GROW YOUR OWN Ready, Set, PLANT Julia Laughlin Oklahoma County Extension Horticulture Educator
Direct Seeding vs Transplants in the Garden
Warm season crops like hot temps and generally cannot take temps below freezing. Cool season crops like cooler temps and can take temps down to low 20’s or below in some cases… LAST FREEZE IN OK COUNTY?? About TAX DAY FIRST FREEZE IN FALL? Very near or after Halloween
Succession (Successive) Planting Direct planting every 2 weeks during the season, works for many crops to increase harvest! • Cool-season crops – like greens, radishes etc. – Spring planting: February – March – Fall planting: July – October • Warm-season crops – like green beans and squash – Summer planting: April – May – Fall planting: July – August
Keys to Successful Direct Sowing • Don’t sow too deep, most seed cover 2-3 times their size. • Keep them moist, but do not DROWN! • Thin seedlings to correct spacing – You can add washed thinnings of greens to your salad!
Using string line to mark rows will help you plant straight rows
Starting Transplants • Planting containers: – Small pots, newspaper pots, black plastic trays, peat pellets, peat pots, soil blocks, paper rolls, etc. • Moisten potting soil thoroughly – There are specialty “seedling mixes” that work great • Place seed on soil and cover lightly with soil – No deeper than 3x diameter – Lettuce seeds need light • Place in a bright area – 12-16 hours of daylight is ideal – 70 degrees F
Starting Transplants, cont. Please see my hand-out on this! • If using clear plastic lids, remove them after seed germinates • Supplemental light should be placed 3-4” above seed/plants • Harden-off before planting outside Limit water & fertilizer 3-5 days outdoors works well
When to Seed for Transplants • Weeks before recommended transplanting date: Cole crops – 4-6 weeks Onions – 10-12 weeks Lettuce – 4-6 weeks Peppers – 8-10 weeks Tomato & Eggplant – 6-8 weeks Melons & Cucumbers – 4 weeks Flowers – read label
Harden-off Seedlings Even if you can move transplants outside for a couple of mild days it helps. If transplants get stressed at planting time it often kills them or sets them way back. Try placing the plants where they get protection for direct afternoon sun and hard winds. You may need to move inside at night or cover with a row cover or frost blanket. www.rhs.org.uk
Saving Seed Many gardeners like to save seeds from their own gardens, to plant again next year and to share with friends. Seed saving is a fun hobby and a useful art. Depending on the species, seed saving is relatively easy (beans, tomatoes) or it may require considerable planning and care (squash, peppers).
Saving Seed – cont. It is not recommended to save seed from a vegetable or flower that is an F 1 hybrid since seeds from hybrid cultivars will produce a mixture of plant types, most of which will be inferior to the parent. The best possible success with F 1 hybrids is to buy new seed each year of cultivar wanted. .
What is an heirloom variety: An open-pollinated variety having some considerable ancestry and history of use.
Seed Storage Ideal seed storage temperatures should be between 40 to 50 o . Most seed should be kept where the relative humidity does not go over 20-35%. You can freeze seed but MUST be airtight to prevent freezer burn! If seed becomes moist, regardless of temperature, it loses its ability to germinate over a period of time. At low temperatures, seed can be more moist and still germinate well after a short storage period.
Germination Testing A month or so before the seed is to be used, you can determine the percentage of seed which have the capacity to grow. The easiest way to do this is to moisten two or three layers of paper towels. Place 10 seeds on the towels and roll them up. Do not roll tightly. A loose roll will provide more oxygen and give a better test. Place the rolls in a plastic bag. Keep in a warm place such as kitchen counter or on top of the water heater.
Germination Testing, cont. Some seed germinates in a matter of several days, therefore, check the rolls every two or three days. In most cases, the seed should germinate in 10 to 14 days. If it has not, or if you get less than 50%, it might be best to discard the seed and buy fresh seed for the coming garden season.
Season Extension By protecting plants form the elements we can grow later and start earlier or grow year-round. In the simplest form, it is a cloche. Greenhouses have heat and sometimes cooling systems and are the ideal season extension!
Spun bound Row Covers • Also used as insect barrier! You could use plastic but can smash crops. Anchor for winds!
Low Tunnels and High Tunnels
Cold Frames and Hot Beds
COOL SEASON VEGGIES FOR SPRING, FALL AND WINTER (WITH SEASON EXTENSION)
Beets, Radishes, Turnips, Carrots and Peas • Direct sow Feb. 15 to April 15 in 2 week successions and for fall mid-August. • Follow seed packet directions for spacing, but generally 2-4 inches. • Detroit Dark Red beets, Cherry Belle radish and Rainbow chard
GREENS: Leaf Lettuces, Collards, Kale, Chard, Turnips • All direct sown from SEED except head lettuces • Leaf lettuces are sown on 2-4 inch centers • Give kale, chard, collards about 1 foot. • Turnips you can grow varieties just for greens (like ALLTOP) or just use the greens from your turnip crop. Either way space about 4 inches. • Chard often goes all winter and through the next summer! It will be your only green that works in summer heat.
Cole Crops and Head Lettuces • Plant transplants in March without frost protection. For fall plant mid-late August to mid September. • Fall planting is best for brassicas but I always plant cabbage and broccoli in spring too • Space 12” for head lettuce and 14-18 for brassicas • Add fertilizer when planting • Try Packman broccoli, Snowball cauliflower , Red Head cabbage and Butter crunch lettuce • Cabbage worm will show up! • WATCH OUT FOR BUNNIES!! Have to fence them out!
Snowball cauliflower
Buttercrunch Head Lettuce
Onions • Purchase to plant in late February or early March • Get the plants for large onions, the bulbs for small green onions • At this time also pick-up your potatoes • Space plants 4-6” to allow for maximum size or closer with the intention of eating them green! • Fertilize with Nitrogen Fertilizer (I like blood meal) – 1 cup every 20 foot of row every 2-3 w (The more leafs, the more rings, the more rings, the larger the onion)
Potatoes – Purchase 2-3 weeks before planting and cut up to “callus” and be sure each piece ahs an “eye” TO “HILL” simply open a “trench” 4-6 inches deep • Just barely cover the potatoes with soil • Cover the potato plants weekly as they emerge • Plants will set potatoes in the clipping and you will never have to “dig” potatoes again • Harvest when they start to bloom and fall over. Take new potatoes and then hill the plant back up!
Callusing potato es • Make sure you leave an eye in each piece • Let pieces cure for about 10 days
Garlic • Plant from cloves the end of September to mid-October • Space 4 inches apart • Harvest next June!
WARM SEASON VEGGIES
Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant (the nightshades ) • All transplanted after April 15 • Space tomatoes 2 feet apart but peppers and eggplants about 18 inches • Tomatoes have to be staked or caged! • Your hot peppers can make your sweet peppers hot! • Watch out for Spider mites, hornworms and stink bugs! • Also eggplants get flea beetles • Try Black Beauty eggplant and California Wonder pepper
Favorite Tomato Varieties • Early Girl • Celebrity • Sweet 100 (cherry) • Sungold (cherry) • Black Krims (Heirloom) • Cherokee Purple (Heirloom )
Okra • LOVES warm weather • Plant in early May • Space about 1 foot • Soak seed overnight • Try Clemson Spineless or Annie Oakley • Harvest small at 3-4 inches • No real pests although deer love it • May need a ladder to harvest at the end of summer!
Beans and Southern peas • Easy to grow and don’t need much fertilizer • Start planting after April 15 for summer gardens and August and early September for fall • Direct sow and space 2-4 inches and plant succession of green beans! • Pole beans need trellising but bush beans don’t • Try Kentucky Wonde r green bean and Pink Eye Purple Hull cowpea
Cucurbits • Squash, Cucumbers, Watermelons, Cantaloupe and Pumpkins • Can plant in hills • Consider rowing upright/trellising • Summer squash we eat when it is immature, winter squash we eat when rind is hard • Summer squash and melons can go on 2 foot centers but winter squash and pumpkins need about 4-6 foot spacing • Watch out for cucumber beetles and squash bugs! • Try Black zucchini, strightneck squash. Black Diamond watermelon. Waltham butternut and Acorn winter squash and Hales best jumbo cantaloupe
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