Cool Weather Veggies

[Walthree]

I'm in in Staten Island, New York, zone 6b. I planted by spinach, lettuces, carrots and peas on time. The weather has not been the best here. Alot of rain and very little sun. I was hoping to plant my summer stuff in the ground soon. Since the cool weather veggies have not grown should I take them out of the ground. They look good just havent come along in growth. As the weather is getting warmer here, will they just wilt and die. We are in the 70's now. This week we are in the 80's. I am new to gardening so not sure if I just let it ride. How long should I wait until I take them out.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know what you mean by "on time." When did you plant your cool weather crops? When you say they haven't grown, do you mean they never sprouted or how big are they?

They will not wilt and die in temps in the 80's. What they will do is not last real long, tend to bolt, go to flower/seed pretty rapidly.

If they are healthy and growing and you have somewhere else to plant the warm weather things, I'd let it ride.

If none of those things are true, maybe give up on them and try again at the end of the season for a fall crop of cool weather veggies.

[gixxerific]

I'm not totally sure what to tell you either.

My cool crops have sat dormant for month's but now that it is warming up they are starting to grow, yeah figure that one out. So since I don't know you specific needs. I would say wait it out a bit if you can. Or as Apple said find somewhere else for the summer crops if you can.

Good luck

P.s on another not I have been thinking about replacing SOME but no ALL of my cool crops. But than again I am still gonna give them a bit to see how they do. For some reason for me I do better in the fall than the spring for cool crops. But our weather goes from winter to summer in a day it's more gradual going from fall to winter.

[rainbowgardener]

I know Applestar and I look a lot alike , so people keep mixing us up, but I'm not Apple (though I aspire to her wisdom someday!)

[applestar]

It's so fun to arrive fashionably late to these exchanges. I feel like a celebrity. (Picture me graciously nodding and waving hand)

Don't be fooled. We had an unusually/unseasonably hot weather along the East Coast. Now we're going back the normal pseudo-spring weather which will be suddenly replaced by SUMMER around the middle of the month.

I would start by planting tomatoes among the cool weathers. With some luck, the cool weathers will finish growing before the tomatoes start taking off. I'm going to wait for this weekend's drop off in temp to pass before planting most of my peppers and eggplants, though I'm planting some with cut-off bottle cloche to protect them.

Finished sowing last of the corn/popcorn and sunflowers. Bush beans against the SE foundation is starting to come up. Am sowing pole beans in the warmest micro-climate next.

[gixxerific]

Dang It I did it again. Sorry RBG. One of these days I will get it right.

[jal_ut]

The weather has not been the best here. Alot of rain and very little sun. I was hoping to plant my summer stuff in the ground soon. Since the cool weather veggies have not grown should I take them out of the ground.

I would not take them out until they are finished. If you do you have wasted your time. You answered your own question: A lot of rain and very little sun.

The cool weather crops need sunshine and warm temps to grow too. They will finish up in 80-90 degree temps. Many of the cool weather crops take 50-80 days to mature. If you want to grow cool weather crops you need to give them that time. These suggested maturation dates vary a goodly amount depending on the climate. Yes, this probably means that you can't take them out in time to plant the warm weather crops in the same space.

The reason we call cool weather crops "cool weather" is because they have some frost resistance and can be planted very early. (as in cool weather) This doesn't mean they won't continue to grow as the weather warms up. All plante want to live long enough to bloom and produce seed. If they are still looking healthy, you can assume they will continue to grow and their growth will be accelerated as the weather warms up. If it does happen to get too hot for them, you will know it because they will quit and the leaves will turn brown.

Good luck!

[scot29]

Yup, you've gotten some good advice here. You'd be surprised how quickly stunted, or sick looking plants can rebound. Carrots aren't true cool weather veggies, and they take a long time to develop anyway.
You said they were looking good, so given some decent weather your veggies could easily take off.