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Cool Season Crops/Soil Question
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Posted by Sunny_Dee 5b MO (My Page) on Tue, Jan 10, 12 at 19:04
| I have never planted an early spring vegetable garden but I am successful/knowledgeable with warm season crops. Are there any special considerations that I need to be aware of when it comes to preparing the soil for early spring planting?
I plan on putting out broccoli, spinach, lettuce, and Brussels sprouts as soon as I can. The broccoli, for example, can go out as early as March 20 for my area.
Do I need to warm the soil first? I plan on using transplants that I will harden off under plastic tunnels I will build at the first of March.
Any insight you can give me would be much appreciated. Thanks! |
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RE: Cool Season Crops/Soil Question
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- Posted by corrine1 7b Pacific Northwest (My Page) on
Wed, Jan 11, 12 at 14:18
| Check with your county extension office to find out specifics in your area. No need to warm the soil before planting cool season crops. Premature bolting in the spr & early summer sun might be problems, but that's what the locals can help you avoid. |
RE: Cool Season Crops/Soil Question
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| My suggestion for broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and such is to not start them too early. i like to transplant them about 26 or 27 days after sowing [in pots.] Don't let them become root bound. Also I think March 20 is a bit early for transplanting in the garden. I prefer April 13 here and avoid the stresses of cold planting and have great success. If you like a fine beaded broccoli, I love Emerald Crown and Imperial from Stokes Seeds. |
RE: Cool Season Crops/Soil Question
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| My thoughts often turn to available Nitrate in the cool soil when planting those first crops including the ones you are thinking of. Broccoli, and cabbage benefit greatly from having plenty of it around to use and can actually sit there doing nothing if none is available; worse yet, they can be induced to bolt long before you can even see the change in the plants. Basically the plants says to itself, "AHHH, I'm starving, guess I'll just start to reproduce". the result is a scrawny plant with a scrawny head later in the season. In contrast, plenty of available nitrate leads to a big framed plant that waits to go into reproductive mode, that big plant can produce a big head. As far as how one ensures an ample supply of nitrate in the soil while gardening organically early in the season, I'll defer to others. Oh, one thing that will get the soil organisms going early in cold soils so they can begin creating nitrate form the organic sources is to warm the soil. |
RE: Cool Season Crops/Soil Question
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| One more thing I might add is that, some crops (like broccoli, radish, spinach, lettuce) can bolt if planted out too early because the cold spring nights can trick them into thinking its fall and time to make seed. I have done some experiments with this (mainly radishes and greens) and found that waiting a couple weeks after the soil becomes workable will produce far better plants, even though they might be harvested a bit later than if you got them in right away. Also a well brewed compost tea applied early spring about once a week can help to wake up microbes and other tiny soil friends from their winter rest, no extra fertilizer needed. |
RE: Cool Season Crops/Soil Question
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| We are far enough North that we used to be Z3 in the 70's... Feb. 15th is seeding day for Broccili and getting them into the ground by the 3rd week in March(12 hrs of sun) is the objective. I warm the soil in 2 ways. Burn the brush pile or remove the mulch pile. Put down plastic over the freshly worked raised bed and the sun can warm the soil. (I agree that cold soil does not provide Nitrogen for the plants.)
Of course the real asset in keeping the soil warm and the air around the broccoli warm is the Wall 'O Water. My objective is to be eating fresh 'Comet' broccoli by Memorial Day, and sometimes I make it. :) |
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