Rake the seedbed well before planting to remove surface stones and debris and break up clods. Sow seeds shallowly because some types need light to stimulate germination.TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Rake the seedbed well before planting to remove surface stones and debris and break up clods. Sow seeds shallowly because some types need light to stimulate germination.
Plant in full sun in cool weather but in light to partial shade during warm weather.
Water deeply once a week in cool weather; water daily during warm and hot weather to prevent wilting and bitter-tasting leaves.
Q How do I figure out what kind of lettuce to grow? There are so many different kinds!
A These days, lettuce can be one of the most beautiful crops in your garden, and it’s much easier and more intriguing to grow than in the days when iceberg lettuce was the salad-bowl staple. Here’s a guide to the full range of lettuce choices.
LEAF. These fast-growing, easy lettuces take only 45 to 60 days from seed to full-size plants and are also called cutting and looseleaf lettuce. Many cultivars are available, and leaf edges can be wavy to curly, very frilly, or lobed (like oak leaves).
Leaf lettuce
ROMAINE OR COS. These form loose heads of long, broad leaves that mature in 50 to 70 days from seed.
Romaine lettuce
BUTTERHEAD. Also called Boston or bibb lettuce, these form a loose head and have exceptionally tender, succulent leaves. Plants take from 50 to 75 days to mature from seed.
Butterhead lettuce
SUMMER CRISP. Also listed as French crisp lettuce, summer crisp lettuces are intermediate between Butter-head and Crisphead lettuce. They have crisp leaves that eventually form a firm head and generally take 50 to 75 days to mature from seed. Pick the leaves individually, or wait to harvest the entire head.
CRISPHEAD. Also called iceberg lettuces, these produce firm, solid heads of crisp, juicy leaves. Older cultivars need 75 days of cool weather to form heads, but newer ones released for home gardeners make this crop easier to grow. Still, crispheads ideally need about 2 months of days in the 60s/15.6–20.5°C to form a head. Batavian or summer crisp-type cultivars usually form heads (and will not bolt) as long as temperatures don’t exceed about 75°F/23.8°C during the day and stay above 50°F/10°C at night.
Crisphead lettuce
Q How about Popeye’s favorite treat? What are the best options for spinach?
A Smooth-leaved spinaches are probably the best choice if fresh eating for salads is your goal. The leaves are easier to clean and more tender than savoyed spinaches, which have crinkled and puckered leaves. Savoyed spinach leaves are harder to wash but tend to hold up better for cooking. Savoyed spinach cultivars also tend to tolerate more heat and have more resistance to diseases like downy mildew.
Savoy
Smooth leaf
Q My garden is in Cookeville, Tennessee, and I always have trouble with my spring spinach crop. The plants flower too soon, and that makes the leaves inedible. Is there a way to prevent flowering?
A Two factors cause spinach to bolt quickly in spring: increasing day length and bouts of warm weather (temperatures above 70°F/21.1°C encourage bolting). For a spring crop, try to get as early a start as possible, and look for cultivars that are bolt resistant. Plant spinach in a raised bed to ensure perfect drainage, and sow 8 weeks before the last spring frost date. To protect plants from hot weather that ends the harvest, use shade cloth to protect plants and harvest as soon as possible. The good news in areas with warm climates is that fall is perfect for growing spinach, since days are shorter and cool weather rules. In Zones 9 and warmer, winter is a great time for growing spinach, lettuce, and other cool-weather leafy crops like mesclun.
Q I’ve heard of mesclun. What is it?
A Mesclun, French for mixture, is actually a mix of leafy crops. Ideally, mesclun mixes include plants with a variety of leaf colors and shapes that make a pretty, flavorful salad. You’ll find that seed catalogs offer preblended mesclun mixes, as well as individual packets of a variety of crops that are typically included in mesclun.
In addition to lettuces and spinach, mesclun mixes contain other leafy crops, including the following: arugula (Eruca sativa), beets (Beta vulgaris, Crassa group), bok choy (Brassica rapa, Chinensis group), chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium), corn salad or mâche (Valerianella locusta, V. eriocarpa), endive (Chicorium endivia), garden cress (Lepidium sativum), miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), mustard (Brassica spp.), orach (Atriplex hortensis), radishes (Raphanus sativus, Radicula group), sorrel (Rumex acetosa, R. scutatus), and swiss chard (Beta vulgaris, Cicla group).
Q Are mesclun mixes the best way to go, or should I blend my own?
A Seed companies that specialize in vegetables generally offer several mixes, and these may be the best way to go if you haven’t tried growing mesclun before. You’ll find mixes that are blended for taste, from mild to tangy. Other types are customized for growing at different times of year — cold-tolerant mixes for spring or fall and heat-tolerant crops for summertime harvests. Mixes are easiest to sow, and they tend to be less expensive, since you don’t have to buy seed packets of all the different crops in the mix. Try several to see which mixes perform and taste best for you.
You may also want to experiment with buying and growing the individual ingredients separately, and mixing them together after you harvest. This prevents the problem that sometimes occurs with premixed blends when one type of plant outcompetes the others, leaving you with more mustard than you’d like, for example. By buying seeds of the individual crops and planting small blocks of each, you can grow and harvest salads that feature the exact tastes and colors you prefer.
Q How do I plant a mesclun mix?
A It is as easy to grow as lettuce. Ideally, all the crops in a mesclun mix need the same growing conditions: rich, well-prepared soil and full sun or afternoon shade in warm weather. Typically, mesclun mixes are sown in rows, wide rows, or blocks and then harvested all together when the plants are only a few inches tall. Sow thickly — as close as 1"/2.5 cm between plants — and don’t worry about thinning, because you’ll be harvesting them before the plants grow large.
Q What kind of soil do I need for salad crops?
A It’s easiest to prepare soil for all your leafy crops at once. In general, lettuce, spinach, and other leafy crops prefer rich soil that’s evenly moist. If possible, work organic matter into the soil the season before you plan to plant — in fall for a spring crop and in spring for a fall crop. While lettuce is fairly adaptable and grows in a range of soils (pH 6.0 to 6.8 pH is ideal), spinach prefers soil that’s close to neutral (6.5 to 7.5) so testing and adjusting pH the season before is a good idea. Test soil the season before you plant so that amendments you add to adjust pH have time to work their effect. Yellow or brown
MUSTARDS (BRASSICA SPP.) ARE SPICY-TASTING leafy crops perfect for adding a bit of zing to salads. Most are more able to tolerate heat than lettuce and are well worth growing at any season for the tasty bite they add to salads. They can also be included in mesclun mixes. Pungent mustards include broad-leaved types that have large 12"–20"/30.5–50.8 cm-tall leaves that are crinkled or savoyed and tolerate both heat and cold, but there are many others. The mildest of the mustards is mizuna, which produces 1'/.3 m-wide rosettes of deeply cut leaves. Give mustards full sun in spring and fall but partial shade during the summer to help them withstand heat. Ordinary well-prepared vegetable garden soil is fine, and even moisture is essential. Plants grown in soil that is too dry will become very hot tasting.
If you develop a yen for spicy salads, you can turn up the heat by adding some of these crops, too:
Arugula (Eruca sativa)
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)
Garlic greens (A. sativum)
Green onions (A. cepa)
Nasturtium leaves and blossoms (Tropaeolum majus)
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
leaf edges signal that plants are growing in soil that is too acid. To sweeten acid soil, follow directions from your soil-test results or dust with lime or wood ashes in fall before spring planting.
Q What’s the best way to plant lettuce?
A You can start lettuce right in the garden or sow plants indoors. Outdoors, sow seeds in a prepared seedbed about 4 weeks before the last spring frost date. Be sure to rake the soil carefully and remove surface clods and rocks, since lettuce seeds are very small. Thin plants once they have two or three leaves. Leaf lettuces generally need to be spaced 8"–10"/20.3–25.4 cm apart, other types 12"–16"/30.5–40.6 cm. Use the thinnings in salads.
Indoors, sow seeds in small flats or pots 3 weeks before the last spring frost date. Transplant seedlings to individual pots about 2 weeks later. Either way, cover the seed very lightly; ¼"/.64 cm is the recommended planting depth, because light aids germination.
Lettuce, spinach, and other leafy crops are perfect candidates for planting in blocks or wide rows, because the plants are fairly small, and it’s easy to reach over the row to tend the plants. You can broadcast seeds in a band and thin them or set seedlings out at their proper spacing.
Q What’s the best way to get my spinach crop growing?
A Spinach is also quite cold tolerant, and you can begin sowing seeds outdoors 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost date. Plant in a raised bed if your soil tends to be wet in spring. Since seedlings resent transplanting, it’s usually best to direct-sow outdoors. Soak the seeds in water for several hours before sowing to speed germination, then set them ½"/1.3 cm deep and 1"–2"/2.5–5 cm apart. Once seedlings are about 4"/10.2 cm tall, thin them to 6"/15.2 cm. Use the thinnings in salads. Sow new crops every week to 10 days until 1½ months before temperatures are in the mid-70s/23.3–24.4°C.
Q How do I plant mustards?
A Despite the fact that they’re heat tolerant, mustards are easiest to grow in spring or fall in all but the coolest portions of North America. Or grow them as a winter crop in the South and Southwest. For a spring crop, sow seeds directly in the garden 2 to 3 weeks before the last spring frost date. For fall, sow them in mid- to late summer. Set seeds ½"/.64 cm deep and 1"/2.5 cm apart, then thin when seedlings are several inches tall; the distance depends on the mature size of the cultivar(s) you are
To make salads even more colorful and appealing, plan on using a sprinkling of the many edible flowers commonly grown in gardens. Add them fresh to salads, either whole or as petals. Edible flowers include basil (Ocimum basilicum), borage (Borago officinalis), cornflowers (Centaurea spp.), dill (Anethum graveolens), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), glads (Gladiolus spp.), honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.), lavender (Lavandula spp.), nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus), pinks (Dianthus spp.), oregano (Origanum vulgare), marigolds (Tagetes spp.), pansies and violets (Viola spp.), peas (Pisum sativum ssp. sativum), pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis), roses (Rosa spp.), squash and pumpkins (Cucurbita spp.), and thyme (Thymus spp.). Be sure to harvest flowers only from beds where no chemical sprays have been used.
Garnish salads with edible flowers
growing. Add thinned seedlings to salads. You can start harvesting individual leaves as early as 4 weeks after sowing, or pull up entire plants when they reach maturity.
Q Our garden is in northern Pennsylvania, and the growing season ends far too soon! What can we do to extend the lettuce- and spinach-growing season?
A As weather cools off in fall, lettuce, spinach, and other leafy crops mature more and more slowly, so you won’t have to rush to harvest the way you do when warm summer weather is on the horizon. The cool fall weather offers gardeners a big advantage, since the plants basically stop growing and you can plant a large crop all at once and then harvest over time. Instead of “going by” in a matter of days, as they do in spring and early summer, the plants last for 4 to 6 weeks in the garden, and you can harvest plants as you need them. Once temperatures drop into the low 30s/–1.1–.5°C, plan on protecting plants by covering them with row covers or erecting a plastic tunnel over the rows. Be sure to remove covers on warm days and replace covers at night.
A plastic tunnel extends the growing season
Q What salad crops tolerate summer heat? We still like to eat salad in summer!
A One way to extend the salad season beyond spring is by growing heat-tolerant cultivars of salad greens. (Catalog descriptions are a good guide to appropriate cultivars.) To give them as cool a spot as possible, plant on the north or east side of your house or in the shade of a trellis. Keep them mulched and watered, too. Here are some ideas for summer salad greens:
SWISS CHARD. Perhaps the best candidate for summer culture is Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris, Cicla group). Plants produce clumps of tall leaves on fleshy stems that can reach 2'/.6 m, but the leaves are ready to harvest beginning when they’re only 5"/12.7 cm tall. Either way, the leaves are nutritious and mild tasting. Swiss chard actually prefers cool weather, so sow plants outdoors 1 to 2 weeks before the last spring frost date. Water generously, especially once the weather is warm. Look for cultivars like ‘Rhubarb’ or ‘Bright Lights’ for a colorful addition to salads.
SUMMER SPINACH SUBSTITUTES. Other summer-salad crops include malabar spinach (Basella rubra), a tropical vine that can reach 6'/15.2 m and requires a trellis. Harvest new, very young leaves, which have a mild taste. Older leaves become mucilaginous. New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia tetragonioides) also tolerates heat but needs plenty of moisture to produce tasty leaves that are high in vitamin C. Pick young leaves and stem tips, since older leaves become tough and bitter. Finally, try vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor), which is also called calaloo and resembles coleus. Its nutritious, ovalto pear-shaped leaves taste like spinach. Pick young leaves and pinch plants to encourage branching.
Q My wife and I can’t wait for our first homegrown salads in the spring. What can we do to have our plants ready to harvest as early as possible?
A Plan on starting some seed indoors and some out. Hardened-off seedlings can go into the garden at the same time you can sow seeds, which gives you a head start on your first crop. Seven or 8 weeks before that last spring frost, sow your first batch of seeds indoors. Sow additional batches indoors each week after that. Transplant your first batch of seedlings — and sow seeds — outdoors about 4 weeks before the last fall frost date. (Lettuce seedlings are fine outdoors provided temperatures remain above 30°F/–1.1°C.)
Lettuce matures fairly uniformly, so all the seeds you sow will be ready to harvest at about the same time. Keep that in mind, and sow small amounts at a time — perhaps a 1'–2'/.3–.6 m row, or a dozen transplants. Continue seeding and sowing until about a month before temperatures are routinely in the 70s/21.1–26.1°C. Plant spinach, mesclun, and other leafy crops the same way. You can use the same system to spread out the fall harvest.
Q What’s the right way to water lettuce and spinach?
A If possible, when the weather is cool, water these crops deeply once a week. Lettuce plants have shallow roots, though, and in warmer weather they probably will need watering every other day — daily in dry climates. The soil should be constantly moist but not wet or soggy. To avoid wetting the leaves, use soaker hoses if you can. Also, try to water in the morning — by midday at the latest — so there is plenty of time for the leaves to dry out before nightfall.
Q Do salad greens ever need fertilizer?
A In well-prepared soil, they probably will do just fine, but to speed growth even further, water with fish emulsion a couple of times during the season.
Q I live in Richmond, Virginia. We have nice spring weather, but the temperature can pop up into the upper 70s/25–26°C without much warning. What can I do to save my lettuce crop during hot spells?
A Hot weather usually brings an end to spring lettuce and spinach harvests, but you can buy your plants a little time nonetheless. Plan to shade plants, especially in the hot afternoons. Erect a framework over the rows with wire or PVC pipe and drape it with shade cloth, which comes in degrees of screening that block 25 to 50 percent of the light and heat. For Zone 7 areas, such as Richmond, try 50 percent shade cloth when temperatures get close to 80°F/26.7°C. Or prop up sheets of lattice or picket fencing on the west side of plantings. For lettuce and spinach that will mature about the time that hot weather arrives, plant on the north or west side of a trellis.
Even if you plan to use shade cloth, also sow bolt-resistant, heat-tolerant cultivars all through the spring season. That way, if a freak hot spell occurs and all your other lettuce bolts, you’ll still have some lettuce to eat. Also, be sure to mulch and water regularly (daily if necessary) to keep the roots moist and cool.
Lattice shading summer lettuce
Q How do I tell when my leaf lettuce and spinach are ready to harvest?
A You can begin harvesting leaf lettuce, spinach, and most other leafy crops as soon as the leaves are large enough to be picked. When picking leaves, pinch them off gently or cut them with scissors. Since the spring season is short, and hot weather causes plants to go from mature to bitter very quickly, pulling or cutting off whole plants is the best course of action in most areas. In fall, picking individual leaves is best, since the plants produce for several weeks. Once temperatures are routinely in the 30s/–1.1–3.9°C, harvest entire plants, since they won’t grow much more. To get lettuce at its best, harvest in the morning, when the leaves are most turgid.
Q When are crisphead lettuces ready for harvest?
A To determine when crisphead, romaine, and summer crisp lettuce is ready to pick, feel the heads. They should be firm and fully formed but probably won’t be as hard as grocery-store lettuce. If hot weather is in the forecast and you need to catch them before they bolt, you may want to go ahead and harvest even if the plants haven’t formed a head yet. Use a sharp knife to cut the heads off just above the soil surface.
A Begin harvesting about 6 weeks after sowing, when the plants are perhaps 6"/15.2 cm tall. Use scissors to cut bunches of leaves 1"/2.5 cm above the ground. After that, water the patch gently with compost tea. The plants will resprout for at least a second, and perhaps a third, harvest.
Q My spinach and lettuce always go to seed before I have a chance to pick them. What can I do to get to them in time?
A Both lettuce and spinach form flowers and go to seed in response to warm temperatures and increasing day length in spring. This is called bolting. Once temperatures exceed 80°F/26.6°C, the plants’ main stems begin to elongate, and flowers form very quickly. Once that happens, pull up your plants and compost them, because bolting causes the leaves to turn bitter. To avoid losing your crop, watch the weather forecast for your area. If hot weather threatens, act quickly to harvest all of your spinach and lettuce (or as much of it as you’ll be able to eat and store).
Q A friend gave me a flat of lettuce seedlings that were large and gorgeous, but they never grew much once I transplanted them to my garden. Is there something wrong with my soil?
A Probably not. The best lettuce seedlings are small — only 3 or 4 weeks old, in fact. Although they look tiny, young seedlings outperform large transplants almost every time.
Q I’ve had problems with slugs eating my lettuce, but what other pests do I need to watch out for?
A Slugs do love lettuce, and the slimy trails and ragged holes they leave in lettuce are none too appetizing. Two other pests to watch for are aphids and thrips. Aphids are small, rounded insects that feed by sucking sap from leaves. Their feeding causes curled leaves and stunted plants. Thrips rasp the leaves, leaving silvery streaks. They are very tiny insects and are hard to see. To check for thrips, hold a piece of white paper under a leaf and tap or shake the leaf. Thrips will show up as tiny black specks on the paper.
SEE ALSO: For tips on slug control, page 151; for thrip control, page 149; for aphid control, page 147.
Q My lettuce plants have been developing dark rusty-looking patches on the bottom leaves; then all the bottom leaves turn slimy and brown. What’s causing this?
A Look carefully at the rusty patches: If they are sunken and oozing, a disease called bottom rot is the culprit. Remove infected plants or pull off outside leaves that show signs of rot, and compost them. To prevent future outbreaks, add extra compost to your soil the next time you plant and/or plant lettuce in raised beds. Bottom rot is caused by a fungus that thrives in poorly drained conditions, and both compost and raised beds improve soil drainage. It also helps to reduce watering, allowing the soil surface to be slightly dry, as well as to water in the morning so plants have dried off by nightfall. Also, water remaining plants with compost tea to encourage beneficial microorganisms.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Let the soil and air warm up before planting; both should be at least 70°F/21.1°C, and nighttime temperatures should dip no lower than 60°F/15.6°C.
Give plants enough, but not too much, water for best flavor: Water if the plants wilt before midday or if the top 4"/10.2 cm of soil dries out.
Pinch off shoot tips and extra fruit starting in midsummer to direct the energy of the plants to ripening existing fruit, especially in short-season areas. Melon plants bear about six fruits per vine, maximum; large watermelons, two or three.
Q What’s the best kind of melon for a beginning gardener to try growing?
A The most popular melons to grow in backyard gardens are muskmelons — C. melo, Reticulatus group, for readers who want the proper name for these sweet treats. These range from 2–3 pounds/.9–1.4 kg and have tan, netted rinds and usually pale orange flesh. Ideally, start out with a cultivar bred for its resistance to or tolerance of diseases such as fusarium and powdery mildew. (Although muskmelons are also called cantaloupes, true cantaloupes have hard, warty-textured rinds and orange flesh.) Muskmelons mature in 70 to 80 days from transplanting. If you’d like to try some of the other types of melons, look for fast-maturing cultivars that mature in about the same number of days.
Q What about plant size? Are the bush-type plants as good as the full-size ones?
A In general, full-size or long-vined melons and watermelons produce better-quality fruit than compact or bush types. That’s because they generally have more leaves and thus more energy to produce fruit. If you have only enough room for compact or bush-type plants, don’t despair, though. Thin the fruit so that each plant bears only two melons. That ups the ratio of leaves to fruit and also helps plants yield sweeter fruit.
Compact or bush-type cultivars should be spaced about 2'/.6 m apart. Trellising is another option that works well for small-space gardens. For trellising, stick to small-fruited melons and icebox-type watermelons that produce smaller fruit — up to about 10 pounds/4.5 kg. Use strips of soft cloth to tie the vines to a sturdy trellis or fence. If you train melons on a fence, keep in mind that you’ll need to train the vines on the south-facing side of a fence that runs east and west to ensure that they’ll receive enough sunlight.
Q I live in Sacramento, California. With such a long growing season, I’d like to have some fun and experiment. What other kinds of melons can I grow?
A Gardeners in Zones 8 through 10 are the lucky ones when it comes to cultivating melons, because they have a long, warm growing season (temperatures in the 90s/32.2–37.2°C are ideal for melons and watermelons). Most commonly grown melons mature in 70 to about 80 days from transplanting; winter melons (C. melo, Inodorus group) such as casabas and crenshaws require much longer but are still easy to schedule whether you live in Sacramento or anywhere else in Zones 8 to 10. Here’s a rundown of the types of melons you may want to consider. All bear succulent, sweet-tasting fruit:
ANANAS MELONS. These oval, 2–4-pound/.9–1.8 kg melons have white flesh and a yellow-orange rind. Maturity is around 80 days from transplanting.
BUTTERSCOTCH MELONS. These are smooth-skinned melons with pale yellow-green or whitish green rinds and two-toned green and pale orange flesh. Maturity is 75 to 80 days from transplanting.
CASABA MELONS. These winter melons generally weigh 5 pounds/2.3 kg and have yellow rinds that are ribbed and rough with greenish flesh. Maturity is around 110 days from transplanting.
CHARENTAIS-TYPE MELONS. Usually weighing in at about 2 pounds/.9 kg, these have a smooth-textured gray-green rind and especially fragrant, extrasweet orange flesh. Maturity is
around 80 days from transplanting.
Charentais
CRENSHAW MELONS. A winter melon, crenshaws weigh about 6 pounds/2.7 kg and have smooth-textured, yellow-green skin and pale green or pale orange flesh. Maturity is 90 to 110 days from transplanting.
Crenshaw
HONEYDEW MELONS. A winter melon that averages about 3 pounds/1.4 kg, honeydews have smooth, pale green to white rinds and pale green flesh. Maturity is 80 days or more from transplanting.
Honeydew
OTHER TYPES. Once you’ve grown some of the most popular types, you’ll probably want to experiment even further. Look through catalogs or on the Internet a bit, and you’ll find all sorts of melons to try, including white-fleshed Asian-type melons, tennis-ball-size single-serving melons with striped or mottled rinds, and melons that look just like lemons.
Q I live near Minneapolis, Minnesota, where we have a pretty short growing season. Can I still grow melons or watermelons?
A Provided you start with a short-season or early maturing cultivar — look for a days-to-maturity rating of 70 to 75 days from transplanting — you should be able to grow a crop of either melons or watermelons. Both melons and watermelons can be grown in gardens from Zone 4 south, but to get a jump on the season, gardeners in cooler regions should plan on starting seedlings indoors and prewarming the soil with clear or black plastic for a couple of weeks before moving seedlings outdoors. Cover plants with row covers in spring to keep them warm, and leave them covered as long as possible. If it’s still chilly when the first female flowers form, remove the covers, hand-pollinate by picking a male flower and carrying the pollen to the female flower yourself, and then put the covers back in place.
Q I just moved to northern Louisiana. Can I grow watermelons here?
A Any gardeners living in Zones 8 through 10 — and that certainly includes everyone in Louisiana — have the long, hot summers that watermelons require, and it’s in the South where the walloping big ones are produced. Watermelons typically take a minimum of 70 to 85 days from transplanting, which means at least 110 days overall from seeding to ripe fruit. Gardeners farther north can still grow them, but early maturing or short-season cultivars are easier to grow.
Q I could eat melons or watermelon every day of the year! How can I spread out the harvest?
A First, it’s important to know that all of the melons on a single vine ripen at about the same time, so you need to succession plant to spread out the harvest. Plant your first crop in spring — and start early by prewarming the soil and keeping plants under row covers. Then plant another batch of melons 3 to 5 weeks later. In the South, you have time for more crops. Look at the days-to-maturity listed on the cultivar you’d like to grow, and count backward from the first fall frost date to determine planting time. (It’s best to add a couple of extra weeks to your estimate so you have plenty of time to let the fruit ripen before cold temperatures arrive.)
Wherever you garden, if you have melons ripening in late summer or fall, be sure to cover the plants on cool nights, since temperatures below 50°F/10°C will stress plants. Use a couple of sheets, old blankets, or a tarp.
Q Do I plant seeds out in the garden or start melons and watermelons indoors?
A Anywhere the growing season is long and warm — from about Zone 8 south — sow seeds outdoors directly in the garden. Elsewhere, start them indoors 3 to 4 weeks before it’s time to transplant. Either way, soak seed in compost tea for 20 or 30 minutes before sowing, and plant seeds ½"/1.3 cm deep.
Keep in mind that neither melons nor watermelons transplant well. Since smaller seedlings transplant much more reliably than larger ones, don’t start too early. Ideal transplants have only two or three true leaves, and transplants that have four or more leaves or produce any tendrils have difficulty putting down roots once they’re moved to the garden. To ensure transplants that are the right size, you may want to wait and sow them indoors about 1 week before the last spring frost date. Follow these guidelines to help them make the move with flying colors:
USE INDIVIDUAL POTS to minimize transplant stress.
SOW SEVERAL SEEDS IN EACH POT. Three-inch/7.6 cm pots are best. Peat or newspaper pots also help minimize transplant trauma.
Newspaper pots minimize transplanting stress.
SET SOWN POTS ON A HEAT MAT to maintain soil temperatures at 75°F/23.8°C.
WHEN SEEDLINGS ARE 2"/5 CM TALL, use scissors to clip off all but the strongest one in each pot.
BEGIN TO HARDEN OFF SEEDLINGS a week after the last frost date and transplant to the garden 2 to 3 weeks after the last spring frost date has passed. They’ll tolerate 60°F/15.6°C soil but really appreciate soil that is lots warmer — 85–90°F/29.4–32.2°C.
COVER SEEDLINGS WITH FLOATING ROW COVERS to keep pests at bay and give them a little protection from cool temperatures. Be sure to remove row covers when flowers appear or hand-pollinate to ensure fruit set.
Q What kind of soil prep is best?
A Melons and watermelons prefer well-drained soil that holds moisture well and is rich in organic matter. Since their roots normally reach a depth of 8"–10"/20.3–25.4 cm, dig the soil to at least 1'/.3 m — somewhat deeper than a shallow-rooted crop such as lettuce would require. Gardeners in dry areas should dig even deeper; this encourages roots to delve deeply and makes plants less susceptible to heat and drought. If you’re growing some of the longer-season melons, keep in mind that their roots can tunnel down several feet, so double-digging the soil may be worth the effort. Melons and watermelons do appreciate an extra dose of organic matter — in addition to the amount you apply annually as part of your overall soil improvement plan. Since they don’t go into the garden until late, there’s plenty of time to work 2"–3"/5–7.6 cm of well-rotted manure or compost deeply into the soil in spring before it’s time to plant. In dry regions, try to incorporate 4"–6"/10.2–15.2 cm of organic matter.
SEE ALSO: For information about double digging, pages 234–235.
Q I want to trellis my melons. What type of structure would work best?
A Try making an A-frame trellis. Use wood, bamboo stakes, PVC pipe, or galvanized pipe to create the frame, and wire-mesh fencing or sturdy wooden cross-pieces for the surface. Make individual slings to support the fruit. Slings made from old pantyhose are ideal for this purpose, since they expand as the fruit grows. Slings made of mesh bags, bird netting, or old cotton T-shirts also are suitable. Try growing lettuce or other greens underneath it during the summer months, because the shade will help them cope with heat.
A-frame melon trellis
To create an extra-special planting site for melons or watermelons, dig a hole that’s 1'/.3 m deep and 1'/.3 m wide at each spot where you are planning a hill for planting. Fill the hole with compost or well-rotted manure, then use the soil you removed to build a hill on top of the site that’s 1'/.3 m tall and 2'–3'/.6–.9 m wide. Once their roots are long enough to reach down into this special cache, your plants will appreciate the extra dose of organic matter.
Q I remember that my grandfather always planted melons in hills in his garden. Is that the best way to plant them?
A While they will grow in rows, melons and watermelons are especially happy growing in mounds of rich, loose soil amended with compost and/or well-rotted manure. Sow about six seeds per hill, then thin to the three strongest plants when they are about 2"/5 cm tall. Space hills for melons about 4'–6'/1.2–1.8 m apart. Watermelons need more room — from 6'–12'/1.8–3.7 m. Bush-type melons don’t need quite as much space: Plant them about 2'/.6 m apart. Both crops also perform well in raised beds.
If you live in a dry climate, though, digging down is the best option, since raised mounds of soil dry out more quickly. Whether you grow your melons in hills, raised beds, or sunken beds, cover the plants with floating row covers to prevent pests from attacking the plants. If you prefer to grow in rows, space seedlings 3'–4'/.9–1.2 m apart in rows that are 5'–6'/1.5–1.8 m apart.
SEE ALSO: For planting in sunken beds, page 86.
Q How much water do melons and watermelons need?
A Water crops whenever the top 3"–4"/7.6–10.2 cm of soil are dry — just stick a finger down into the soil to test for moisture. Both crops routinely wilt on hot summer afternoons, but if the plants wilt before noon, they need to be watered. While they need a steady supply of water to grow and set fruit, stop watering about 2 weeks before the fruits are ready to harvest. Holding back water at this point makes the fruits sweeter tasting.
Q My melons don’t seem to be growing as fast as my neighbors’ are. Is there anything I can do to speed them up?
A Melons appreciate amended soil, but they also benefit from feeding during the growing season. From the time transplants or seedlings begin growing vigorously until the first female flowers appear, water plants weekly with a dilute solution of fish emulsion fertilizer (1 tablespoon/14.8 ml per 1 gallon/3.8 L of water).
Q I never know when to pick my muskmelons! What’s the secret?
A Harvesting muskmelons can be tricky. Since they don’t become any sweeter after harvest (they just get softer), it’s important to pick them at the peak of ripeness, not too early or too late. Muskmelons “slip” from the vine when they’re ripe, meaning that the vine naturally detaches from the fruit. Most gardeners pick just before this — at the half-slip stage, about 2 days before full slip — to ensure that the fruit won’t be overripe. To harvest at half slip, pick when gentle pressure at the point where the vine attaches to the melon detaches it. Another clue to ripeness is the color of the melon beneath the netting on the rind. When it turns from green to paler green or yellow, the melon is probably ready.
Q What about watermelons? I’ve tried thumping, but I’m not sure what to listen for!
A Harvesting watermelons is part art and part science. They don’t become any sweeter after they’ve been picked, so it’s crucial to get them out of the garden at just the right time. If you want to try the scientific approach, mark your calendar on the day the female flowers open fully. Then count off 35 days; that’s when the fruit will be ready. Here are some other cues to ripening:
The tendril on the stem nearest the fruit dries up and turns brown.
The spot on the bottom of the fruit turns from white to yellow or creamy yellow in color. Try pressing a fingernail into the spot on the bottom of the fruit. It’s probably ripe if it doesn’t dent easily, the skin peels back easily with a little bit of scraping, and the flesh under the skin is greenish white.
The top of the watermelon turns dull in color and the contrast between the stripes diminishes. Thump your watermelon, and you should hear a deep, hollow sound.
Pay attention, and even make notes in your garden journal, and you’ll gradually become more expert at telling exactly when your watermelons reach the peak of ripeness. Cut the fruit from the plant, and leave a short stem. Pulling or yanking fruit damages the remaining vines.
Your fridge and countertops fill up quickly during harvest time, especially once tomatoes, squash, corn, and other vegetables begin to ripen. A healthy melon and watermelon crop makes the storage dilemma even more critical! Our ancestors stored all their homegrown bounty in the root cellar, which offered ideal cool (45–50°F/7.2–10°C), dark conditions, but suburban homes don’t come equipped with root cellars these days. Instead, consider setting up in a garage or basement an old refrigerator that’s used only during harvest time to keep produce. Or, if you have a cool basement, a set of metal shelving (the kind sold in home stores) makes a good temporary storage spot. A crawlspace may also provide the proper temperatures for storage: If so, add wood pallets or make a frame, and cover it with hardware cloth so you can store produce up off the floor.
Q How can I tell when honeydews, casabas, and true cantaloupes are ripe?
A Unlike muskmelons, most other melons won’t slip from the vine even when they’re fully ripe. Here are some tips to catch these crops at the peak of sweetness:
Watch the skin color. Rind color on honeydews and other melons changes when they are ripe, often to gold or white.
These melons generally have small hairs on the fruit that fall off when it’s ripe. Stroke the melon to feel for hairs. The skin should be slightly slippery and smooth.
Smell the fruit on the end where the flower was originally located. You should be able to smell the sweet, fruity fragrance.
Q What can I do to prevent melon diseases?
A Look for cultivars bred for disease resistance or disease tolerance. Powdery mildew resistance is especially important in humid areas, because infected plants produce flavorless fruit. Use soaker hoses or drip irrigation if possible when watering melons so the foliage will stay dry, since this helps cut down on diseases. A thick layer of mulch helps too, and mulch also holds weeds in check and keeps the fruits clean.
Q Help! I’ve got flowers, but I don’t see any female ones! Did I do something wrong?
A Both melons and watermelons bear male flowers first. Be patient, and you’ll eventually see female flowers, which usually follow the males by about a week and have tiny melons formed just below the base of the flower.
Q My plants each formed a dozen or more melons, but most of them shriveled up and died. Why did this happen?
A Each plant generally ripens only three to four melons, and it’s actually best to remove surplus fruit. This directs the plant’s energy into ripening only the amount of fruit the plant can support. In midsummer, remove all immature fruit and flowers to direct the plant’s energy into ripening fruit that is already growing before cool fall weather arrives.
Q Ugh. I tried to harvest my perfect-looking melons, but they’re rotted on the bottom! What can I do to keep this from happening again?
A The easiest and best way to prevent rot is to get the fruit up off the soil surface so it will stay dry. Slip a board, a flat rock, or a piece of paver under each fruit when it is about half grown. This trick also speeds ripening, especially if you choose a prop that absorbs heat during the day and releases it at night.
Ripening melon propped on a board
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Select a warm, protected site for planting.
Soak seeds overnight before sowing, or freeze them for 2 to 3 days to break the seed coat and speed germination.
Pick okra daily or every other day, about 4 days after the flowers fall, when pods are still quite small and tender.
Q I’ve never grown or eaten okra. What part of the plant do you harvest, and how do you cook it?
A Okra is one of those love-it-or-hate-it crops. It’s grown for the seedpods that follow the flowers, each of which opens for 1 day. The pods are picked in summer and are an essential ingredient in a traditional stew called gumbo. Okra pods also are served steamed or boiled, pickled, sliced, or breaded and fried. Their taste has been described as a cross between the flavors of green beans and oysters. Their texture is mucilaginous (meaning slimy).
Some gardeners also grow okra plants as an ornamental accent in a flower bed. The handsome plants bear yellow bell-shaped flowers with red centers, and the leaves are attractive, too. Plants range from 3'–6'/.9–1.8 m or more. Keep in mind that some people get a rash from working around okra’s spiny leaves. Plant a spineless cultivar or wear gloves and long sleeves when working around the plants.
okra blossom and pods
Q What are the secrets to success with okra?
A Okra plants appreciate richer soil than most vegetables, so work plenty of compost or well rotted manure into the soil, digging it in to a depth of 8"–10"/20.3–25.4 cm. Soak seed overnight in water and sow it 1"/2.5 cm deep after the soil has warmed up to at least 65°F/18.3°C. The seeds simply sit and rot if the soil is too cold, so don’t be in a rush to plant. Space seeds about 4"/10.2 cm apart in rows that are 18"/45.7 cm apart. Thin seedlings so they are 2'/.6 m apart when they’re about 8"/20.3 cm tall. Cut off the excess seedlings with scissors to minimize root disturbance to the remaining plants. Feed with a balanced organic fertilizer after thinning and again when they begin to form pods.
Q I live in Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula. Can I grow okra?
A There’s no doubt that okra is a heat-loving tropical crop, but as long as your garden is located in USDA Zone 4 or warmer, you can probably manage to fit in a crop. Look for an early- or short-season cultivar that begins to bear about 50 days from transplanting (most cultivars take 70 days to bear). A warm spot protected from winds is the best choice. It’s also best to prewarm the soil by covering it with clear or black plastic for 2 weeks before planting. Your harvest will be smaller than the bumper crops this plant produces in the South, however.
Q Can I start okra seeds inside?
A Yes, start them indoors if you live in the North or want an extra-early crop. Since okra resents transplanting, sow in individual pots 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost date. Harden off plants, and move them to the garden after all danger of frost has passed. Space plants 2'/.6 m apart.
Q How do I harvest the pods?
A Use scissors or gardening shears to cut them off when they are 2"–4"/5–10.2 cm long. Leave a short stem on each pod. Don’t wait until they get larger to harvest, because larger pods are tough. Use the pods as soon after you harvest as possible, since they decline quickly. And don’t put them in the refrigerator because the cold temperatures cause them to turn black.
Q I had flowers on my okra plants, but no pods formed. What’s up?
A While okra plants love heat, temperatures above 90°F/32.2°C can cause poor pollination and thus flowers that don’t yield pods. Wait for cooler weather to return. A few other cultural problems can cause poor pollination, including temperatures that dip below 50°F/10°C, dry soil, not enough light, and too much nitrogen.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Pay attention to regional schedules: In the South, plant short-day onions in fall; north of Zone 7, plant long-day cultivars in spring.
Start weed control early, since weedy garden invaders can quickly overtake the delicate foliage of onions and their kin.
Check your crop frequently to harvest at the right time — before the outer skins begin to break down. Dig up bulbs carefully to avoid damaging them.
Q I know that onions and garlic are related, but aren’t they grown differently?
A Onions, garlic, leeks, and chives are all alliums. While they’re not all grown exactly the same way, their cultural needs are similar. All are happiest in full sun, but they also tolerate partial shade and need similar soil conditions. The biggest difference is in the scheduling of each crop. Here are the basics on these savory crops:
CHIVES. Allium schoenoprasum. Hardy in USDA Zones 3 to 9, chives produce clumps of thin edible leaves and edible flowers as well. This easy-to-grow perennial is most commonly grown in herb and flower gardens.
GARLIC. Allium sativum. Grown primarily for its edible bulbs, garlic also produces tasty leaves that can be chopped and used like chives. The best crops of garlic are planted in fall and harvested in midsummer the following year. Plants are hardy from USDA Zones 2 to 10. Although garlic crops are typically harvested each year, they also can be left in the garden and grown as perennials as well.
LEEKS. Allium ampeloprasum, Porrum group. Another hardy onion-family plant, leeks can be grown in USDA Zones 2 to 10, although there are both hardy and nonhardy cultivars available. They’re planted in spring and harvested the same season. Leeks are biennials.
ONIONS. Allium cepa, Cepa group. Biennials that are grown as annuals, onions can be a bit confusing, since there are many different colors and kinds to choose from. They can be grown throughout North America, but planting times and cultivars vary depending on day length. They’re generally planted in spring, although in warm climates they’re grown as a winter crop. Harvest time varies depending on the size and type you are growing.
Q What kind of soil do onions and garlic need?
A All these crops produce bulbs and thrive in loose, deeply dug soil that drains well but also retains moisture. While they’ll grow in average garden soil, for best results incorporate an extra 1"–2"/2.5–5 cm layer of finished compost. Make a 4"/10.2 cm-deep furrow between your rows and sprinkle about 1 cup/.23 L of a balanced organic fertilizer along 10'/3 m of row. Cover the furrow with soil, then plant; once your onions are large enough to reach the fertilizer, it will give them a boost.
SEE ALSO: For more soil management advice, chapter 2.
Q Anything else to keep in mind when preparing the soil?
A Onions and their kin all have grassy leaves, and since they don’t shade the soil very well, weeds can become a big problem relatively quickly. Remove weed roots and shoots when you prepare soil, and especially avoid tilling grass or other weeds into the soil, because the chopped-up roots will yield many more weeds. Once plants are in the ground, a 2"–4"/5–10.2 cm layer of mulch helps suppress weeds. To avoid causing the necks of the bulbs to rot, don’t push the mulch up closely around the onion-plant stems.
Q I’ve heard that some onions are short-day onions and others are long-day onions. What does that mean?
A Onion-bulb formation is triggered by day length. Short-day onions begin to produce bulbs as soon as they start receiving about 12 hours of daylight per day. Long-day onions need 13 to 16 hours of daylight to trigger bulb formation. Gardeners in the South should grow short-day onions. Long-day onions need to be planted for summertime production in the North — although we might assume differently, summer days are longer in the northern states and Canada than they are in the South. The 35th parallel of latitude is the approximate dividing line between long-day and short-day onion growing. This line runs just south of Raleigh, North Carolina, slightly north of Little Rock, Arkansas, through Albuquerque, New Mexico and near Santa Barbara, California.
There also are intermediate-day length cultivars that can be grown in the regions in between. Keep in mind that wherever onions are growing, it’s important that plants produce plenty of foliage before they receive the trigger to start forming bulbs; otherwise, the bulbs will be puny.
Q Deciding which onions to grow seems complicated! What do I need to know?
A In addition to red, yellow, and white onions, there also are gradations of shape and flavor (from sweet to pungent). For gardeners, though, the place to start is probably based on usage — whether the onions will be put in salads, sliced for hamburgers, or stored for later use. Here are the types you’ll encounter in catalogs:
GREEN ONIONS. Also called scallions and spring onions, green onions have fleshy stems that have little or no bulb or swelling at the bottom. (Most don’t belong to A. cepa, as common kitchen onions do. They’re A. fistulosum or crosses between A. fistulosum and A. cepa.)
Green onions
STORAGE ONIONS. Not surprisingly, these are hard onions developed especially for their ability to last in storage. They have a pungent taste but actually contain more sugar than milder onions. The pungency cooks away, leaving great taste. They also become milder in storage.
Storage onion
SLICING ONIONS. These are sweet and mild tasting but have softer flesh than storage types and do not last as long in storage. They’re also called Bermuda or Spanish onions. Slicing onions are usually lighter in color than storage types.
Slicing onion
PEARL ONIONS. These are small, mild-tasting onions usually used for pickling.
Pearl onions
Q What are onion sets?
A Sets are small bulbs grown the previous year, and they produce bulbs quickly after planting, so they’re an easy option for growing a crop of onions. Garden centers and even many grocery stores sell onion sets in spring, but they usually offer only a couple of color choices. (If you live in the South, you’ll have to store sets in the refrigerator for fall planting.) Keep in mind that larger isn’t necessarily better. Sets should be no more than about ½"/1.3 cm in diameter. Larger ones are more likely to bolt, meaning they’ll go to seed rather than produce bulbs.
Starting your own onions from seed allows you a wider selection of varieties. Another option is to order onion transplants from catalogs or through the Internet (especially from onion specialists). They generally come bundled in groups, and they look like skinny scallions.
Q How do I plant sets? What about transplants?
A Plant sets or transplants 2"/5 cm deep and from 3"–6"/7.6–15.2 cm apart, depending on the final bulb size of the cultivar you are growing. Sets go in the ground pointed end up. It’s important to sort them before you plant: Discard any that are soft or have already begun to sprout, because these will likely bolt. Even if you are growing cultivars that produce large bulbs, plant them half the final recommended spacing distance, and then pull every other plant about 5 or 6 weeks later to use as green onions.
Q I live in Iowa. Should I plant onions in the spring?
A Plant onions in early spring north of USDA Zone 7. Start with sets or transplants of long-day cultivars, and set them out as soon as the soil can be worked, about 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost. The soil should be at least 40°F/4.4°C. Onions grow best when temperatures are between 55–75°F/12.7–23.8°C. Cool weather promotes healthy foliage growth. As the days grow longer, it signals the plants to start forming bulbs. At that point, the warmer the weather, the faster the bulbs grow.
SHALLOTS (Allium cepa, Aggregatum group) are an easy-to-grow gourmet treat. They’re perennials that are grown as annuals, and producing them is a snap compared to growing a crop of regular onions. Start with sets or transplants 2 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost date — or in fall if you’re located in the South. They need well-prepared moist soil, just like onions do. Space sets or transplants 6"–8"/15.2–20.3 cm apart. You can harvest the tops as you would green onions or garlic greens in 30 days by cutting a few leaves from each plant; don’t cut the new leaves, just the mature ones on the outside of the cluster. Harvest green shallots in about 45 days and mature ones in 90 to 130 days. Cure shallots by spreading them on newspaper in a dry spot out of direct sun for several days. Be sure to set aside the largest and best-quality bulbs for replanting the following year.
Shallots
SEE ALSO: For advice on soil preparation, page 316.
Q I live in South Carolina. When should I plant onions?
A In the South and Southwest, plant sets or transplants of a short-day cultivar in fall for harvest in winter or early spring. When cool winter weather arrives, mulch the plants, then uncover them in late winter or spring. You can also plant intermediate-day onions in early spring.
Q How do I grow onions from seeds?
A You can sow seeds outdoors in spring 3 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost date, but for best results start them indoors 10 to 12 weeks before the last spring frost date in pots. Sow thickly, and dust soil mix over the top of the seeds. Keep the soil moist and warm (above 65°F/18.3°C) until germination occurs. Thin or transplant to 1"/2.5 cm spacing, when the seedlings are still small. The ideal temperature for growth is 40–55°F/4.4–12.8°C, so if you can, move the pots to a cold frame. If the seedlings get too tall (about 5"/12.7 cm) use scissors to cut them back to about 3"/7.6 cm. Harden off the seedlings, and move them to the garden 2 to 3 weeks before the last spring frost date. If you want to plant onions in the fall, start seeds in late summer.
LIKE ONIONS AND GARLIC, leeks are easy to grow. They need well-prepared soil that’s deeply dug and rich in organic matter. As long as you’re following a yearly soil-improvement plan, they’ll probably do just fine. They do best in full sun but also grow in partial shade. If there’s a secret to growing top-quality leeks, it’s producing long white fleshy stems by blanching, or keeping them covered with soil. Blanching makes leeks tender and mild tasting.
There are two kinds of leek cultivars, hardy long-season ones and early or short-season types that aren’t hardy. Short-season leeks are planted in spring for harvest in summer or fall. They have a milder taste than long-season types and also don’t store as well. Long-season cultivars, which take 100 or more days to mature from transplanting, are planted in fall. They store well and also can be overwintered in the garden and harvested any time the soil isn’t frozen.
For spring planting, sow short-season leeks 8 to 10 weeks before the last spring frost date. For fall planting, sow long-season leeks 8 to 10 weeks before the first fall frost. Follow the steps on the next page for a bumper crop:
1. SOW THE SEEDS ½"/1.3 CM DEEP, and sow thickly in pots or flats, then set them on a heat mat or another spot that keeps the soil at 70°F/21.1°C.
2. TRANSPLANT SEEDLINGS TO INDIVIDUAL POTS or thin to 1"/2.5 cm apart when they are 3"/7.6 cm tall. (Deep pots, up to 6"/15.2 cm are best.) Keep them cool (60–65°F/15.6–18.3°C) until it’s time to transplant — around the last spring frost date.
3. THE EASIEST WAY TO TRANSPLANT is to use a broomstick or tool handle to poke holes in the soil — space holes 8"–10"/20.3–25.4 cm apart in rows 12"/30.5 cm apart — then stick individual leek seedlings into the holes. Set the seedlings up to the depth of their stem, just below where the leaves separate.
4. DON’T REFILL THE HOLES. Instead, water the plants gently, and let soil gradually fi ll in the hole around the seedlings. Hill up the soil a bit if too much stem seems to be exposed.
Planting a leek seedling
For fresh use in salads, begin harvesting leeks any time. For full-grown plants, wait until the stems are about 1½"/3.8 cm thick. To dig them, loosen the soil along the row and then pull the plants; otherwise, they’ll break off rather than come up. Cut off all except 2"/5 cm of leaves and store them in the refrigerator. For long-term storage, pack them in damp sand in a cold (32–40°F/0–4.4°C), dark spot.
Unlike onions and garlic, leeks keep well right in the garden for long periods if conditions are right. From the warmer portions of Zone 8 and south, you don’t even need to mulch the plants — simply harvest them as you need them. In colder areas, mulch leeks heavily when cold weather threatens in fall. To harvest, pull back the mulch and dig. From Zone 7 north, either dig the entire crop before the soil freezes or leave the plants mulched over the winter and harvest in late winter or early spring. Don’t delay once spring arrives, though, because the plants will bolt soon after they “wake up” from their winter sleep.
Q I love cooking with garlic. Do I just buy a few cloves at the grocery store and plant them?
A In most cases, garlic sold in grocery stores is treated to prevent sprouting, so you’re better off buying from a local garden center or by mail. If you are an aficionado, ordering by mail is best, since you’ll find a wealth of different cultivars to try. Or ask a friend or neighbor who already grows it to give you a few cloves to start your own patch.
Q What about starting garlic from seeds?
A Most garlic is reproduced vegetatively — that is, by dividing the bulbs — and is not grown from seed. Even the curling flower heads that some garlic bulbs produce in summer rarely produce seeds. Instead, they produce clusters of tiny bulbils, which can be saved and planted much like seeds. Bulbils take 2 years to produce bulbs large enough to use.
Q How do I decide what kinds of garlic to buy?
A While there are hundreds of cultivars, all fall into two basic types: hardneck and softneck garlic. Bulbs of hardneck garlic have a stiff stem at the center that’s surrounded by one or two rows of cloves. Each bulb produces a flowering stem in early summer that curls at the top. Softneck garlic has a soft stem in the center of the bulb. Softneck garlics store better than hardnecks, but hardneck garlics are hardier. Softneck garlic is the type to buy if you want to make garlic braids. Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum) is a type of bulbing leek that is grown like garlic.
Hardneck Softneck Elephant
Q When’s the best time to plant garlic?
A The best time to plant is in fall, about 6 weeks before the soil freezes for the winter. Depending on where you live, that could be as early as September or as late as November. The plants overwinter and are ready for harvest in midsummer the following year. Fall-planted bulbs produce a larger, better harvest than spring-planted.
A Each bulb is made up of individual cloves. Separate the cloves and plant them pointed end up. If you have more cloves than you need for planting, use the smallest ones for cooking, and plant only the biggest ones. Don’t peel the papery covering off the individual cloves before planting. From Zone 7 south, plant cloves 1"–2"/2.5–5 cm deep; set them slightly deeper in the North — from 2"–4"/5–10.2 cm. Space cloves about 5"/12.7 cm apart. (Plant elephant garlic 3"/7.6 cm deep and 8"–10"/20.3–25.4 cm apart.)
Q Once I get my onions into the garden, what problems do I have to watch out for?
A Keep after weeds, which can quickly overtake onions. If onion maggots have been a problem in previous years, cover the plants with floating row covers until they’re ready to harvest; install wire hoops to support the row covers so they won’t flatten the foliage. If the bulbs push up out of the ground, cover the tops lightly with mulch to protect them from sunscald. Give plants 1"/2.5 cm of water a week.
Q My garlic has produced curving flowering stems. What do I do with them?
A Garlic doesn’t produce pretty flowers like ornamental onions do, and many gardeners simply cut them off, because they take energy away from bulb formation. Don’t just compost them, though. Cut them while they’re still young and tender, chop them up, then mix them with olive oil. Use the mixture to flavor sauces and other foods.
Q How do I know when my onions are ready to dig?
A Begin harvesting green onions or scallions grown from sets when they’re about 6"/15.2 cm tall. On full-size onions, wait until the leaves turn yellow or brown and fall over. (If some of your onions don’t turn yellow and the leaves don’t bend over, harvest them and use them fairly quickly, because this indicates they probably won’t store well.) Once the tops are completely brown, dig or pull the onions. If you have to harvest your onion crop while some plants still have green leaves, go ahead and dig, but be aware that onions that are dug while the leaves are still green won’t store well. Spread harvested onions out and let them dry in a bright spot out of direct sun. For maximum onion storage, cure the bulbs by spreading them out on screens in a well-ventilated spot until the outer skins are papery and the tops are completely brown. Then cut off the tops and store them in a cool (35–40°F/1.7–4.4°C), dry, dark spot.
Garlic produces flat leaves, unlike the round leaves borne by chives and onions. They’re tasty, though — like mild garlic — and can be chopped and used like chives. Harvest only a couple of leaves from each plant, or your plants won’t produce very large bulbs. Or plant a separate patch of garlic for leaf production only, and you can pick all the leaves you need. Dig up the clump in midsummer to divide and replant if it becomes too crowded. Picking foliage is an option if you missed planting your fall crop for some reason — just plant your cloves in spring and pick all the leaves you like, since the spring-planted bulbs won’t enlarge much anyway without the cold treatment that overwintering in the garden supplies.
Q When should I dig garlic bulbs?
A Harvest fall-planted garlic in midsummer, when about three-quarters of the leaves have turned yellow. When digging, start at the outside of the row and dig carefully, since bulbs that are damaged by spades or digging forks won’t store well. It’s best to dig a plant or two and examine the bulbs. If the bulbs are still mostly solid and it’s hard to separate the cloves, leave them in the ground and test another plant in a week or two. Ripe bulbs should have developed skins that separate the individual cloves, but the outer skin should still be quite firm and intact. Set aside the largest cloves from your harvest, and store them for planting the following year.
Q What’s the best way to store garlic?
A All garlic needs to be cured before it can be stored. Spread freshly dug garlic plants on screens or tie them loosely in bunches and hang them. For either method, leave the roots and tops attached, and put the garlic in a warm, dark spot that has good air circulation. The bulbs should be dry in 2 or 3 weeks. After that, cut off the roots and tops, and store them in a cool (40–50°F/4.4–10°C), dry spot.
Q My onion bulbs split while they were still in the ground. What happened?
A Extremely dry soil can cause bulbs to split. For best growth, keep the soil evenly moist, but avoid sopping-wet soil. Ideally, the soil should be moist like a damp sponge that’s been wrung out. Applying a thick layer of mulch — straw or grass clippings are fine — helps keep moisture in the soil and prevents weeds.
Q My plants had loads of leaves, but they have dinky little bulbs. What’s going on?
A Onions appreciate doses of compost or a balanced organic fertilizer early on, but withhold extra fertilizer starting about 2 months before harvest. Otherwise, they’ll keep making leaves and won’t produce bulbs.
Q My onions went to seed, and they didn’t produce bulbs. What did I do wrong?
A Onions that are exposed to cold temperatures tend to bolt (go to seed). In this case, cold means a few days below 50°F/10°C or even a couple of days below 30°F/–1.1°C. Don’t be in a rush to plant if spring weather is unsettled. Onion sets that are too large also tend to bolt. When planting, sort your sets and plant the larger ones all together with the bulbs nearly touching, then harvest them as soon as they’re ready to use as green onions.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Choose a site with full sun and good air circulation.
Plant in early spring or late summer so plants can grow while the weather is cool.
Install a trellis or other supports at planting time.
Q I want to grow peas, but I’m not sure how to get started. Are snow peas and edible pod peas the same thing as regular peas (the kind I usually buy canned or frozen)?
A Peas are great garden plants, whether you choose old-fashioned shelling types or snap peas, which you eat pod and all. Growing techniques are the same whatever type of pea you decide to grow, but the timing of harvest varies. Whatever you decide to grow, be sure to choose cultivars that offer disease resistance. Here’s a rundown of types to try:
SHELLING PEAS. Also called English and green peas, these have inedible pods. Harvest when the pods are full size and the peas are round and full. Pick before the pods begin to turn yellow, or the peas will be starchy and past their prime. Baby peas, or petit pois, are small-seeded green peas. There are cultivars developed specifically to be harvested as petit pois, but any pea that’s picked early can be used this way.
SNOW PEAS. Also called sugar or Chinese peas, these should be picked when the edible pods are large and flat, but before the peas inside them have begun to swell.
SNAP PEAS. The newest crop in the pea lineup, these originated as a cross between shelling and snow peas. They bear crisp pods and sweet peas, both of which are edible. They are sweetest when the peas inside the pods are round and full.
DRY PEAS. These are left in the field until the pods are brown, then are shelled, dried, and stored. They’re also known as soup or field peas.
SEE ALSO: To learn about other types of crops that are sometimes called peas, pages 187–188.
Q I know that peas should be planted early, but how early?
A The standard recommendation — to plant as soon as the soil can be worked in spring — can be confusing. In general, sow seeds about 5 weeks before the last frost date for your area. They’ll germinate, albeit slowly, in 40°F/4.4°C soil but may rot at lower temperatures. Seeds germinate quicker in 50–60°F/10–15.6°C soil. For extra-early planting, warm the soil by covering it with black-plastic mulch for 2 weeks before planting.
Q What’s the best way to plant peas?
A Soak pea seeds in compost tea for 20 minutes before planting, and set seeds 1" - 2"/2.5–5 cm deep and 2"–3"/5–7.6 cm apart in a prepared garden bed or row. Space rows 3'/.9 m apart or plant two rows 6"–8"/15.2–20.3 cm apart with strings or light trellises running down the center. Don’t worry about thinning, since peas don’t mind crowding. Mulch plants when they are about 3"/7.6 cm tall to keep the soil cool.
A Peas have tendrils, which attach themselves to strings, small-gauge wire, netting, and each other. Climbing or vining peas definitely need a trellis or strings to climb on. They make efficient use of garden space and can climb to 8'/2.4 m. A narrow A-frame trellis made from 2×2s/38×38 mm and strung with twine or covered with netting works well.
Dwarf types actually benefit from some support to keep the pods up off the ground. Stick pea stakes — pieces of twiggy brush — along the row, or consider installing short trellises along the rows.
A-frame trellis to support pea netting
Q I’m growing bush-type peas and beans this year. Is there an easy way to stop the plants from flopping all over the place?
A One of the simplest methods is to use pea stakes, which are nothing more than short lengths of twiggy brush. Cut pieces that are perhaps 3'/.9 m long with a straight, unbranched section (about l’/.3 m long) at the base and a branched top. Stick them in the ground along the row. The peas or beans will grow up among the branches of the brush, which keeps them upright.
Pea brush
Q One spring crop of peas isn’t enough! How can I keep them coming?
A To spread out the harvest, plant new crops every 10 days as long as the plants will mature before summer time temperatures get too high. In warmer climates or for crops that mature in summer, plant heat-tolerant cultivars. Or grow both short- and long-season cultivars.
Peas are also a terrific fall crop. Plant 6 to 8 weeks before the first fall frost, although daytime temperatures may still be above 80°F/26.6°C. To help seedlings cope with the heat, plant them in some shade — ideally in the shade of a crop that will be removed around the last frost date, leaving your pea crop in full sun. Also, water regularly to cool the soil. In areas with mild winters, sow in fall for late winter to very early spring harvest. Keeping plants cool is crucial. Try planting them in the shade of pole beans, corn, or tomatoes, all cold-sensitive crops that will be finished before peas are ready to bear. Deep planting may help protect seeds from heat as well. Plant the seeds in 6"/15.2 cm-deep trenches, but cover them with only 2"/5 cm of soil. Gradually fill in the trench with more soil as the seedlings grow.
The tendrils from vining peas are great for adding to stir-fry dishes or salads, as are the fresh young shoots. Pick tendrils from the top 8"/20.3 cm of the plant. Flowers from garden peas (Pisum sativum) are edible, too. Note, though, that flowers and seeds from sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are poisonous and should never be eaten or used to garnish a dish.
Q Help! Something pulled up my pea plants!
A Birds will pull up pea plants to get at the seeds. Cover new plantings with bird netting to protect the seedlings.
Q My peas never germinated. What happened?
A Peas like cool temperatures and cool soil, but they don’t like cold, wet soil. Make sure your soil has plenty of organic matter and is well drained. Check the soil temperature, then try again once it’s a little warmer. If your soil tends to be wet, try planting peas in raised beds. Some gardeners also swear by starting seeds indoors on damp paper towels, then planting them outdoors 3 or 4 days after they’ve germinated.
SEE ALSO: For more on pregermination, pages 28–29.
Q My plants aren’t producing. What’s going on?
A Hot temperatures or too much rain can cause pea flowers and pods to drop. Wait until adverse weather conditions change, and plants will resume blooming. If hot summer has arrived, however, it’s time to replace pea plants with crops that are more heat tolerant. If vines are dark green and healthy but aren’t producing flowers or pods, it’s a sign that the soil is too rich in nitrogen. Peas can fix their own, and high-nitrogen fertilizers encourage foliage, not flowers.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Wait until the soil is at least 65°F/18.3°C before transplanting peppers into the garden.
Keep the soil evenly moist for best pepper production. For best flavor cut back slightly on watering as fruits mature.
For the biggest crop, pick peppers before they’re ripe, just as they’re turning their final color, and let them ripen indoors.
Q I’ve never had good luck with peppers. What do they need to produce a really great crop?
A Like many vegetables, peppers need full sun as well as warmth and good soil to grow really well. Here are the basics for keeping them happy:
ADD ORGANIC MATTER. Peppers don’t need extremely rich soil, and if you follow an annual soil improvement plan for your entire garden, that should be enough. If your soil isn’t as rich as you would like it to be, add a generous shovelful of compost to each planting hole. Ideal pH is near neutral, or 6.7 to 7.0.
GIVE ’EM GOOD DRAINAGE. Adding organic matter to your soil gives peppers the drainage they prefer. If your soil is clayey or often wet in spring, it’s best to plant peppers in raised beds filled with soil that has been amended with organic matter.
WARM THINGS UP. A couple of weeks before pepper-planting time, cover the soil with black- or clear-plastic mulch to prewarm it to the proper temperature for transplants.
WAIT ’TILL IT’S TOASTY. Don’t move peppers to the garden until the soil is at least 65°F/18.3°C. While transplants may survive cooler conditions, they will sit and do nothing and may not recover. Exposure to cool temperatures can affect growth the entire season, and transplants you move later will beat ones exposed to cold every time.
Q How long does it take to grow a crop of peppers?
A That depends on what cultivars you plant and whether you want to harvest when the fruit is green or when it’s fully ripe. Sweet bell peppers begin producing green fruit that’s ready for harvest in 50 to 60 days from transplanting. They’ll have ripe fruit, which can be red, orange, or yellow and even purple or chocolate brown, in about 80 days from transplanting. Most other peppers have a similar timetable, but some peppers, such as ‘Habanero’, need as much as 100 days to produce ripe, red fruit.
WANT A LITTLE BITE FROM YOUR PEPPERS, but not too much? In the past, fruit shape was a pretty good indicator of heat — if a pepper was tiny, or long and thin, chances are it would be a hot pepper. Now, though, there are mild cultivars of traditionally hot peppers like jalapeños and chiles, so the best way to choose is to read descriptions carefully in catalogs or on labels. Look for rating scales like mild, hot, and very hot.
Another way to judge a pepper is by looking at its Scoville rating. Most peppers contain a compound called capsaicin, which is what gives them their spiciness: the more capsaicin, the hotter the pepper. Inside hot peppers, the capsaicin is concentrated in the tissues around the seeds. (Sweet bell peppers contain no capsaicin.) Chemist Wilbur Scoville developed a rating scale based on Scoville Heat Units (SHU) that grades peppers on the amount of capsaicin they contain and thus how hot they really are.
Sweet bell rates 0 on the SHU scale.
Chili powder rates 500–1,000 SHUs.
Mild jalapeños range from 2,500–5,000 SHUs.
Commercial Tabasco sauce rates 5,000–15,000 SHUs.
‘Cayenne Long’ hot peppers rate 30,000–50,000 SHUs.
‘Habanero’ and ‘Scotch Bonnet’ peppers both rate an astounding 100,000–500,000 SHUs.
Q I live in southern Georgia. Is summertime the only season I can grow peppers?
A Yes. Peppers need summer heat in order to successfully produce a crop. Gardeners in warm climates like yours — Zones 8 to 10 — can plant a second crop of peppers from late June into July for harvest in the fall. Gardeners in most regions can plant pepper transplants out in the garden up to 3 months before the first fall frost.
Q What’s the best way to start the seeds?
A For best results, start pepper seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last spring frost date. Sow three to four seeds per pot, and give them bottom heat from a heat mat or other source. Once seeds germinate, keep them in bright light in a warm spot (70°F/21.1°C, 65°F/18.3°C at night). Thin seedlings when they have about two sets of true leaves by cutting off all but the strongest seedling in each pot.
A Okay, I gave my peppers everything — good soil, warm temperatures — and they just didn’t produce last year or even grow much. Any ideas?
A Pepper plants are more subject to transplant shock than many other vegetables, and a little mishandling can compromise your entire season’s harvest. Keep the following points in mind.
CONSIDER USING PEAT POTS to minimize shocks to the root systems. Be sure to pull off the top portion of the pot when transplanting, because if it sticks out above the soil, it will wick away water.
WATER TRANSPLANTS with lukewarm water.
BEGIN HARDENING OFF SEEDLINGS a week before transplant time.
BE SURE TO PINCH OFF any small fruits that form before transplanting.
TRANSPLANT TO THE GARDEN 2 to 3 weeks after the last spring frost date once temperatures are consistently warm, spacing the plants 14"–16"/35.6–40.6 cm apart. If possible, transplant on a cloudy or rainy day.
PROTECT TRANSPLANTS in sunny weather with an upturned bushel basket or other cover for the first four days outside.
WATER them in with compost tea.
Q We’re going to have a cold snap tonight! How can I protect my pepper plant?
A Peppers don’t tolerate chilly temperatures, during the daytime or at night. Whenever cool weather threatens, protect plants with cloches, row covers, or hot caps. If you’re using cages to stake your plants, you can wrap them in plastic or sections of row covers. Whatever type of protection you’re using, leave it in place until the weather stabilizes and is consistently warm.
SEE ALSO: For more on protective devices, including some you can make yourself, page 55.
Q Do peppers need staking?
A Pepper plants do benefit from staking, especially once they’re weighted down with ripening fruit. While you can use conventional stakes (4'/1.2 m tall) next to each plant, small-size tomato cages offer an especially easy way to cage plants. Whether you use stakes or cages, install support systems when you move transplants to the garden to minimize disturbance to the roots after they’ve become established.
Staking peppers
Q How about food and water? Should I feed peppers?
A For the biggest crops, sidedress peppers with a balanced organic fertilizer once when the plants begin to flower and again 3 weeks later. After that, they should be fine with the compost you added at planting time. Peppers require evenly moist soil to produce fruit, so water regularly throughout the summer to keep the soil from drying out.
Q How do I tell when peppers are ready to harvest?
A Peppers can be harvested when they’re green or left on the plant to ripen and turn color. Pick sweet bell peppers as soon as they’re large enough to use, or wait until about two-thirds of the fruit has turned its final color. Hot peppers don’t develop their fire until they have fully turned color, although you can harvest them for milder heat as soon as they’re large enough to use.
With peppers, the more you pick, the more your plants will produce, so harvesting early and often is the best course of action.
Q What’s the best way to pick them?
A Since pepper stems are brittle, it’s easy to break off branches or otherwise damage the plants if you try to pull off the fruits at harvest time. Instead, use scissors or garden shears to cut cleanly through the stem near the top of the fruit.
Q Ouch! I didn’t wear gloves! What can I do to stop the burning after I cut up hot peppers?
A If you’ve ever cut up hot peppers, you’ve no doubt discovered one important-to-remember fact about capsaicin: It isn’t easy to wash off. Here are some home remedies to keep in mind if you forget and cut hot peppers without protection.
WASH THE AREA with milk.
TRY WASHING with automotive waterless hand cleaner, vegetable oil, or tomato juice.
DIP HANDS IN RUBBING ALCOHOL, then coat them with an ointment like Bag Balm.
SOME GARDENERS RECOMMEND using evaporated milk, full strength, for washing or drinking to cool internal burns.
COAT BURNING HANDS with yogurt.
WASH HANDS THOROUGHLY with dish soap, dry them, and then rinse with lemon juice.
SOAK HANDS in ice water.
Q What precautions should I take when cutting hot peppers?
A To protect your hands, wear gloves when cutting up peppers — surgical gloves provide good protection, as do rubber gloves. Never touch your face, and especially your eyes, when cutting up hot peppers. Also, remember that the juice (and thus the capsaicin that causes irritation) will end up on the rubber gloves, the knife, and the cutting board. If you do get hot pepper juice in your eyes, call your doctor or local poison-control center. For mild exposure try running water into your eyes for several minutes, and then douse them with a moisturizing tears product.
Q We’re expecting an early cold snap. Is there anything I can do to protect my crop? I’m not ready to harvest them just yet.
A If temperatures are going to dip below 55°F/12.8°C, protect your crop with a double layer of row covers. Ideally drape one layer directly on the plants and suspend the other over hoops. If temperatures are going to drop much below 50°F/10°C, harvest the entire crop.
Double row cover protector
Q It’s summertime, and my garden is located outside Atlanta, Georgia. My peppers are blooming, but they don’t seem to be producing any fruit. What’s wrong? Do I need bees to get fruit?
A Peppers are self-pollinating, so you don’t need to worry about whether or not bees have been visiting your plants. They do stop bearing fruit during the summertime when daytime temperatures exceed 85–90°F/29.4–32.2°C. (Temperatures under 60°F/15.6°C can cause the same problem.) This is especially an issue with larger-fruited cultivars; some smaller-fruited peppers bear right through bouts of torrid weather. Keep your plants well watered, and wait a few weeks. You’ll undoubtedly see fruit forming once slightly cooler weather arrives.
Q The fruits on my pepper plants have sunken patches on their upper shoulders that aren’t as brightly colored as the rest of the fruit. I don’t see any bugs, though. What could be the problem?
A Sunscald causes this kind of damage on peppers, and it’s especially problematic during very hot summer weather. In warm-climate gardens, locate midsummer pepper crops where they’ll be shaded somewhat by taller nearby crops. A spot that receives afternoon shade is ideal. Also, take steps to control leaf diseases and keep plants fed and watered, since a thick canopy of foliage protects fruit from sunscald.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Plant in full sun and well-drained soil.
Mulch plants to control weeds and to keep the soil moist and relatively cool.
Harvest new potatoes when flowers appear on the plants; dig the main crop about 2 weeks after the tops die back.
Q What do I need to know to choose the best kind of potatoes to grow in my garden?
A While grocery stores and garden centers may offer a few types of potatoes for planting in spring, you’ll find a wider variety if you order by mail or over the Internet. Ordinary white potatoes, sometimes called Irish potatoes, are good all-purpose spuds for adding to soups or for making potato salad. They have a medium starch content, while russet potatoes have a higher starch content and are better for baking or mashing. Red potatoes generally have red skins and white flesh and also are good for all-around use. If you’d like to try growing something unusual, look for gold-fleshed cultivars such as ‘Yukon Gold’, as well as spuds with red flesh and purple flesh. Fingerling potatoes are small and relatively thin, and feature thin skin, a waxy texture, and great taste.
Cultivars are generally divided according to the length of the growing season, so you’ll see the designations “early,” “midseason,” and “late” in descriptions. Early cultivars are ready for harvest about 65 days after planting. They’re not good for storing and are at their best if eaten fairly quickly after harvest. Midseason cultivars are ready to dig from about 80 days onward, while late-season potatoes take 90 days or more. Both mid- and late-season potatoes tend to be better candidates for storage. Also look for disease resistance when picking out spuds for your garden, and always purchase certified disease-free seed potatoes.
Q Do I start my potato crop from seed?
A To grow potatoes, you’ll start by planting small potato tubers or pieces of tuber referred to as “seed potatoes.” Many mail-order suppliers cut seed potatoes into the proper size for planting. If you get larger tubers for planting, cut them into pieces the day before planting so the cut surfaces have time to dry before being put in contact with the soil. Each piece of tuber should have at least two buds, or eyes, and in general, the pieces should be about 1½–2 ounces/44.4–59.2 ml, or about 1"-l¼"/2.5–3.2 cm in diameter. Plant very small seed potatoes (under 1½ ounces/42.5 gm) whole. Always start with certified disease-free seed potatoes, since a number of diseases are spread by infected tubers.
Cutting a seed potato
Q Can’t I just buy the regular potatoes that are sold in the grocery store and cut those up?
A Most potatoes sold in grocery stores have been treated to prevent sprouting, making them worthless for cutting up and planting in the garden. In addition they may carry disease organisms in the tuber that could ruin your crop. In the spring, some stores carry seed potatoes especially for planting, however, and these are fine for using in your garden.
Q My seed-potato order arrived, but I can’t plant them yet. What should I do?
A Healthy seed potatoes are fleshy, and it’s important to store them properly. Keep them in the refrigerator or a cool (40–50°F/4.4–10°C) dark spot until you are ready to plant.
Although tubers form below the surface of the soil, they’re actually modified plant stems, not roots. When seed potatoes sprout, they send conventional stems up toward the soil surface. Above ground, these stems produce green foliage. Roots branch off the stems and head downward into the soil. Long underground shoots, called stolons, also branch off from the stems and stretch out horizontally through the soil. The stolons may extend 1'/.3 m or more away from the stem. Tubers form on these stolons. Hilling or mulching potatoes expands the potential area through which stolons can spread and thus creates the potential for more and larger tubers to form.
Q How early can potatoes go into the ground?
A Plant seed potatoes 2 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost date. Wait to plant if the soil is too wet to work or is cooler than 40°F/4.4°C. Otherwise, the potatoes tend to rot rather than grow. Don’t worry too much if frost threatens after you plant: Even though aboveground shoots are killed by light frost, new sprouts will emerge in about 2 weeks. Continue planting new crops every few weeks until about 3 months before the first fall frost.
Q I live in Alabama. Can I still grow potatoes? I understand they don’t like hot weather, and we certainly have plenty of that!
A Since potatoes don’t appreciate hot weather (temperatures over 90°F/32.2°C), plan on spring and fall potato crops. In Zones 7 and 8 get them out early in spring — from February into March — so the plants can mature in cool spring weather. You also probably have time to grow an early-season cultivar if you plant outside in April. Plant another crop in fall toward the end of September, and plan on harvesting your potatoes in December or January. In Zone 9 along the Gulf Coast, plant in fall for harvest the following spring. In the Southwest, plant anytime from late fall to winter for harvest in early spring.
Q How about adding manure to make the soil really rich?
A Overfeeding potatoes can lead to cultural problems such as hollow heart, which causes tubers to have a hollow cavity in the center. Using manure in the soil isn’t a good idea, since too much manure can lead to a disease called potato scab. Instead, depend on compost or a balanced organic fertilizer product, or grow and dig in a cover crop that adds nitrogen to the soil, such as alsike clover, Austrian winter peas, berseem clover, cowpeas, or clover.
Q On a seed potato, which end is up?
A Plant seed potatoes with the cut side down. The eyes should point up, since they produce the stems that grow toward the soil surface.
Q So, do I bury my seed potatoes? If so, how deep?
A After amending the soil and loosening it to a depth of 1'/.3 m, plant seed potatoes 2"–3"/5–7.6 cm deep. Space them about 1'/.3 m apart or grow them in wide rows with plants spaced 1½'/.45 m on all sides. Leave 3'/.9 m between rows or beds. Cover the seed potatoes by pulling a couple of inches of loose soil over the top of them with a hoe. You’ll see sprouts in 2 to 3 weeks; sooner in warmer weather. When the plants are 6"–8"/15.2–20.3 cm tall, cover them again with loose mulch or soil. You can use compost, compost and soil, straw, leaves, or any combination thereof. Don’t cover the foliage at the top of each plant, so it has access to light and can make food. Continue hilling up more mulch or soil as the plants grow until the hills are at least a foot tall. The objective is to encourage the plants to produce long stems and thus more stolons and more potatoes. It’s also important to keep the developing potatoes covered so they are not exposed to sunlight.
Q What about watering? Do I need to worry about it?
A Potatoes are mostly water, and if the soil is too dry, they won’t develop properly. Keep the soil evenly moist from the time the foliage is fully developed until it begins to turn yellow. After that, the tubers have formed and may rot if the soil stays too wet.
COLORADO POTATO BEETLES ARE A MAJOR PEST potatoes, and unfortunately, they don’t limit themselves to living in Colorado — these pesky beetles range throughout most of the United States and Canada. Cover plants with floating row covers to hold them — as well as other pests like aphids and leafhoppers — at bay. The covers should be loose, so the plants have room to grow, but be sure to pile soil or place boards all along the edges to prevent bothersome pests from crawling in under them. (Be sure to check under the row covers early on to make sure no beetles happened to emerge right where you planted your potatoes. Otherwise, they’ll go to town!) Another way to keep damage to a minimum is to time plantings. The beetles are most active in summer, so growing a quick early spring crop and a second crop from late summer into fall helps avoid serious damage.
Larva
Colorado potato beetle
Q I have potatoes growing right on top of the soil! They’ve developed a greenish color. Is that okay?
A Potatoes that are exposed to sunlight form an excess of a compound called solanine, which is poisonous and makes the tubers taste bitter. Block sunlight by hilling the base of the plants well with mulch, straw, soil, or other organic matter. This not only prevents the formation of solanine, it also encourages the main stem of the plants to elongate and encourages more side shoots, and thus potatoes, to form.
Q Are new potatoes a special kind of potato? When do I harvest them?
A New potatoes are young tubers harvested early from any kind of spud you grow. Begin looking for new potatoes as soon as the plants begin to flower. Harvest by gently brushing away the hill of mulch and soil from around the plants and picking tubers that are large enough to use. Or you can dig an entire plant.
Q When do I harvest mature potatoes?
A Watch the plants: When the foliage begins to turn yellow, the tubers are full size, and you can dig them. Dig all the tubers if they mature when the weather is warm or rainy. Fall crops can be left in the ground until just before the first frost.
Q My potato plants aren’t turning yellow, but I want to dig them soon. What should I do?
A If you need to dig your spuds to fit in another crop, or because the end of the season is near but they don’t seem to know it, cut the tops off, then wait about 2 weeks before digging. The delay helps the tubers harden, which prolongs storage.
Q Is there a best way to dig potatoes?
A Use a spading fork, and lift the plants by digging along the edge of the row. Try to avoid damaging any of the tubers, but if you do nick some of them, use them right away, since they won’t store well. To store undamaged tubers, brush off the loose soil but do not wash them, and spread them in a dark place at about 40°F/4.4°C. Potatoes can be stored for several weeks at that temperature, but if you don’t have a spot that cool, they’ll keep at room temperature for a couple of weeks. Don’t store them in the refrigerator, because cooler temperatures cause starches in the tubers to turn to sugar, resulting in a sweeter taste.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Use row covers to control insect pests, but remove the covers when plants begin to flower to ensure pollination.
Don’t rush to plant squash: Wait until the soil is at least 60°F/15.6°C. Use black plastic mulch to warm the soil and speed up plant growth.
Harvest zucchini and summer squash, every 2 or 3 days, when the fruits are about 6"/15.2 cm long for best flavor and tenderness.
Q What’s the difference between the squash and zucchini you can pick in the summer and the kind of squash that isn’t ready until fall?
A ASquash that are harvested during the summertime — including yellow squash, green-skinned zucchini, and patty-pan types, which look something like miniature flying saucers — are collectively referred to as summer squash. They’re all grown the same way and are harvested when the fruit is small and still has a thin, tender skin. They’re eaten raw or cooked and have a mild flavor. Winter squash come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors, including small, 2-pound/.9- kg ribbed acorn squashes, large pear-shaped butternuts, and huge 12–15-pound/5.4–6.8-kg Hubbards with bumpy, gray-green skins. Pumpkins are winter squashes as well. Just as with summer squash, the winter types are all grown the same way but are always cooked before they’re eaten. Flavor varies, and winter squashes are usually described as sweet or very sweet and nutty tasting, although some are simply used ornamentally for fall displays. They are harvested when the squash is mature and the skins hard, although some cultivars also can be picked when still immature and used as summer squash.
Patty-pan squash
Zucchini
Butternut squash
Acorn squash
Hubbard squash
Q Are pumpkins a type of squash?
A Yes, pumpkins are a type of winter squash and are grown the same way. Some types of pumpkins are best suited for carving because they have thinner walls and a more uniform surface. Others have thick walls and sweet flesh for baking. Still others serve well for both purposes.
Squash and pumpkin plants are typically large vines that can cover a good deal of ground, but breeders have developed more compact cultivars for smaller modern-day gardens. Today, most gardeners grow bush-type cultivars for their summer squash crop, because the plants are extremely productive and a couple of plants produce all a family can eat. You’ll still find that most winter squash is produced on full-size vines, but today there also are bush-type cultivars available as well. In addition, there are two other sizes that fall between vine- and bush-type plants: semibush and semivining. Select the size that matches your available garden space most effectively.
Q I want to bake pumpkin pies. What kind of pumpkin should I plant?
A For best results, start with a cultivar developed for cooking, not carving. Most baking-type pumpkins belong to C. moschata. They have thick, sweet-tasting, finely grained flesh and weigh from 5–10 pounds/2.3–4.5 kg. Read catalog descriptions and look for cultivars that describe the taste, color, and thickness of the flesh. ‘New England Pie’ is a classic pie pumpkin, but there are many others, including heritage cultivars.
Q What about pumpkins for carving?
A Jack-o’-lantern, or carving-type, pumpkins have been developed primarily for their symmetrical shape and their thinner — and thus easier-to-carve — flesh. Carving pumpkins look like baking types but actually usually belong to a different species, C. pepo. Keep in mind that while they are completely edible, in most cases you’ll bake better pies from cultivars developed specifically for the taste and texture of their flesh.
Q I want to grow minipumpkins. How much space will they need?
A Most minipumpkins are produced on full-size vines, so they need just as much space as any other kind of pumpkins. If you want something more compact, read cultivar descriptions, looking for the term “semibush” (‘Wee-B-Little’ is an example).
Q My family loves pumpkin seeds. Can we eat seeds from any kind of squash?
A Yes, squash and pumpkin seeds are edible. To prepare them, first clean the stringy flesh off the seeds (do this manually, and don’t wash them, because it destroys the flavor). To roast them, preheat your oven to 300°F/149°C. Spread them out on a baking pan, drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle them with salt. Toast for about 30 minutes, stirring periodically. Take them out when they turn light brown. Or first boil the seeds for about 10 minutes in lightly salted water, then spread a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a baking pan and toast them until they are lightly browned — about 20 minutes — at 300°F/149°C. You can eat the seeds whole, hull and all, or crack them to remove the inside. Better yet, try growing a hull-less, also called naked-seeded, pumpkin, which produces pumpkin seeds that have paperlike hulls.
START BY CHOOSING A CULTIVAR known for producing giants. ‘Atlantic Giant’ and other really whopping-big pumpkins are actually neither jack-o’-lantern nor pie pumpkins; they belong to Cucurbita maxima. Once you’ve picked out which cultivar you’re going to grow, here’s what you need to do to grow a giant:
START SEEDS INDOORS. Growing transplants gives your pumpkins an extra head start. Thin to one plant per pot.
PREPARE A RICH GARDEN SPOT. Give each plant a 5'x10'/1.5x3 m bed (about 50 square feet/4.7 sq m) and work 5 bushels (40 gal/176 L) of organic matter into the soil; a mix of compost and well-rotted manure is ideal.
BABY TRANSPLANTS. Transplant once the weather has settled, and use row covers to minimize stress.
HAND-POLLINATE FOR EARLIEST FRUIT SET. Pick a male blossom and move its pollen to a female flower, which will have a tiny, preformed pumpkin at the base of the flower.
KEEP PLANTS FED AND WATERED. Feed plants every 2 weeks with high-nitrogen fertilizer, and water regularly.
THIN TO ONE FRUIT PER PLANT. Once fruit has set, remove all but one pumpkin so that all of the plant’s energy is directed into producing a giant. Also, remove any other flowers that form.
Q How should I prepare the soil for my squash patch?
A Both squash and pumpkins grow well in ordinary garden soil. Follow your annual care schedule for adding organic matter, and they’ll be satisfied. If you are growing them in an area outside the vegetable garden because of their large size, incorporate plenty of organic matter 2 or 3 weeks before planting — well-rotted manure and/or compost are ideal. The roots travel fairly far in search of moisture and nutrients, so incorporate organic matter and loosen the soil over a wide area.
Q Can I just plant pumpkin and squash seeds outside, or do I need to start them indoors?
A Pumpkins and squash can be planted directly outside beginning about 2 weeks after the last spring frost date. If you want an extra-early start or live in an area with a fairly short growing season, sow seeds indoors a week before the last spring frost date. It’s important not to start too soon, because the seedlings grow quickly, and smaller plants are best for transplanting. Sow seeds in individual 3"–4"/7.6–10.2 cm pots a week before the last spring frost date, and you’ll have transplants ready to move to the garden 2 weeks after the last frost. Be sure to harden off seedlings beginning a week before they’re scheduled to be planted outdoors. Ideally, you want to transplant no more than a few days after the first true leaf appears. If your seedlings get to this point, and you can’t transplant because the weather is still too cool, move seedlings to larger pots so their growth won’t be checked.
Q Are there any special planting techniques that ensure successful outdoor sowing?
A Try these tricks for a top-notch crop of squash:
1. Prepare planting hills before you’re ready to sow; you can build them several weeks before the last spring frost if you have the time.
2. Wait to plant seeds until the soil temperature is at least 60°F/15.6°C, because pumpkin and squash seeds won’t germinate in cool soil.
3. Soak seeds in compost tea for about 15 minutes before you sow — studies have shown that this improves germination — and water the hills before sowing if the weather has been dry.
4. Plant the seeds 1"/2.5 cm deep, then mulch the soil with grass clippings or chopped leaves to keep it from crusting.
Q Is there any advantage to planting more than one crop of winter squash?
A Yes. Starting more than one crop of winter, as well as summer, squash buys you some insurance against pests and diseases. If you plant more than one crop, or transplant and direct-sow on the same day, one group of plants may miss the main flush of cucumber beetles or other pests for the year.
Q How much space do I need to grow pumpkin and squash vines?
A Spacing isn’t an exact science with squash, especially since the vines can travel 15'/4.6 m and even bush-type squash plants can spread to 5'/1.5 m. Fortunately, the plants mix together quite happily in the garden provided they have rich soil to sink their roots into. For vining types especially, look for a spot where you can give them a bed of prepared soil for planting alongside plenty of room to let the vines wander widely.
Q Does growing squash and pumpkin plants in hills change their spacing requirements?
A You’ll need to adjust the spacing according to the size of the plants you’re growing. Space the hills for vining types from 3'/.9 m to as much as 8'/2.4 m apart. Space hills for bushy cultivars 2'–4'/.6–1.2 m apart. (While they don’t reach quite the size vining types do, they still are not small plants.) Space semivining squash slightly closer, from 3'–4'/.9–1.2 m apart. Don’t be tempted to crowd your plants, because crowded squash and pumpkins are more subject to diseases, especially in areas with humid, rainy summers.
Q I live on the edge of a suburban area near Columbus, Ohio, and I don’t have room for pumpkins in my main vegetable garden. Can I grow them somewhere else?
A Build planting hills on the edge of your property, then just let them ramble. Squash and pumpkins also are very happy growing on top of a finished compost pile. Plant a few seeds in the top, and they’ll give it a decorative cover of rich green throughout the summer, plus a bumper crop!
Both pumpkins and squash can be trained to grow up a sturdy fence or trellis. Choose mini- or at least small-fruited pumpkins, as well as small winter squash, such as acorn types. Be sure you have a sturdy fence, with steel or well-set wooden posts. An A-frame trellis is another good option. Be sure to locate trellises so they will not shade the rest of your garden. You’ll need to support each fruit with a sling made of old pantyhose, T-shirt fabric, or other stretchy material. Tie slings to the trellis to keep the fruit from weighing down the vines, and check the slings periodically to make sure they don’t get too tight.
SEE ALSO: For an illustration of supports for trellis-grown crops, page 302.
Q Do seedlings and transplants need special care?
A Both squash and pumpkins are easy to establish. It’s a good idea to water the soil before sowing or transplanting, but mainly they require row covers to keep cucumber beetles and squash bugs at bay. Have covers ready and waiting to cover seedlings as soon as they sprout or transplants as soon as you move them to the garden. (Row covers also hold in some heat and provide a bit of protection for transplants from cool, breezy weather.) Tuck in the edges of the row covers all around with soil to be sure insects can’t get through, but leave enough slack to allow for growth. You’ll need to pull back covers to thin the seedlings if you have direct-sown your crop. In addition, since bees and other insects are required for pollination, you’ll need to remove row covers once the plants begin flowering.
As winter squash and pumpkins spread, cover the vines with moist soil at the leaf nodes — the point where a leaf stem joins the main stem of the vine. This encourages additional roots to form at the nodes, which help support the ripening fruit. It also helps plants survive even when they’re invaded by squash-vine borers: The borers disrupt the flow of water and nutrients from the central root system, but the new roots can continue to supply the foliage and ripening fruit.
Q Do I really have to thin my squash plants? All of the seedlings look so healthy!
A Yes, thinning is necessary to raise a healthy crop, whether you have sown seeds indoors or out. Thin your pumpkin and squash plants to two plants per hill once they have at least one true leaf. Thin pot-grown plants to one plant per pot at the same time.
Q Do plants need feeding beyond the initial soil prep?
A With good soil prep, squash and pumpkin plants grow fine with minimal feeding. You can sidedress the plants with compost or well-rotted manure (for winter squash and pumpkins only) at the time that the first fruit sets. Or douse plants every other week with compost tea. Keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy or wet. Squash and pumpkins need from 1"–2"/2.5–5 cm of water a week, especially once they begin flowering and setting fruit.
Q My zucchini are as big as baseball bats! When should I pick them?
A Early and often is the best motto for harvesting summer squash. While zucchini and yellow summer squash will grow to humongous proportions, they are best picked when small, about 6"/15.2 cm long. The outer skin should be glossy and tender; you should be able to cut into it easily with a fingernail. Harvest patty-pan-type squash when it is about 4"/10.2 cm in diameter. Pick summer squash every 2 or 3 days; wait much more than that, and you’ll have a few baseball bats waiting for you among the garden rows. (Large summer squash become woody, and less tasty — another reason to harvest early.) Frequent harvest also keeps plants producing. To increase storage life, leave a 1"–2"/2.5–5 cm-long stem on each fruit when you cut it from the plants.
Q Last summer, I picked what seemed like a bushel of zucchini and summer squash every other day. What can I do this year to spread out the summer-squash crop?
A For one thing, start with fewer plants: Two plants per family member will produce a big crop. To spread out the harvest, start half your crop from transplants and then direct-sow seed for the rest of the crop on the same day you move transplants to the garden. (Gardeners from Zone 7 south have time to plant several crops.)
Q How can I tell when winter squash is ready?
A Wait until the fruit is fully colored, whether that means orange, blue-gray, white, or another hue. You can also look at the stem, which begins to shrivel and turns hard when the fruit is ripe. Yet another clue is the rind: It should be hard enough that you can’t dent or puncture it with a fingernail. If in doubt, leave winter squash and pumpkins to ripen for another week or so, since the fruit isn’t harmed by leaving it in the garden. Do bring in winter squash if a hard frost is predicted: Although the fruits won’t be completely ruined by a freeze, they won’t store well, and you’ll need to use them right away. Cut winter squash from the vines, and leave at least a 2"/5 cm-long stem attached to each fruit.
Q I want to store my winter squash. Is there special treatment that will make them last longer?
A If you want to store pumpkins or winter squash for more than 3 or 4 weeks, cure them before putting them away. If the weather is still quite warm and humid, just cut them from the vines and leave them in the garden for 10 days. Otherwise, set them in a warm (85°F/29.4°C), humid spot for 10 days. A spot next to the furnace in the basement works fine, or an enclosed sun porch may heat up enough late in the season to provide a warm spot for them. Don’t wash fruit you plan to store, but to control mold that may mar the surface, wipe them with a solution of one part bleach to ten parts water. Store cured fruit in a cool (50°F/10°C), well-ventilated spot.
Q I don’t see any fruit forming. What do I do now?
A Pumpkins and squash begin producing male flowers a week or so before they produce the first female flowers. Be patient, and look for female flowers, which have small, preformed fruit located just beneath the flower petals. If you have female flowers but no fruit that has begun to grow, check for pollinators, since pollination requires that bees or other insects transfer pollen from male flowers to female ones. You can hand-pollinate flowers by picking a male flower, carefully removing the petals, and transferring pollen to the female flower.
Q My plants wilt every afternoon, even though they’re well watered. What’s the problem?
A The larvae of squash vine borers tunnel through the stems, eventually causing plants to wilt, at first in the afternoon during the heat of the day, but eventually, permanently. Look for a small hole and sawdustlike excrement at the base of the stem. If you don’t see a hole, cut into one of the wilted vines. If it’s full of milky, gummy sap, then the problem is bacterial wilt, and there is no cure. Pull up the plants and dispose of them in the garbage, not onto the compost pile. Cucumber beetles transmit bacterial wilt, so concentrate on controlling them.
SEE ALSO: For squash-vine borer control, and for more information on bacterial wilt, pages 158–159.
Q The flowers and little squashes in my garden are covered with ugly gray bugs. What should I do?
A Squash bugs have found your vines, and it can be hard to get rid of them. Try spraying them with insecticidal soap.
SEE ALSO: For more control measures and to learn how to prevent squash bugs from invading next year’s crop, pages 148–149.
Q My pumpkins look lopsided. How do you grow nicely shaped ones?
A Gently turn pumpkins occasionally to encourage them to grow symmetrically.
Q My squash is rotted on the bottom! What should I have done to prevent this?
A Once fruit begins to set, slide a board under each fruit to keep it up off the ground and dry on the bottom.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Give plants full sun in cooler climates but a spot in light afternoon shade in hot climates.
Wait until the soil has warmed to at least 55°F/12.8°C before planting sweet potatoes; 65°F/18.3°C or warmer is ideal.
Cut back the tops at harvest time, and begin digging 1'/.3 m away from the crowns to avoid damaging the tubers.
Q How do I start sweet potatoes? Do I plant seeds indoors?
A Although you’ll start your sweet potato crop indoors, you won’t be sowing seeds. Sweet potatoes are started from slips, which are rooted shoots, not seed. You can buy slips of various cultivars from mail-order suppliers or buy them from a local nursery.
Q Can I start my own sweet potato slips?
A If you have a sweet potato that overwintered from your garden or a neighbor’s garden, it’s easy to start your own slips. (Don’t try starting them from grocery-store sweet potatoes.) Plan on starting 3 months before the last spring frost date. Use toothpicks to support sweet potato in a jar that’s half full of water, so that only the bottom third is submerged. Set the jar in a warm (75°F/23.9°C), sunny spot, and you’ll see sprouts forming in a couple of weeks. When the sprouts are 6"/15.2 cm long, gently pull them off, and stick them in damp sand to root. Harden off the slips as you would any transplant before moving them to the garden.
Starting sweet potato slips
SEE ALSO: For advice on how to harden off, page 54.
Q I’m a southerner, and I remember sweet potatoes from my father’s garden. I’m currently living outside Lincoln, Nebraska (Zone 5). Can I grow them?
A Sweet potatoes need a long, hot growing season to produce well, and they can be tough to grow north of USDA Zone 6. Most need over 100 days of hot weather to produce well. If you want to try them, prewarm the soil with black- or clear-plastic mulch, and start with short-season cultivars like ‘Georgia Jet’ or ‘Beauregard’. Leave plastic in place when you plant, and make slits through it to insert the plants.
Q I live in Springfield, Missouri (Zone 6). When do I move my sweet potato slips to the garden?
A Sweet potatoes are warm-weather plants, so don’t be in a hurry to plant them outside. Two weeks before the last frost date, loosen the soil to 10"–12"/25.4–30.5 cm, and work in some finished compost. Then cover the site with black or clear plastic to prewarm it. Transplant slips to the garden 2 weeks after the last frost date, once the soil temperature is at least 55°F/12.8°C; 65°F/18.3°C is even better.
Q I seem to remember that my grandfather grew his sweet potatoes in mounds or hills. Is my memory accurate?
A Yes. Hilling or mounding up the soil along the row provides perfect conditions for growing sweet potatoes, since the soil warms up more quickly and also is well drained. The hills don’t need to be enormous — 1'/.3 m wide and about 8"/20.3 cm tall is fine. Space the rows of hilled soil about 3'/.9 m apart. Plant the sets from 1'–1½'/.3–.45 m apart.
Q What care do sweet potatoes need during the summer?
A Once temperatures are settled consistently in the 70s/21.1–26.1°C, sweet potatoes grow happily with little care. Keep them weeded, but don’t worry much about watering or feeding, since they are fairly drought tolerant and need water only in very dry weather.
Q How do I tell when they’re ready to harvest?
A You can begin digging sweet potatoes as soon as they are large enough to use. For best flavor, though, wait until daytime temperatures dip into the 50s/10–15°C (for sweet potatoes, this qualifies as “freezing” weather). Carefully dig tubers with a fork. Use any that are damaged by digging immediately, since they will not store well. Harvest immediately if you see any leaf blackening, and don’t wait until frost kills the vines, since cool soil (in the 40s/4.4–9.4°C overnight) damages the quality of the tubers.
AWhen I dug up my sweet potatoes, I found roots everywhere along the vines, but not many tubers. What happened?
A The sweet potatoes you harvest are actually a type of fleshy root, and they form only on the main roots of the plants. But if given a chance, sweet potato plants also sprout small feeder roots from the leaf nodes all along the vines. For the best crop, it’s important to discourage the production of these small feeder roots, since they won’t produce any potatoes. To do this, periodically lift up the vines and carefully cultivate the soil under them throughout the season.
Q Can I just pack sweet potatoes away next to my regular potatoes for storage?
A Sweet potatoes need warmer storage conditions than potatoes: Store them in a cool (55°F/12.8°C), dry place. Before storing them, cure sweet potatoes by spreading them out in a warm (80°F/26.7°C), sunny spot for a day, then hold them in a warm, humid spot out of direct sunlight for an additional 2 weeks.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Provide warmth for early planted tomatoes by prewarming the soil with black plastic as well as wrapping cages in clear plastic or using cloches.
Plant cultivars that resist or tolerate disease.
Decide on a caging or trellising system in advance, and install it on the day you plant.
Q I have space for only four tomato plants. How do I figure out which ones are best to grow?
A For starters, there are three major types of tomato fruit, and even if you are growing only a few plants, you’ll probably want to grow at least one of each. It’s a good idea to ask friends and neighbors as well as your local Cooperative Extension Service for suggestions on favorite cultivars that grow well in your climate. Early season types are best in areas with short, cool growing seasons, while gardeners in southern zones need plants that can tolerate hot summer weather. Also ask what diseases and disorders are most common in your area, and look for cultivars that are resistant or tolerant.
SLICING TOMATOES. Also considered to be all-purpose tomatoes, these include beefsteak types, with huge fruit that ranges from 1–2 pounds/.5–.9 kg apiece, as well as hundreds of cultivars with small- to medium-size fruit. Slicing tomatoes come in traditional red, the color that typically signals the most intense flavor, but there also are yellow slicers, as well as pink, orange, purple-red, yellow-and-white, white, and green-striped ones.
PASTE OR PROCESSING TOMATOES. These have thicker walls and fewer seeds than slicers, making them more suitable for making sauce and for canning and freezing. They’re also great for slicing up and adding to a salad, though.
Slicing tomato
Beefsteak tomato
Paste tomato
Cherry tomato
CHERRY TOMATOES. Great for salads and snacking, cherry tomatoes typically bear round, 1"–2"/2.5–5 cm-wide fruit (currant tomatoes bear tiny ½"/1.3 cm-wide fruit), but there are also small-fruited tomatoes that bear pear-shaped fruit (‘Red Pear’ and ‘Yellow Pear’), as well as the popular grape tomatoes, which bear sweet, oval-shaped fruit.
Q How long does it take to grow tomatoes?
A Tomato cultivars are designated as early, mid-season, and late. Early season cultivars usually are ready to harvest from about 65 days on, midseason types from 66 to 79 days, and late-season types from 80 days onward. Days to maturity are from transplanting, so add 6 to 8 weeks (42 to 56 days) to the schedule if you are starting your own plants. Keep in mind that tomatoes produce and ripen more slowly in cool and cloudy weather — daytime temperatures from the upper 70s to the low 80s/25–28.3°C) are ideal for fruit production. As a result, plants take longer to produce fruit in areas with cool or cloudy weather. An unusually cool spring also slows production, since plants won’t really begin to grow until the soil and weather warm up.
WHILE VARIETY IS ONE OF THE DELIGHTS of a backyard garden, you could easily plant 50 or 60 tomato plants and still not try all the cultivars available. Instead, try to select at least three different cultivars to grow each year, and make sure one of those is a variety that you’ve never grown before. Since you can always buy typical round, red-orange tomatoes at farmers’ markets or even the grocery store, you may want to concentrate on unusual colors, shapes, and sizes so you can grow some that are a bit more unusual than the average fare. For snack-size fruit, consider the cherry tomato ‘Gold Nugget’, which bears golden yellow, 1"/2.5 cm fruit on determinate plants; old-fashioned ‘Yellow Pear’, an indeterminate cultivar with sweet, 1"/2.5 cm-wide, pear-shaped fruits; or one of the currant tomatoes, ‘Red Currant’ or ‘White Currant’, with clusters of ½"/1.3 cm fruit on indeterminate plants. Unusual full-size tomatoes (all indeterminate) to consider include ‘Cherokee Purple’, with fruits that are red with a purple cast; ‘Pineapple’, with large yellow-and-red-striped fruit; or ‘Costoluto Genovese’, which produces large, ribbed fruits that have an outstanding taste.
Q I want tomatoes for fresh eating, but my family also likes to put up some sauce and whole tomatoes. How many plants do I need?
A While two plants per person should supply enough ripe tomatoes for fresh eating in most households, plant at least six extra plants — processing or paste types — if you plan on putting up whole tomatoes or sauce.
Q I’m reading through catalogs, and they all specify whether a cultivar is determinate or indeterminate. What does that mean?
A These terms refer to growth habits, and you’ll find them used in plant descriptions and on plant labels. Both types require the same basic growing conditions, but they require different trellising or support systems.
Indeterminate tomatoes are large, sprawling plants that have long, vinelike stems ranging from 6'/1.8 m to as much as 20'/6 m in length. Most gardeners grow them in large cages or stake them. Indeterminates generally produce a larger harvest than determinate types do and continue producing flowers and fruit — and growing taller — all season long until they are killed by frost.
Determinate tomatoes have short main stems, form fairly compact bushes, and take up less space in the garden. They tend to bear their flowers and fruit all at the same time. Determinate tomatoes can be caged, staked, or allowed to sprawl. Most decline after they fruit, although modern cultivars (sometimes called vigorous determinates) may continue to bear all season long or produce a second crop after the first one, especially if they are cut back once the first crop is picked.
You may want to grow some of both kinds. Determinate types are a good choice for producing a large crop all at once, which is beneficial if you plan to can or freeze and want one big harvest. They’re also best if space is at a premium. Indeterminate tomatoes are a good choice for spreading out your tomato harvest over the season. Plants that are staked or grown in cages do need regular training to keep them growing in the right direction, and in this matter determinates are a bit easier to care for. Early and short-season cultivars are determinate types, so you may want to plant a couple of these for early harvest, along with a main crop of indeterminates. Finally, the decision to grow indeterminate or determinate plants affects the support system your plants need, as well as the best spacing for optimum production. For the best fruit production — and to prevent plants from sprawling all over the garden — indeterminate types need to be staked or contained in large, tall cages. Determinates can be allowed to sprawl but are typically grown in cages or staked to use space most efficiently.
Q Will tomatoes grow in containers? I don’t have space for an in-ground garden.
A For many gardeners, containers are a great option. They make it possible to grow a crop on balconies, decks, patios, or even along the driveway. You can grow slicing, paste, or cherry tomatoes in containers, but for best results with full-size cultivars, use at least a 10-gallon/37.9 L container for each plant.
For smaller containers, look for dwarf or miniature cultivars. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that small fruit means small plants: cherry tomatoes are small, but they’re usually produced on very large, full-size plants. For patio-size plants, look for cultivars where space-saving or overall size are mentioned in the plant description. Truly tiny cultivars include ‘Patio F/Hybrid’, ‘Red Robin’ ‘Micro-Tom’, ‘Florida Petite’, ‘Florida Basket’, ‘Tiny Tim’, and ‘Yellow Canary’. You’ll get a larger harvest from slightly bigger plants, though, such as ‘Elfin’, ‘Tumbler Hybrid’, ‘Sprite’, ‘Sugary’, and ‘Sweet Baby Girl’. These larger selections can be grown in the ground or in at least 5-gallon/18.9 L containers.
Container-grown tomatoes require more attention than in-ground plants. Plan on watering daily or even twice daily in hot weather. The soil should be moist but not wet and should never be allowed to dry out. All but the tiniest cultivars require staking or caging. Use cages, stakes planted firmly in the containers, or another trellising method. One option is to group three containers, each with a stake in the soil next to the tomato plant, then lash together the tops of the stakes to create a sturdy teepee.
Q What kind of soil will give me a bumper crop of tomatoes?
A Tomatoes aren’t picky. All they need is average, well-drained soil. Work a couple of shovelfuls of compost into each hole at planting time. Loosen the soil to at least 1'/.3 m to encourage roots to grow down into it deeply.
Q I live near Austin, Texas, and my tomatoes fry in the summer! Do they really need full sun?
A If you live in the South or Southwest — Zones 8 to 10 — where summers are long and hot, tomatoes manage with as little as 5 hours of sun. Many gardeners in those areas prefer a site that receives sun in the morning and late afternoon, but is shaded a bit during the hottest part of the day. The midday shade helps protect plants from excessive heat. Since the growing season is long in Zones 8 to 10, keep in mind that you can also grow two crops of tomatoes, one in spring to early summer and a second from midsummer into the fall. Double-cropping allows you to avoid trying to keep plants alive during sweltering summer heat.
Q I don’t have a spot that offers even 6 hours of sun. Are there any tomatoes I can grow?
A Most cherry tomatoes will bear at least a partial crop with as little as 4 hours of sun per day. It won’t be as large a crop as they would produce in full sun, but you’ll still get some to enjoy. Early-bearing tomatoes also can produce at least a partial crop when grown with less-than-ideal sun exposure. Try ‘Early Girl’, ‘Stupice’, or one of the other early-season cultivars. Keep in mind that tomatoes growing in partial shade take longer to produce ripe fruit than plants in full sun. For this reason, gardeners in areas with short, cool summers will be less successful growing tomatoes in partial shade than gardeners in hot, southern zones.
Q I want to grow my tomatoes from seed this year. When do I need to get started? Are they hard to grow?
A Tomatoes are easy to grow, and you’ll need to have seeds on hand for sowing 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost date. Don’t start earlier than that, since young, compact seedlings will outpace tall, lanky ones in the garden every time. Sow two seeds per pot and germinate them at about 75°F/23.9°C. Once they’re up, keep them at 65°F/18.3°C; 55°F/12.8°C at night. Cut off the smaller seedling once they both have at least one true leaf. Move seedlings to larger pots as necessary to eliminate potbound roots. When you repot, set seedlings deeper than they were growing before, so the first true leaf is just above the soil surface. This encourages plants to form new roots along the buried stem.
Q When are seedlings ready for transplanting?
A Move tomato transplants to the garden about 2 weeks after the last spring frost date, once soil temperatures have reached 60°F/15.6°C. Be sure to harden off transplants beginning about a week before it’s time to transplant.
Q I want to get an early start this year. Can I plant my tomato seedlings out extra early?
A Early planting only works if you protect your transplants from cold temperatures. For the earliest start — up to about 3 weeks before the last spring frost date — do the following:
WARM SOIL. Prewarm the soil by covering it with black plastic beginning about 2 weeks before planting outside. Also, plant into a raised bed, since raised soil warms up more quickly than in-ground beds.
TEST FOR TEMPERATURE. Don’t move transplants until the soil is 60°F/15.6°C under the plastic.
PROTECT YOUR BABIES. Use Wall-O-Waters or hot caps, or wrap tomato cages with plastic to protect the plants from cold wind. Wall-O-Water is a doublewalled plastic teepee-shaped protector that holds an insulating layer of water around transplants. To use it, set it up around transplants and fill the sides with water. Wall-O-Waters insulate transplants to about 20°F/–6.7°C.
WATER WARM. When you need to water your seedlings, use warm water to reduce shock.
DON’T BABY TOO LONG. Once warmer spring weather arrives, remove extra protection to avoid overheating plants.
Plastic-wrapped tomato cage
Q How much space does each tomato plant need?
A Proper spacing is determined by how you are training and managing your tomatoes. Plant determinate tomatoes 3'–4'/.9–1.2 m apart if they are going to be allowed to sprawl, without caging or staking. Tomatoes — both indeterminates and determinates — grown in sturdy, 2'/.6 m-diameter cages can be spaced 4'/1.2 m apart. Space staked tomatoes 2'/.6 m apart. If you tend to let your tomatoes go over the summer, meaning you don’t train them or prune away excess growth regularly, wider spacing is best. That’s because a healthy tomato planting will be quite junglelike by the end of the season, and it can be hard to find the fruit at harvest time. If you are conscientious in pruning and training throughout the season, somewhat closer spacing will work just fine.
SEE ALSO: To learn the difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, pages 387–388.
Q Do tomatoes need fertilizing?
A If you have fairly good soil and incorporated a couple of shovelfuls of organic matter into the soil at planting time, your plants are probably fine without supplemental feeding. If your soil isn’t in topnotch form, water weekly with a dilute solution of fish emulsion until flowers appear.
Q Why do gardeners use stakes or cages? Can’t you let tomato plants sprawl on the ground?
A Staking or caging tomatoes helps save space in the garden and generally makes the plants easier to manage. It also gets the fruit up off the ground so it is exposed to more sunlight and is easier to harvest. In addition, staking or caging increases air circulation and thus reduces problems with diseases. In hot, dry, windy climates, however, tomatoes are better off left to sprawl over the ground, since dry winds can damage both foliage and fruit.
Q If I decide to stake my tomatoes, what size stakes do I need?
A It depends on whether you’re growing determinate or indetermate varieties:
FOR INDETERMINATE TOMATOES, use 8'/2.4 m-long stakes that are ¾”/1.9 cm square. Set the posts at least 1'/.3 m in the ground. Another option is 10'/3 m sections of ½"/1.3 cm rebar, which can be hammered 2'/.6 m into the ground to make a really sturdy support. Plant a transplant at the base of each stake, and tie it with soft strips of cloth as it grows. Another option is to plant between the stakes, then weave strings along the row between the posts, tying up the plants in the process.
FOR DETERMINATE TOMATOES, use 5'–6'/1.5–1.8 m long stakes. Set stakes before you move transplants to the garden, and sink the base 8"/20.3 cm deep. Tie plants loosely to the stake with strips of T-shirts, panty hose, or soft string. You’ll probably want to prune out some of the suckers to keep plants manageable, but leave some in the middle and top of the plant to shade the fruit and prevent sunscald. Pinch back the top of the plant once it reaches the top of the stake to encourage branching and more fruit.
Stake and weave tomato support
Q I want to stake my plants, but does that mean I have to have only one main stem?
A You can install two stakes next to each plant and let the first main sucker that appears grow out. Train the main stem to one stake and the first sucker to the second stake. After that, train the plant as you would a single-stemmed staked plant.
Q What is a sucker, and how do I prune them out?
A Suckers are side shoots that form on the plant’s main stem in the leaf axils (the point where the leaf meets the main stem). To remove it, grab the sucker between your thumb and forefinger and wiggle it back and forth. The sucker will break off near where it arose from the main stem. If you need to use scissors, use them, but try to remove suckers before they get this big. If you are considering pruning, here are some guidelines to follow:
INDETERMINATE TOMATOES. If you’re using cages, you can leave side shoots on the plant, since they’ll produce flowers and fruit. Pinch side shoots back once they grow beyond the bounds of the cage. Also remove enough side shoots to open up the center of the plant to allow light and air in.
Pinching tomato side shoot
DETERMINATE TOMATOES. Don’t prune determinates, unless they form a really dense mass of foliage inside the cage. Keep in mind that the plants need plenty of leaves to support fruit growth and also to shade the tomatoes as they form and prevent sunscald.
Q Can I make my own tomato cages?
A Make mesh tomato cages from concrete reinforcing mesh that has 6"/15.2 cm-square openings. Home improvement stores carry rolls of this heavy-duty mesh; mesh that’s 5'/1.5 m or more wide is best for making tomato cages.
1. Buy 8'/2.4 m of mesh for each cage. You’ll also need heavy-duty bolt cutters to cut it. (Alternatively, have the mesh cut into 8'/2.4 m-long sections at the store.)
2. To cut the mesh, spread it out on a driveway or other relatively flat surface. Measure out an 8'/2.4 m section, then weight down both ends of it with cement blocks or other heavy objects. Otherwise, it will spring back quickly when cut and can be quite dangerous.
3. Use bolt cutters to clip off wires that stick out on the end of the section of mesh, so the piece ends with a smooth, vertical wire.
4. To cut the 8'/2.4 m-long section (16 squares), cut across the width of the mesh along the outside of one row of the 6"Ö6"/15.2Öl5.2 cm squares. You want both ends of the 8-foot section to end in a smooth, vertical wire that doesn’t have any sections
of wire that stick out.
5. Bring the two cut ends of the mesh together to make a cylinder, then fasten the ends together with wire or plastic wire ties. You’ll have a sturdy cage that’s about 2½'/.75 m across and 5'/1.5 m tall.
6. To install cages in the garden, set them in place, then secure them with stakes on either side, because full-size plants laden with fruit will tip them over.
Mesh cylinder tomato cage
Q I’ve seen cages made using PVC pipes. How can I make those myself?
A Using ¾”/1.9 cm PVC pipe and ordinary pipe fittings, you can fashion large cages that will last for years. You’ll also need a hacksaw or a PVC pipe cutter and some sandpaper.
1. Cut PVC pipe to the lengths shown in the illustration below. Especially if you’re using a hacksaw, you’ll need to sand the ends of the cuts so they are smooth and fit easily into the pipe fittings.
2. Check the fit of the pieces of pipe by assembling them (using the pipe fittings but no glue) to make sure lengths are correct and the cage fits together properly.
3. Take the cage apart, then reassemble it using plumber’s cement to permanently connect all the pieces.
PVC pipe tomato cage
Q I want to store my tomato cages in the garage over the winter. Do I have to take them apart?
A If you use wire ties to connect the ends of the concrete reinforcing mesh when you make the cages, you can cut the ties off at the end of the season and nest all the sheets together for the winter. For easy handling during storage, connect all the sheets with wire ties or use heavy-duty string to tie them together into a single cylinder. Another option is to start with varying lengths of mesh (7'8"/2.3 m, 8'/2.4 m, 8'6"/2.6 m, and 9'/2.7 m, assuming a 6"Ö6"/15.2Ö15.2 cm mesh). The resulting cages should fit one inside the other.
Q How often do I have to train my tomatoes?
A While caged tomatoes do just fine with occasional attention to redirect a wayward stem so it stays supported and inside the cage, tomatoes that are staked or grown by one of the other systems need regular maintenance to keep them in bounds. Check plants every few days to remove extra suckers, redirect stems, and tie branches in place. If you attend to them regularly, this shouldn’t be too much of a chore, but if they get out of hand and you’re trying to wrangle branches that are several feet long, tying them back in place can be a real headache.
Q How do I tell when my tomatoes are perfectly ripe but still firm enough to slice?
A Rich red-orange is the classic mark of a fully ripe tomato, but large-size heirloom types sometimes are ripe before the tops of the fruit have turned fully redorange. The fruit also doesn’t ripen properly if temperatures exceed 85°F/29.4°C. In that case, pick nearly ripe fruit and ripen it indoors at room temperature out of direct sunlight. Don’t store fruit in the refrigerator, since cool temperatures destroy the flavor and texture.
Q We’re going to get an early cold snap tonight. Anything I can do to save my tomatoes?
A If frost threatens, but you expect the weather to warm up after a cold snap, cover your plants with blankets or tarps at nighttime to keep them warm. Uncover them when temperatures are warmer during the daytime. Since the season is nearly over, consider pruning away a good bit of the foliage to expose the fruit to sunlight, and thereby speed ripening. Once daytime temperatures are routinely below 60°F/15.6°C, pick all the fruit that has turned from dark to lighter green. Mature fruit — those that have turned color — will ripen indoors.
Q I live in North Dakota, and our first frost always comes too soon! Is there any way I can lengthen the tomato-growing season?
A Try growing a few plants in large containers, and set the containers on dollies or in a children’s wagon. That way you can wheel the plants into a garage or shed when cool weather threatens and back outside again on warm days.
Q My plants have loads of leaves but no flowers. What did I do wrong?
A Check the label on your fertilizer bag. In good soil, tomatoes don’t need much in the way of supplemental feeding, and they especially don’t need high-nitrogen fertilizer (like the kind sold for lawn grass). Too much nitrogen encourages the formation of all foliage and no fruit.
Q My tomatoes looked fine last week, but it rained over the weekend, and now the fruit is cracked. What happened?
A Tomatoes need soil that remains evenly moist for the fruit to develop properly. If soil moisture varies too much — if the soil gets too dry and then it rains, for example — the fruit can crack. Pick off the cracked fruit and keep the soil evenly moist but not wet, even during dry weather.
Q I moved to Washington State 2 years ago, and my tomatoes don’t seem to bear as heavily as they did where we lived before. What is the problem?
A Tomato plants don’t produce as many fruits in areas where they do not receive ample summer heat as they do in areas with warm summers. Start with a minimum of four plants per person if you live in an area with cool summers such as the Pacific Northwest or New England.
Q My tomatoes are rotting on the bottom, but the tops look great. What’s going on?
A Blossom-end rot is the culprit, and although it looks like a disease, it’s actually a physiological condition. When the weather is cool, the plants can’t transport nutrients as efficiently as they can when the weather is warm. Blossom-end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency — the calcium is present in the soil; it’s just not being transported to the fruits where it is needed. Blossom-end rot usually affects the first fruits of the year, especially when the weather has been cool and wet. Once temperatures warm up and nutrients begin moving around, the plants begin to produce normal fruit, provided they’re growing in well-prepared soil. Pick off the rotting fruit, and discard it.
Q My tomatoes look perfect on the outside, but they’re rotten and fuzzy on the inside!
A Sometimes blossom-end rot affects just the inside of the fruit. Wait for the weather to warm up, and the plants should begin producing normal fruit.
Q My tomato plants looked fine until just before the first batch of fruit was nearly ripe, then they turned yellow and wilted. Should I have fed them more?
A Provided you worked a good dose of compost into the soil at planting time, your plants probably didn’t die because of insufficient fertilization. Instead, they probably succumbed to one of the major tomato diseases such as fusarium or verticillium wilt. While plants can become infected with these diseases early in the season, symptoms often don’t show up until fruits begin to ripen, and the plant is under stress. Next year, look for cultivars that resist diseases like these.
Early and late blight are fungal diseases that are problems in some parts of the country: early blight during warm, humid weather and late blight when days are warm and humid and nights are cool. These diseases seem to be able to infect many standard blight-resistant tomato cultivars, causing spots on lower leaves first. Early blight causes spots with concentric rings (you may need a magnifying glass to see the rings), and late blight causes water-soaked spots that turn purplish or black on the leaves.
Breeders are working to introduce new cultivars that resist these blights, so watch for them in garden catalogs. Inspect plants every other day when the weather is warm and humid for signs of these diseases. If you suspect early blight, pick off infected leaves and discard them in the trash, mulch plants to prevent fungal spores from splashing up onto plants, and spray plants with compost tea or Bacillus subtilis. If late blight is the problem, pull up infected plants immediately, place them in a plastic bag, and discard them in the trash. To avoid spreading the spores, wash your hands and change your clothes before returning to the garden.
Q The flowers on my tomato plants are dropping off without forming fruit. What should I do?
A Tomatoes don’t set fruit when temperatures are below 55°F/12.8°C or above 100°F/37.8°C. Row covers provide a bit of protection from weather that is too cold. Use them in spring until the weather warms up. Too much nitrogen also affects fruit set.
Q I live in South Georgia, and my tomatoes produced a pretty good crop in spring and early summer, but then they succumbed to hot summer weather. Is that the end for tomatoes for me this year?
A If you live in Zones 8 to 10, there’s still plenty of time to start a second fall crop of tomatoes. Start seeds yourself in midsummer, look for transplants at a local nursery, or root suckers from healthy plants still in your garden as you would cuttings. (For fastest rooting, look along the stem of the sucker for telltale bumps that indicate roots that need only the encouragement of being in contact with moist vermiculite to form.) Plant tomatoes out in late summer, and enjoy a long season until the first frost!