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marial1214

What are you planting now for Fall in Zone 6?

marial1214
16 years ago

I was just wondering, now that we're at the end of July, what people are starting to plant for their Fall crops, in Zone 6? I think the time is near, no?

If I'm not mistaken I must get my but to the greenhouse to see what vegetable plants they're offering, that could go in the ground now....

Comments (17)

  • aka_peggy
    16 years ago

    Marial, I have problems finding fall vegetables at nurseries around here. There's a Southern States Farm Center near here that doesn't get plants in till mid Sept...How DUMB is that?!

    I'm growing a variety of cole crops from seed this year. Tuscan kale...new to me...also brussel sprouts, cabbage, beets, carrots, broccoli, lettuce and other salad greens.

    So far I've started the beets, kale, cabbage, lettuce and broccoli.

  • mailman22
    16 years ago

    I have some broccoli already coming. I can replant again now?
    {{gwi:91533}}

  • digdirt2
    16 years ago

    Doing bush beans, turnips, and beets in the garden and have mixed lettuces, collards, broccoli, and cauliflower started in the greenhouse to transplant out next month. Fall transplants are impossible to find down here so we have to grow our own. ;)

    Dave

  • mailman22
    16 years ago

    Do they have to be transplants? Can success be had if they are direct sown?

  • nygardener
    16 years ago

    I hope so! I just direct seeded carrots, basil and peas, will put in beets next week and arugula and some other greens the week after. I'm betting that they can tolerate some heat while young and that they'll be fine maturing as the weather cools.

  • Violet_Z6
    16 years ago

    ...not every agricultural extension has a nice chart like that either. Ours just gives general planting information based on soil temperatures. I wish ours was in a calendar form with specific planting dates,like the one above, since I have no idea what my soil temperature is anyway.

    You can take a cheap kitchen thermometer and stick in the ground at a diagonal to a depth of 6 inches, then you'll know your soil temperature.

    As for a chart/table from your state extension, there is one right here (from your Colorado Extension Service):

    {{gwi:85816}}

  • Violet_Z6
    16 years ago

    Ooops! Last post was meant for a different thread and has been posted to that thread.

    :)

  • marial1214
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    So far, nice posts and ideas. I just started a whole foods diet from a certified nutritionist because I wanted to lose 15 lbs. I already lost 3 lbs in the first two weeks. Basically she has me getting most of my protein from plant sources. With my long list of suggested vegetables that I am eating there are things I've never tried before like kale and collard greens. Not only do I not know how to cook these two vegs, I dont know how to grow them either.

    I always thought kale sure looked pretty in the fall in people's flower beds but I am not sure that's the same plant that people eat.

    mailman22, your brocolli is out of this world!

    Broccoli is definitely on my fall list. Last year my cabbages only got to softball/baseball size so I dont think I will try that again. Carrots sound good. I had no idea I could put more beans in. I have to check if turnips are on my list of protein vegetables. Lettuce is on the list. I'm harvesting Beets right now so I probably wont replant them cuz these ones could continue to grow bigger.

    If you guys put yours in already, I'd better get my but to the greenhouse asap.

    We've had rain off and on for two weeks now. Temps all down in the 80's with some nights in the 50's. Some July weather!

    Please continue to share your ideas with us. Thanks, Marial.

  • orangedragonfly
    16 years ago

    Im not doing much fall planting except galic and spinach. All my beds are still full. I did start some container buttercrunch lettuce, and I will keep doing lettuce until I cant do it anymore. That is what we use the most of.

  • annie-lee
    16 years ago

    "Im not doing much fall planting except galic and spinach. All my beds are still full."

    Ornagedragonfly, I am afraid you miss the point of fall planting here. I know like everyone else, all your beds are still full, but imagine two months from now when squash, cucmber and even tomatoes are gone, what would take over the places. Exactly the challenges of fall planting is to find the spaces (even clowd with the existing ones ),fighting the heat and bugs and looking forward to the excitng re-vigorated growing seasons. Try some nice short season greens, not just the spinach, what about pok choi, kai-lang, or any lettuce, or turnips?

  • lilion
    16 years ago

    I have the full-bed problem too. I had to pull my onions, carrots and turnips and just toss them in June because my zucchini shaded them out and really I have very little in my bed that isn't shaded by either the zukes or the tomatoes, both of which got WAY bigger than I expected. Can I plant seeds in the mostly shady areas hoping that they'll do okay until the zucchini and tomatoes are ready to get rid of?

  • annie-lee
    16 years ago

    "Can I plant seeds in the mostly shady areas hoping that they'll do okay until the zucchini and tomatoes are ready to get rid of?"

    alys, yes, but you need to water them quite a bit. Also, try to force open up the shade on the unrulely plants by using the support of poles or sticks. For those veggies that don't requires direct seeding, I would start them on a pot (so you can have more suitable air and light and water) and then transplant them later after zucchini and tomatoes are on the decline or gone.

  • aka_peggy
    16 years ago

    Alys, I don't think most plants will get
    off to a good start if grown in much shade.

    In recent years I've been growing lots of
    onions, garlic and shallots. They're so
    much better than anything you'll find in
    the grocery store. Those beds are generally
    freed up by the end of July. I can quite a
    bit so I use a lots of sweet onions and garlic
    in the fall and early winter.

    I prefer to start most of my seeds in
    pots and transfer them to the garden.
    I buy those little plastic 4 oz drinking
    cups and poke a hole in them for drainage.
    They're cheap and I have much better luck
    that way.

    I'm going to make a small hoop house over
    one of my raised beds this fall and cover
    it at night when it gets too cold out.
    Hopefully, I'll be able to extend my harvest
    a little this way.

  • lilion
    16 years ago

    Guess I hadn't thought of that. I suppose I could start some things in peat pots now and plant them later, even carrots - that way I won't have to thin them so much either if I put just one or two seeds per pot. I'll see if I can't wrangle my zucchini out of the way for the other things. Thanks!

  • kublackbird
    16 years ago

    Speaking of finding space where you can, I'm curious if anyone has tried this plan before. My beans and cucumbers are all trelised up, and the vines of both are fairly thin at the bottom. I would like some peas for the fall, so I'm thinking of just planting them below the same trelis and letting them intermingle with the beans and cucs--which I think should be dying off by then. Thoughts?

  • marial1214
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    oh my god i better order my garlic!

  • nygardener
    16 years ago

    kublackbird, I just planted peas near my trellises where they won't compete with the cukes and squashes. Some were ones I picked a couple of weeks ago that had dried on the vine! Watch out for root crowding, though  I noticed this year that even when plants didn't shade each other, if their roots competed they didn't do as well as those with plenty of room.

    For anyone who uses drip irrigation, there are cool little misters you can buy that will direct a gentle spray onto an area 12 to 24 inches in diameter. I have a few of those on stakes in each of my newly seeded beds, set to come on for a couple of minutes several times a day.