How To Start Cool Fall Crops During Warm Summer Days

The best time to start fall crops is in late summer for a late fall harvest. The problem however, is that the soil and the daytime temperatures can sometimes still be so warm that it can be hard to get cool-weather crops to germinate and grow.

Here is a way to get around that problem!

1. Dig a shallow trench that is about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) deep.

2. Line the trench with come good garden soil or compost.

3. Put your seeds in the trench, and then cover them shallowly with more compost or garden soil. Don’t worry that the seeds aren’t planted as deep as may be mentioned on the seed packet. Just cover them shallowly.

4. Water the trench and seeds in carefully, but thoroughly.

5. Cover the trench with boards or very thick cardboard. The trick here is to keep the heat out and keep the seeds in the trench cool and in the dark. So the thicker the material you use the cover the trench, the better.

6. Check under the boards regularly, and as soon as you see small pale seedlings growing, remove the boards.

7. Grow your seedlings as usual now that they are started.

This trick works great with several fall crops like broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, and cauliflower.

For more Gardening Tips and Gardening Advice visit our main gardening website at Weekend Gardener Monthly Web Magazine

Have great week!

Best Time To Transplant Plants

Typically, gardeners tend to transplant plants, whether they are vegetable, strawberry, tree, shrub, or perennial plants, when they have the time to do it, regardless of the time of day, or the weather.

This is normal, but if you think about it, planning when you transplant your plants is one of the best things you can do because you will ensure your plants getting off to a strong and healthy start.

I mean, why bother with all the time and effort only to have seedling transplants that are going to flag, sag, wilt, and maybe die on you? So let's avoid all this shall we?

The Best Time To Transplant Plants

The best time of day to plant is in the late afternoon when the sun is not so hot, and the wind has calmed down. By taking advantage of this time of day, the new plants have overnight to acclimate.

Strong sun and wind are very hard on new transplants and unless you water carefully, and in some cases provide some shelter from the wind and sun, they can severely wilt. This places your plants under stress at the very beginning of their growing cycle and is not a good idea because sometimes they never bounce back and don't thrive as well as they could have.

Mulching does help since it lowers the rate at which water evaporates from the soil and controls the soil temperature, so that is always a benefit if you must plant in the middle of the day.

The Best Weather To Transplant Plants

Transplants become less stressed when they are set out on a cloudy, calm day. There is some humidity in the air at that time, and no wind will mean less of a chance of the new seedlings getting dried out.

For more Gardening Tips and Gardening Advice visit our main gardening website at Weekend Gardener Monthly Web Magazine - http://www.weekendgardener.net/

Have great week!