Planting Time is Important

Each vegetable has its own growing seaon, temperature, & soil recomemendations. Thats why its very important that vegetable seeds or plants get planted at the right time of the seaon. They just will not fruit & make if planted at the wrong time. There are cool weather vegetables & warm weather vegetables. O.K., I understand that. So that must mean that one has to plant either in the fall for the cool veggies, & in the spring for the warm. Also , there are the summer crops. Which are planted in the summer. Does everyone agree with this. I am trying to figure this out, since I am still learning.

In a nutshell you are correct, though every climate is different. Even the same zones are different. My Zone 9a in Phoenix is way different than someone else's Zone 9a. When I first started gardening in the desert, I relied a lot on the locals as to timing of crops. As I've become more experienced, I've learned little quirks that work in my particular yard and what microclimates I may have to push the zone a bit, so to speak.

This is the planting calendar I use as a guide, combined with my own experience. Here a lot depends on the weather and how soon it gets hot in the spring. This year we actually had a real spring - not the case most years when it seems it goes from winter to summer.

http://api.ning.com/files/TGLHXuyF7bQot21Fn-wPG7KK-YRDVXFa7d5b9cfgdfVYLPEQ3J4gyl9Zqzq65p*tBGeGTkH9IECkEP8qQV4-JBZJO8mGdij5/GREATPlanting_Calendar.pdf

You are correct. For example, we cannot grow brocolli in the summer. It's strictly a fall and early spring crop. Same thing with lettuce, carrots, radishes, and brussel sprouts (if you like those things). When I first started vegetable gardening last spring, I googled "vegetable planting dates tarrant county" and found many resources that told me what to plant when. Here in Texas, we don't have one long growing season, we have 2 short ones separated by the hot summer. According to my planting sheet, I can start planting eggplant seeds now! Not that I'm a fan of eggplant, but it's time!

Steph, we ate eggplant from the garden for dinner last night - lol... I think I planted them in mid-March. You still have time - we plant them here basically all summer!

I am almost inclined to think that here in Texas it is better to plant all my spring crops, in the fall. It seems like the weather in the fall is more favorable to tomatoes,green pepper, cucumbers, beans. Of course this means I plant in the summer, & pick in the fall before winter sets in.

Believe it or not, I can garden year round... Though I hate the summers - it's so hot - but several crops love it... melons, cantaloupe, basil, sweet potatoes, peppers, okra, eggplant... And if I can get my tomatoes through the summer with enough water and if I can keep the hornworms in check, I'll get tomatoes again on the fall once we start cooling down. Otherwise I need to plant out new ones in August or so and hope we have a normally mild winter.

It makes it hard to hear of some eating eggplant, when we are just now seeding ours, because ours are planted in the summer, & harvested in the fall or early spring. I don't even know if they freeze. Does anyone know.? Anyway, apparently, Locakelly, you must plant eggplant in the spring, & harvest in summer? I think some people do that in Texas, but I don't think their crop makes too well. I would think Stef. planting seeds now would maybe be better. I don't know for sure.

We plant in spring and harvest in early summer. The plants will survive the summer and usually reward you with a bumper crop again in the fall. Last year I had eggplants still producing at Christmas since we never really got cold. Finally pulled them to make way for other crops - lol... They would not make it through an actual freeze though mine survived a couple nights where temps dipped to close to freezing (30°).

You must mulch a lot locakelly for your crops to survive the hot summers. I lived in Phoenix for a year, & I know how hot it gets. Its worse then Texas. And no one says how they manage to pay their water bills. Do you use rain barrels.?

It is hot! My veggie garden has a shade structure or the plants would burn up - lol... I do mulch and I plant intensively - I have raised beds and I square foot garden - so the plants help keep the ground cool as well. I water deeply every 3 days in the summer. For living in the desert, we have reasonable water rates. I think my highest bill last summer was $70, and that is sewer/trash/water. The veggies get the most water. My ornamentals I try and stick as much as I can with native, low water use plants - some I never water unless we get no rain in the summer. The stuff that takes more water like the daylilies and such are mulched to the hilt.

I do not use rain barrels but that is in my future plans. We average 7" of rain a year, so every little bit helps.