End of March Garden Update

Well the seedlings are coming along nicely. It's the end of March, So were now two weeks from the 1st of the seedlings going into the ground. Now it's time to plant watermelons.Watermelons have a special place in my heart, so I have accumulated a fair amount of information on how to grow them from seed.

Sow indoors in late March or one month (no sooner!) before transplanting outdoors when the weather is frost-free, warm, and settled. Plant about 1/4" deep. Keep temperature 80-90°F (27-32°C) until germination. The seeds need constant warmth, again 80° to 90° for 5 to 10 days to germinate well. For seedless varieties this need is greater. Handle young plants carefully and never let the soil dry out. Grow seedlings at 75°F (24°C).  Once they are up and growing, fertilize the seedlings with diluted fish emulsion twice a week, using a 1/2 - 3/4 strength solution. Reduce water and temperature for a week before transplanting during the hardening off process.

After the threat of frost is over and only when the outside soil temperature is at least 60°F, transplant. To help heat overly cool soil, try using black mulch under the plants. Remove this prior to summer or add topping of hay/straw mulch to keep soil from getting too hot.

Even hardened melon seedlings are tender! Large melon seedlings transplant poorly. Do not disturb roots when transplanting, and water thoroughly.Transplant into hills or rows. Set transplants, 18" to 36" apart  apart in groups of 2-3 if planting in hills depending on how large your watermelons will become. They will require more space to grow the larger the species at maturity. Space hills 3'-4' apart each way. Set transplants 36" to 96" apart if planting in rows, again depending on species. Southern exposure and sweet, light, well-drained soil is ideal. Good soil moisture is important in early stages of growth and during pollination when fruits are setting. After this point do not water unless the soil is very dry and leaves begin to show signs of wilting in midday.

 After mid June add mulch, not before. Also melons do not need high nitrogen. You want to try to promote simultaneous fruiting on the same plant. If one fruit starts on a plant and then some time later another starts on the same plant, the 1st larger fruit will suck up all that plants nutrients, and the smaller 2nd fruit will suffer. So if two fruits set at the same time I allow both to grow, if two fruits start one behind the other, I pinch off the 2nd one. I also pinch off all but 2 melon per vine. Feed every 3 weeks with low nitrogen fertilizer. Again here I use a fish emulsion foliar. Foliar feeding is a technique of feeding plants by applying liquid fertilizer directly to their leaves. I add it when I water. More on how I do that when we reach that point later in the season. I have a wonderful tool that allows me to add liquid fertilizer during watering.

Cucumber Beetles: These things are "demon spawn" as far as I am concerned. They have decimated my Curcurbit crops before. They munch on the young seedlings, they suck the juice from the young plants. When the transplants first go into the garden, I have started to cover them with insect fabric. I use Agribon AG-15, 0.45 oz Frost Blanket (9'10" X 250'), this is a great product. It is a super lightweight fabric (0.45 oz/sq yd) and is especially designed to protect vegetable crops from insect pests. Made of spun bonded polypropylene fabric.  It lets 90% of the sunlight pass through. I keep the young seedlings covered until they begin to flower. At that point they are larger and have a chance to fend off the dreaded beetle's onslaughts. Once I remove the fabric, I then fall back on the only recourse that I have found that will keep the beetles at bay, Seven Insect spray. I know it's not organic, but I have tried all the organic sprays, the beetles just laugh at them. They have not worked for me. Seven is the only thing I have had success with.  

Some melon types, like Honeydew, Charentais, Canary, Spanish, and Crenshaw are overripe by the time the stem can be tugged from the fruit. These must be cut from the vine.

This year I planted:
Large Watermelon - AllSweet and Moon and Stars
Personal Size Watermelon - Burpees Snack Pack
Crenshaw - Burpees Hybred Crenshaw

Last year I had watermelon germination after only 3 days. We will see what happens this year.



Update on other seedlings:

Celery at 6 weeks

Another picture of celery

 

Peppers at one month

Tomatoes at one month

Cabbage at one month

Perennial Update:

Horseradish

Asparagus, it turns out asparagus is one of the earliest of spring crops. I did not know that. The date of this picture was around the 15th of March. This is one year after planting the crowns.

Strawberries, this is about one week after removing the winter hay protection. And it is one year after planting the crowns. I should see my first crop of strawberries this summer, can't wait.

Matted rows of strawberries

Garlic on the left, Shallots on the right. This was a very windy day, that is why they look blown over.

Wind blown shallots

Wind blown garlic

 Winter Rye Cover Crop:

Winter Rye cover crop. This is destined to be tilled into soil.

Seedling Progress

Seedlings are doing well, have all but melon, cucumber and pumpkin going. The following are pictures of my current seedlings:

Celery right as it was beginning to germinate back in early February. One of the harder vegetables to get good germination from. They're finicky, my strategy for them is to put the seeds in the freezer four weeks before I plan to plant them. This is called, stratification, it simulates "winter" for the seeds. Celery seeds seem to respond to this method. When I am ready to plant, I allow the seeds to come to room temperature, and I soak them in water overnight. After, I strain them with a coffee filter, then make sure that when I plant the seeds, I do not allow them to go below the surface of the soil medium. Celery seeds absolutely need light to germinate. Then as always, I cover with plastic wrap until most or at least some have germinated. The plastic wrap provides a sufficiently humid environment for the seeds to germinate. Then I remove the plastic wrap and just let them do their thing.

Celery now at 4 weeks. All they need  now is sufficient water and plant food. As ancestral Celery were marsh plants modern Celery needs to be kept constantly damp. Note I said damp, not wet. They are also heavy feeders, needing rich soil more so than most other vegetables. In another week, I will begin to mix a little fish emulsion into the water. I have found that as a plant food, fish emulsion works for me.

Leeks planted back in early February, at the same time as the celery. Now four weeks later, they need only water and a hair cut once a week. I keep them trimmed to 4" to 5" until it's time to transplant for two reasons, one I need them to fit under my lights, two I believe that doing so, results in a healthier, thicker leek.

After this weeks hair cut.

Cabbage at only one week. One of the easier vegetables to grow from seed. Just plant and water. Cover with plastic wrap until they germinate.

One week old tomato seedlings. Not 100% germination yet, but getting there.

Tomatoes:

Cover the seeds, they germinate better in the dark. Keep the soil temp as close as possible to 80° for prompt germination. Keep as near as possible to 60° after germination. Chilling to induce early bloom often works well, but it must be done early, when the first true leaves are opening up and the plant is only about 1 1/2" tall. Night temperatures of 50°-55° for two to three weeks are usually effective. Do not set out before reasonably sure that it is past the last frost. Bury tomato plants parallel to the soil surface, right up to the top tuft of leaves. dig a long shallow trench, not a deep hole, that is too cold for roots. Need an ample supply of potash and phosphorus. Dig in rock phosphorus and bone meal before transplanting. Avoid too much Nitrogen. Add Nitrogen at bloom by adding diluted fish emulsion. After mid June add mulch, not before. For staked plants prune suckers that appear in the leaf axils. Do not smoke around tomato plants. Try to use black mulch under plants. Remove prior to summer or add topping of hay/straw mulch to keep soil from getting too hot.

Tobacco Mosaic Virus- Do not plant Tomato and Pepper seedlings in the same bed. Spray seedlings with skim milk to lowers the PH on the surface of the leaves so they are less susceptible to mildew and viral infections.

Tomatoes are subject to Tobacco Mosaic Virus just like Peppers. Adhere to the preventative measures set forth in the previous post entitled Peppers and Tobacco Mosaic Virus.

Peppers after two weeks. I think that peppers are one of the hardest seeds to get to germinate. I still don't have 100% germination. I hope in another week, the remaining seeds will germinate.

Pepper seedlings, I added this just because I thought it was a cool picture.

So that is it for now, I have melons, cucumber and pumpkin to plant in coming weeks. The 1st of the seedlings will go into dirt a month from now.