for plants started in peat pots that will require less handling when you put them in the soil. Plan on putting them out when you do the tomatoes and peppers.
Watch the weather forecasts as we go into May and plant when it looks like it’s (finally) warming up. Plan on succession plantings of your favorite vegetables and you should enjoy fresh produce all summer long! More on tomatoes next time.
Have a garden question? Send me an email at marklevisay@gmail.com.