Grow Your Vegetables

Some of us begin working on our vegetable gardens as early as February by starting some of the long-season crops indoors. Others begin in March or April by getting outdoors and trying to get a jump on things like early greens, radishes and potatoes, but I suspect that the vast majority of vegetable gardeners don’t get much done until May. And then there are the Juners, those who put it off and put it off until the season is well under way. But that’s OK. Even at this late date you can still plant a garden, but your options may be a bit limited.First let’s look at a bit of a misnomer. If you look at the seed packets and cell pack labels carefully, you’ll note that many vegetables have varieties that are listed as early, mid and late season. A category like tomatoes or zucchinis may have one or more varieties that fit into one of these categories, but this doesn’t mean they can be planted early, mid-season or late season. It’s actually the time it takes these crops to mature, not when you plant them.

However, if you are late on getting things planted there is a way you can get a jump on the season and still have many of these plants mature on time or nearly on time. Remember that a crop like tomatoes matures later in the summer, usually in August, then into September. So if you plant tomato plants that come in cell packs now it’s still possible to have a crop on time. But if you want to be absolutely sure that your beefsteaks, Better Boys and Brandywines are on time, skip the small cell packs and look for larger plants that are in 4-, 6- and 8-inch pots. We call these the catchup plants, pun intended.

There’s also another little piece of information that’s come to light in the past few years that has to do with the new grafted tomatoes. For whatever the reason, these maters seem to take longer to mature and fruit later in the season, as much as two to four weeks later. This might mean that you can still plant these types now and be assured of an ample crop late in August and into September.

You can also find large budded and even fruited tomato plants in much larger pots, up to several gallons, but simply because these plants are further along doesn’t mean you’ll get a super-early crop. Also remember that there’s always hope for that tall and scraggly tomato plant, because unlike other vegetables you can simply plant a leggy tomato deeper, much deeper, and it will probably be fine as long as you don’t overwater it.

And speaking of water, the worst thing you can do to your vegetable garden is to water it from above. Don’t hold your hose above the foliage and get the whole plant wet. Don’t have your automatic irrigation go on at 5 a.m. and leave the foliage wet for hours before the sun comes up. And don’t set up a hose end sprinkler that rotates or oscillates shooting water this way and that and getting the foliage wet. See a theme here? Wet foliage on vegetable plants is probably the most likely way you will spread any diseases that may show up. Most of these diseases don’t exhibit themselves until later in the season, but splashing water and standing water on the foliage will spread these disease organisms now and for the rest of the season. Water THE SOIL and not the leaves.

There are also other plants that are now available in larger pots, and these include many of the peppers and eggplants. Like the tomatoes, these are long-season plants, and they can’t be planted at this point and mature in time. But if you spend a few bucks more, you can buy the larger-potted plants and you’ll catch up with these as well.

It’s also not too late to get in some of the vine crops and squashes. You can take a chance and plant seeds of these plants now, but at this point I’d look for cell packs and plant a mix of early and regular season varieties for insurance. For zukes, both yellow and green, you can find seed for varieties that will mature in 40 to 60 days from transplanting. For seeding add a minimum of two weeks.

Most of the brassicas can still be planted now—not from seed, but as transplants in cell packs. This includes broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. But again, at this point you’ll do marginally better with the later varieties. But there’s another opportunity here, because during June you can begin to do seeding for late plantings of broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts that will mature for harvest in October and November. Some of the later Brussels sprouts will even taste better when harvested in November and early December, but these need to be seeded in June and planted in July.

It’s not too late to sow a late crop of corn, but keep in mind that to have a successful corn crop you need lots and lots of space for proper pollination to take place. I’d say the minimum plot per corn variety would be 400 square feet, and for most of us that’s our entire vegetable garden.

You may still be able to get some varieties of beans in, but it’s too late for peas and radishes. Radishes like it cool and peas like to start cool and end warm. It’s also too late for most of the greens, as lettuces and spinach go to flower, or bolt, very quickly in warm weather and their taste becomes quite bitter. Not all is lost, though, because you can reseed both of these in late July for a September/October harvest.

You can still sow seed for carrots, but carrot seed becomes harder and harder to germinate as the soil gets warmer. Carrot seed needs constantly moist—not wet—soil for germination, and if you can sprinkle the soil lightly several times a day this will not only keep the soil from getting too hot but it will also keep the moisture for germination just right. There’s also still time for planting beets, but keep in mind that beet seed germinates very erratically, so use plenty of seed and be patient. Both beets and carrots can be seeded every two weeks right through early August, and this strategy will give you delicious roots well into October and beyond.

Remember that your veggies need to be fed if you want them to be productive. Add fertilizer to the soil at planting time and feed “as directed” through the summer using liquids or granulars and keeping in mind that organic fertilizers are naturally time-released and longer-lasting.

Don’t be a vegetable, grow them. There’s still time and lots of opportunity and folks to help no matter what your experience level. Keep growing.