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| Jul 29, 2010 - 06:37 PM |
Queen City News - Helena's FREE Weekly Newspaper |
Helena, Montana |
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The farmers market is bustling, the lilacs are luring us home from work with the smell of spring, the earth is being tunneled by thousands of worms, and you still haven’t put in your garden? Don’t worry! You may have missed the boat for homegrown spinach and radishes, but local growers and nurseries have been working since February growing transplants to help gardeners get started, even the novices. While the initial cost of purchasing transplants or starts may be a little high, by following these steps you can avoid purchasing a second round and still get plenty of garden goodies this season.
What should I purchase as transplants and what can I plant by seed? Plants you could start from seed this week and still get some edible results include: beans, beets, bok choy, tat soy, peas, swiss chard, rutabagas, turnips, cilantro and dill. On the other hand, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, winter squash, watermelon, celery, parsley, oregano, marjoram, rosemary and basil are all varieties that require a longer growing season than we have in Helena and should be purchased as bedding plants.
There are also a few varieties you can choose to do either by seed or by transplant, depending on your budget and patience waiting for fresh veggies. These include cucumbers, summer squash, cantaloupe, zucchini, lettuce and corn. If you do decide to do any of these by seed, make sure to pick out varieties that have a short growing season (look on the seed package to make sure it is no more than 80 days to maturity). For plants such as lettuce, which prefers cooler temperatures, make sure that you choose heat-tolerant varieties, thin them to prevent overcrowding, and keep them well-watered to stave off bolting.
Picking out your starts: Remember that bigger isn’t always better. Younger plants often have an easier time than larger plants adjusting to new growing conditions. Choose starts that are at least three to four inches tall but do not have any flowers or fruits. Early flowering can be a sign that the transplant has been stressed by lack of water or root space. If you do end up purchasing flowering plants, pick off the flowers or fruit that is already in production before planting to ensure more energy is put into stabilizing the roots.
After you take your starts home: Once you have purchased starts, make sure that you help them adjust to their new environment – a process called “hardening off” – by placing them outside, as many commercially grown starts go straight from the greenhouse to the market. Hardening plants off must be done on a gradual scale. Start by putting your starts out for a few hours a day, then most of the day, and so on for at least four days before planting them outdoors.
When should I plant? It’s a beautiful, hot spring day, the sun is beaming its rays on your back, and all you want to do is get down and dirty in your garden. It may be tempting, but this is the absolute worst time to do any transplanting. Just imagine if someone woke you up, shined a bright light on your face, made you eat breakfast in five minutes and sent you to work naked. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but plants need time and calming conditions to adjust to their environment and get their bodies working. Do your transplanting on a cool, overcast or drizzly day for best results. If your impatience gets to you and you simply must plant on that sunny day, wait until evening when there are only a few hours of sunlight left in the sky and the plants will get some cooler temperatures during the night.
Transplanting 101: First, make a hole that is deep enough to cover the plant’s roots with soil. Second, tease out the roots of your transplant (except onions, squash and corn, which don’t like their roots disturbed) and don’t worry if some of the roots tear. This will actually stimulate new root stock in its new habitat. Make sure you fully cover the roots of your transplant with dirt, pressing down slightly to create a small trough for water retention. Third, and perhaps most important, make sure to water your transplant shortly after planting, and don’t skimp on the water! I give my transplants three times more water than normal, even in the rain!
Some vegetables such as tomatoes and the Brassica family (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts) like a little more attention than other species. Tomatoes will start roots from the stem of the plant and should therefore be planted deeply to give them more stability in a Helena windstorm. For maximum strength, trim off the first true leaves of the tomato and plant it in a hole deep enough to cover the whole root system and stem up to the next set of leaves. Brassicas also like to be planted up to their first set of leaves.
There are some great local sources on gardening. Check with your local extension agent for information on master gardening classes or attend a free class on late-start gardening by the Growing Community Project on Wednesday, June 11, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., beside Helena’s Food Share.
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The Queen City News is published every Wednesday in Helena, MT, by Mossback Media, LLC.
Contents are copyrighted and cannot be used in any form without prior permission from the QCN.
Copyright © Queen City News, 2002
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