Q. Because of the continuing heat through September, when would we plant vegetables for our home gardens. What veggies would you recommend for the first planting?
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| Ideal vegetable seed germination temperatures oriented for spring planting when soils are colder. In the fall soil is warmer and gets colder. For fall gardens work backwards with this chart. |
A.
The Fall planting season is always uncertain. Weather phone apps help our guesstimates
for about two weeks. What is seen on
vegetable planting lists are averages of the planting dates for that season.
For each season you should look at the 10 or 14 day forecast from your phone
app.
Fall Means Cool Season Vegetables
In the Fall the focus is on planting “cool
season (winter) vegetables”. Its kind of a misnomer because there is no such
things as “cool season” and “warm season vegetables”. That is a human invention
to categorize the vegetables we eat. Plants grow best along a continuum from 45
to 90F. Some plants grow better during cooler weather and others during warmer
weather. Humans divided vegetables into these two groups.
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| This weather phone app is typical for Pahrump, Nevada. |
Use Your Phone App
Use your phone app to pinpoint when to
plant by looking at the following ten days of weather. Let’s use sweet corn as
an example. Soil warmth isn’t a problem in the Fall like it can be in the Spring.
Sometimes during the Spring, the soil must be warmed first to get growth from some
of the warm season veggies, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and watermelon. In cooler soils they just sit there,
wonderful-looking, with no growth.
Work Backwards
We are now transitioning to the “cool
season vegetables”, so a warm soil is a blessing for them. Again, not like the
spring with its cooler soils. Start with the so-called “warm season vegetables”
first. Because we are planting in the Fall, start at the middle of the chart I
attached and work backwards for planting times.
Remember some cool season vegetables have
a long production cycle (like sweet corn as an example). On crops with a long
production cycle, plant early in the late summer and use varieties that have a
shorter production time (like those varieties that are harvested in 60 to 75
days)!
Save Germination Time Due to Warmer Soil
Because you are planting in the fall when
soil temperatures are warmer you can normally subtract five days from the
production time on the packet (e.g., instead of 70 days for production, use 65
days) if you get it in early enough and wind is not a problem. Using 70-day
sweet corn as an example, guess at the harvest date (say Nov 15). Plant in 65
days less than that (approximately Sept 10). It’s still a gamble that far out
but can be worth it!
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