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Message
Spring Garden - When to Plant?
Posted on 1/22/13 at 3:56 pm
Posted on 1/22/13 at 3:56 pm
I don't have a green thumb, but would like to grow some vegetables this Spring.
I assume it depends somewhat on the type of vegatable?
Also when should I start? Dont want to miss the season or be late.
Thanks in advance.
I assume it depends somewhat on the type of vegatable?
Also when should I start? Dont want to miss the season or be late.
Thanks in advance.
Posted on 1/22/13 at 4:07 pm to Salmon
quote:
LA Planting Guide
Perfect. Have you had success (or failures) with any particular type of vegetable?
Posted on 1/22/13 at 10:47 pm to CowboyPride
I highly recommend this book:
Month to Month Gardening in Louisiana
Written by Dan Gill It covers vegetable gardens, but also covers lawn/trees/shrubs/etc. There's a newer revised edition that is basically the same contents.
The LSU ag center page helps a lot as well. We grow tons of peppers, a few tomatoes (I don't eat them raw but wife loves them), and yardlong beans. With peppers, I have better yields with non-bell pepper types. Corno di Toro peppers are my bread and butter sweet pepper. I know other folks who grow and have great luck with blocky bells. Could be my particular microclimate or soil..who knows. Trial and error. Plant a good variety and keep notes because you won't remember next year. Dates, varieties, how well they produce...just jot it down. You'll be grateful you did next year.
Another tip, trust that book and the LSU Ag site. Our summers are brutally hot with little cool in the evenings. Big box stores will try to sell you all manner of plants we cannot grow in our summers. The good news is, we can grow almost everything in this state. It just has to be planted at the right time. That time is somewhat out of whack with much of the country.
Month to Month Gardening in Louisiana
Written by Dan Gill It covers vegetable gardens, but also covers lawn/trees/shrubs/etc. There's a newer revised edition that is basically the same contents.
The LSU ag center page helps a lot as well. We grow tons of peppers, a few tomatoes (I don't eat them raw but wife loves them), and yardlong beans. With peppers, I have better yields with non-bell pepper types. Corno di Toro peppers are my bread and butter sweet pepper. I know other folks who grow and have great luck with blocky bells. Could be my particular microclimate or soil..who knows. Trial and error. Plant a good variety and keep notes because you won't remember next year. Dates, varieties, how well they produce...just jot it down. You'll be grateful you did next year.
Another tip, trust that book and the LSU Ag site. Our summers are brutally hot with little cool in the evenings. Big box stores will try to sell you all manner of plants we cannot grow in our summers. The good news is, we can grow almost everything in this state. It just has to be planted at the right time. That time is somewhat out of whack with much of the country.
Posted on 1/23/13 at 5:05 am to RaginCajunz
Ragin, I was about to post looking for the pepper type I'm guessing you posted pics of last year. You're starting from seed correct? Where are you getting your seeds? Need to do something different bell pepper wise, just wasting garden space.
Posted on 1/23/13 at 7:22 am to Capt ST
quote:
Ragin, I was about to post looking for the pepper type I'm guessing you posted pics of last year. You're starting from seed correct? Where are you getting your seeds? Need to do something different bell pepper wise, just wasting garden space.
I usually try a handful of new things each year. I've had good luck with this site's products:
Trade Wind Fruit Co
I also grow a burpee variety called Costa Rican Sweet
Top left: Costa Rican Sweet
Bottom Left: Yellow Corno Di Toro
Bottom Right: Red Corno Di Toro
Posted on 1/23/13 at 7:22 am to Capt ST
quote:
Need to do something different bell pepper wise, just wasting garden space.
Starting Bell peppers from seed is tough..I recommend transplants from a nursery.
Some veggies are easy as hell from seed, others not so much.. Bell peppers is one of them
Posted on 1/23/13 at 7:35 am to Kajungee
Not having a problem with growing them, it's the lack of production that's killing me. And I have japs in garden I planted in the spring and I'm still picking off the plants.
Posted on 1/23/13 at 8:24 am to Capt ST
I was picking corno's off up until Christmas. (same for ghost peppers and my Petenero peppers) I probably would have had more, but the garden kind of went pear shaped around September/October with the new baby prep and arrival.
We grow everything from seed. I need to check my journal, but it's nearing the time I start my peppers. We moisten paper towels and sprinkle seeds on it. Roll them up/fold them over and put each variety in it's own zip-lock (left partially open) on top of the refrigerator. Once they sprout, I transfer them to 16oz Styrofoam cups labeled with a name and a few holes punched in the bottom. We keep a knock-down shelf and a set of fluorescent shop lights on chains and a timer. By the time I transplant into the garden, they are at least a foot tall and ready to start kickin' arse.
We grow everything from seed. I need to check my journal, but it's nearing the time I start my peppers. We moisten paper towels and sprinkle seeds on it. Roll them up/fold them over and put each variety in it's own zip-lock (left partially open) on top of the refrigerator. Once they sprout, I transfer them to 16oz Styrofoam cups labeled with a name and a few holes punched in the bottom. We keep a knock-down shelf and a set of fluorescent shop lights on chains and a timer. By the time I transplant into the garden, they are at least a foot tall and ready to start kickin' arse.
Posted on 1/23/13 at 9:49 am to CowboyPride
You can start in pots in early March. If a cold snap hits just take the pots into the garage. Then in April you can put them in the ground.
Posted on 1/23/13 at 12:01 pm to Zach
Remember this.........Don't break the ground during Lent. Follow that and you should be fine. If your soil is dry you can get some potato's and onion in right now!
Posted on 1/23/13 at 2:02 pm to CHEDBALLZ
quote:
Don't break the ground during Lent.
Good rule to follow. The way this weather has been, it may be snowing in April this year.
Posted on 1/23/13 at 3:37 pm to CowboyPride
I always plant my tomatoes the second week of February. They are small enough through the second week of March or so that they can be covered with a grocery bag if a freeze/frost hits. If they get too big before a frost I put a sprinkler on them about an hour before daylight to keep the frost off.
I usually only plant about half of mine that early. The rest I put in the ground around the beginning of March to stagger when they come in. For the past couple years I've had between 50 and 60 plants, thinking about cutting back this year.
I usually only plant about half of mine that early. The rest I put in the ground around the beginning of March to stagger when they come in. For the past couple years I've had between 50 and 60 plants, thinking about cutting back this year.
Posted on 1/23/13 at 4:15 pm to CHEDBALLZ
If you live closer to the coast in zone 9 or 9B, then waiting until Lent is over will put you behind the curve on tomatoes. It's okay to wait on peppers, eggplant, and okra, but tomatoes need to be in the ground early--they will stop setting new fruit once nighttime lows remain above 70 degrees. This usually happens in mid-May, so the bulk of your tomato crop needs to be set by then.
(Unless you are planting heat-tolerant varieties.)
(Unless you are planting heat-tolerant varieties.)
Posted on 1/23/13 at 4:28 pm to CHEDBALLZ
quote:
Remember this.........Don't break the ground during Lent.
Old timers back home used to always try to plant on Good Friday.
But, then, I planted some peppers in late February last year and had my best crop ever. It all depends on the weather.
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