Some time back I started a support group for PETC folks (Plants Everything Too Close). We have all admitted our practices, but few have changed our ways.
Now I need to become a member of another support group.....PETS (Plants Everything Too Soon). Each year I get the garden ready and just can't wait to get some seed in the ground. Poor little seeds experience a couple of days of pre-Spring and then burrrrr they sit in the cold ground for a couple of weeks. They probably would do much better if I wait a little longer.
I help my mother plant her small garden and she is insistent to wait til late April or early May. Now she has a much better spot for a garden than I do, but her stuff usually produces fruit sooner, better and longer than mine.
So, what do you think is the best planting date for your area for squash, okra, beans, tomato plants, eggplant plants, pepper plants, and corn?
Seed Starting Dates
Begin here by choosing 50% chance of 32° (middle of the middle) for an average date:
[url=https://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.pl?directive=prod_select2&prodtype=CLIM2001&subrnum%20to%20Freeze/Frost%20Data%20from%20the%20U.S.%20Climate%20Normals]Last Frost Dates, National Climatic Data Center[/url]
You can allow Johnny's to do it all for you. It is fairly simple to just plug in your date and the results seem reasonable to me:
[url=https://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-PDGSeedStart.aspx??source=HomeSeedCalc0111]Your seed-starting date[/url]
But, it takes just a moment to figure out what you are up to and put a chart together to hang on the wall. It will keep you informed, date to day. This may help with that chart:
[url=https://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html]Date calculator: Add to or subtract from a date[/url]
If you need a guide on how long seedlings should be indoors before setting out, here is one I've used, scroll down to Table 1:
[url=https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/seedlings/seedlings.html]Timely Tips on Starting Seed, Texas A & M[/url]
I did NOT start any onion seed in January like I did last year! . . . It was crazy out in an unheated greenhouse trying to keep the flats of soil & onion seedlings from freezing! And, I'm not starting the furnace in there until March! Nope, not gonna do it . . .
Steve
Begin here by choosing 50% chance of 32° (middle of the middle) for an average date:
[url=https://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.pl?directive=prod_select2&prodtype=CLIM2001&subrnum%20to%20Freeze/Frost%20Data%20from%20the%20U.S.%20Climate%20Normals]Last Frost Dates, National Climatic Data Center[/url]
You can allow Johnny's to do it all for you. It is fairly simple to just plug in your date and the results seem reasonable to me:
[url=https://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-PDGSeedStart.aspx??source=HomeSeedCalc0111]Your seed-starting date[/url]
But, it takes just a moment to figure out what you are up to and put a chart together to hang on the wall. It will keep you informed, date to day. This may help with that chart:
[url=https://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html]Date calculator: Add to or subtract from a date[/url]
If you need a guide on how long seedlings should be indoors before setting out, here is one I've used, scroll down to Table 1:
[url=https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/ornamentals/seedlings/seedlings.html]Timely Tips on Starting Seed, Texas A & M[/url]
I did NOT start any onion seed in January like I did last year! . . . It was crazy out in an unheated greenhouse trying to keep the flats of soil & onion seedlings from freezing! And, I'm not starting the furnace in there until March! Nope, not gonna do it . . .
Steve
- rainbowgardener
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Yeah, I think all of us around here get itching to plant things.
Mg- I thought your list was interesting. I would expect the timing to be different for you down there in TX, but I would have expected the general order to be the same:
"Central Texas--squash, beans, corn go in early April. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers are planted in late April, early May. "
For me squash (and eggplant if I grew it, which I don't) is the LAST thing I plant after soil is thoroughly warmed up. All the other things are earlier.
I will plant tomatoes and corn mid-April once danger of frost is past. Peppers and beans a week or so later once danger of frost is past and nights aren't so chilly. Squash not until about first week in May once danger of frost is past and nights aren't so chilly and the soil has warmed up. (Fuggedaboud okra, I don't know anyone who eats the stuff )
Also if you do three sisters planting, you plant the corn first and only after it has been up at least a week, plant the beans next to them. Only after the beans have been up at least a week do you plant the squash. That is to give the plants a head start so the corn doesn't get over taken by the beans and the beans and corn don't get overtaken by the squash. But it also accords pretty well with the warm up time table.
Mg- I thought your list was interesting. I would expect the timing to be different for you down there in TX, but I would have expected the general order to be the same:
"Central Texas--squash, beans, corn go in early April. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers are planted in late April, early May. "
For me squash (and eggplant if I grew it, which I don't) is the LAST thing I plant after soil is thoroughly warmed up. All the other things are earlier.
I will plant tomatoes and corn mid-April once danger of frost is past. Peppers and beans a week or so later once danger of frost is past and nights aren't so chilly. Squash not until about first week in May once danger of frost is past and nights aren't so chilly and the soil has warmed up. (Fuggedaboud okra, I don't know anyone who eats the stuff )
Also if you do three sisters planting, you plant the corn first and only after it has been up at least a week, plant the beans next to them. Only after the beans have been up at least a week do you plant the squash. That is to give the plants a head start so the corn doesn't get over taken by the beans and the beans and corn don't get overtaken by the squash. But it also accords pretty well with the warm up time table.
- jal_ut
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Spinach, carrots, peas, all the cole crops plant first week of April.
Beets and chard Mid April. Corn, squash and beans May 5. Cucumbers from seed June 1. Tomatoes and peppers, (plants) plant in the garden on June 1.
OK, for your use you will probably be two months earlier than me.
The average last frost here is May 18.
Of course, I make successive plantings of many of these crops, but these are the dates I shoot for for the first crop.
Beets and chard Mid April. Corn, squash and beans May 5. Cucumbers from seed June 1. Tomatoes and peppers, (plants) plant in the garden on June 1.
OK, for your use you will probably be two months earlier than me.
The average last frost here is May 18.
Of course, I make successive plantings of many of these crops, but these are the dates I shoot for for the first crop.
PETS - That's got to be hard this year; it been very mild down here in the Florida Panhandle just 200 miles south of you and the ten day forecast of February temperatures isn't expected to go below 40 degrees.lakngulf wrote:Now I need to become a member of another support group.....PETS (Plants Everything Too Soon). Each year I get the garden ready and just can't wait to get some seed in the ground. Poor little seeds experience a couple of days of pre-Spring and then burrrrr they sit in the cold ground for a couple of weeks. They probably would do much better if I wait a little longer.
These guys have enjoyed the mild temps. Gotta love springtime, especially when it gives us a preview in early February.RickRS wrote:PETS - That's got to be hard this year; it been very mild down here in the Florida Panhandle just 200 miles south of you and the ten day forecast of February temperatures isn't expected to go below 40 degrees.
[img]https://i854.photobucket.com/albums/ab104/lakngulf/001-qdma/IMG_0386.jpg[/img]
My wife keeps feeling sorry for these little flowers, because she knows they, and we, have some cold weather ahead before real spring gets here.
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- Green Thumb
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Out here, it's true things are green and we can do strawberries and radishes and other stuff now, but I've learned the hard way not to plant tomato plants until July 1.
In May and June where I live, we have what we call May Gray and June Gloom. Cool and cloudy.
The plants just yellow and die.
As you can imagine, July 1 is exciting !
In May and June where I live, we have what we call May Gray and June Gloom. Cool and cloudy.
The plants just yellow and die.
As you can imagine, July 1 is exciting !
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- rainbowgardener
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Moderator: Who's next
Lakngulf: Hi, I'm lakngulf and I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year.
M: Good Lakngulf, your resolve is encouraging. But what is that I see in your wife's flower bed, and are those beans and squash in your garden.
L: Oh, I'm sorry. The temps were in the 80s and the spot in the flower bed was bare and was getting a direct hit from the sun......so I put in four tomato plants......but only as a test.
M: Go on...
L: I had these beans and squash growing in the green house, and I had hardened them a few days in the beautiful weather, and the arbor in the garden was ready,......so.....I planted them.
Lakngulf: Hi, I'm lakngulf and I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year. I will not plant too soon this year.
M: Good Lakngulf, your resolve is encouraging. But what is that I see in your wife's flower bed, and are those beans and squash in your garden.
L: Oh, I'm sorry. The temps were in the 80s and the spot in the flower bed was bare and was getting a direct hit from the sun......so I put in four tomato plants......but only as a test.
M: Go on...
L: I had these beans and squash growing in the green house, and I had hardened them a few days in the beautiful weather, and the arbor in the garden was ready,......so.....I planted them.
- rainbowgardener
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