Sadly, most homeowners don’t know the best months for planting. Knowing the best time to start a garden is key since it determines the planting project’s outcome.
Starting a garden at the wrong time wastes your time, effort and money. So, what month should you start a garden?
Well, the time to start planting varies depending on the plant and the climate of your geographical area.
Therefore, it is important to know the weather conditions of your area if you are planning to start a garden.
Fortunately, some seeds come with a planting manual that shows you the best time to start planting.
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Generally, April is the best month to start a garden. May is also an ideal time to start planting. But note that it is not compulsory to start a garden in April or May.
You can always start planting earlier and still obtain excellent results. It all depends on the plant you are growing.
What month do you plant vegetables?
As mentioned earlier, it is essential to start a garden at the right time. Growing vegetables will require you to start planting from around March to May.
Even so, it depends on the type of vegetable. For instance, vegetables like eggplants, potatoes, beans, and carrots might require early planting because they have to be harvested earlier.
On the flip side, vegetables like cabbages and beetroot require late harvesting; hence, there’s no need to plant them earlier. Thus, before planting vegetables, ensure you read and understand all planting guidelines.
Homeowners who use indoor gardening techniques can plant vegetables at any time of the year.
For example, if you use an aerogrow gardening system; you can start planting at any time of the year.
Consequently, you can harvest at any time of the year. Indoor gardening systems produce food for you throughout the year. Although expensive, these systems are worth the purchase.
What month do you plant peppers?
Can we be honest for a minute? No one enjoys spending lots of money on groceries. As a result, the majority of homeowners prefer planting vegetables in growbags and fruits by themselves. Doing this helps them consume fresh food and cut down their monthly budget.
Today, outdoor and indoor gardening systems can grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including peppers. When planting peppers, ensure you grow them on the best month for a successful harvest.
The best month to plant peppers
Typically, peppers need warmth for germination. Warmth promotes a robust growth of pepper seedlings. Additionally, pepper seedlings need sunshine to grow.
Therefore, plant peppers during early spring or late winter, two months after the last frost date. Doing this helps you obtain a successful outcome.
Sowing peppers
Sowing peppers requires you to place the seeds on the seed-starting mix. Leave a minimum of 2.5 centimeters between each seedling.
Then, cover the seeds with the mix. While doing this, ensure you put on protective gloves to safeguard your hands from blisters, among other forms of damage.
Also, be careful not to rub your eyes after planting peppers. After covering the seedlings, wet the surface using a spray water bottle.
If you want the seeds to germinate quickly, place the pot with the starting mix on a 21 degrees Celsius heated surface or mat.
Also, consider covering the pot with a plastic bag secured by a rubber band. Then, place it in a warmer area of the room like the window.
Remove the plastic bags once you see the seedlings sprouting up. Afterward, place the pots in an area with sufficient sunlight and warmth.
Leave them for several weeks before you can transfer each seedling into its pot. Be careful while doing this.
Ensure that you transfer the seedlings when they are still small but big enough to handle. Avoid touching the stems of the seedlings; transfer them by their leaves.
Planting peppers
As mentioned earlier, peppers thrive in areas with a lot of sunshine. So, please place them in an area where they can get direct sunlight for approximately eight hours a day.
Place pepper seedlings on fertile soil. Place each of them at intervals of 40 centimeters. If you don’t have a garden, you can use a large quality pot for this.
Ensure you use high-quality soil that prevents water from running off. After few weeks, you will start noticing the flower coming out.
Areas with cold climatic conditions will facilitate quicker growth, especially if the pepper is grown on your patio, in a sunroom or greenhouse.
Growing peppers
To foster an abundant and successful harvest, ensure that the plant is straight at all times.
You can do this by separating one plant from the other using canes. Once the pepper plant reaches a certain height, start pruning.
Trim a third of the plant using gardening shears or scissors. Doing this helps the plant grow much healthier. Also, the plants will produce more branches, hence creating bushier plants.
Immediately you notice the sprouting of flower buds, ensure the pepper plant gets enough potassium. Use a high-quality liquid fertilizer with high levels of potassium; tomato fertilizers always do a good job.
Moreover, keep watering the pepper plants to prevent withering. On sunny days, you have to keep watering the plant from time to time.
Harvesting peppers
You can start harvesting peppers once they have attained their final color. All you have to do is remove the pepper with pruning scissors.
Then, store them under low temperatures. The best thing about pepper is that it doesn’t need any preparation before consumption.
What’s the best month to plant tomatoes?
Like peppers, tomatoes thrive in the presence of warmth. Thus, you can plant them the same times as pepper; that is, early spring or late winter.
Planting tomatoes
When planting tomatoes, the first thing to do is to choose the most suitable starter plants. Gardening experts usually recommend selecting starter plants instead of seeds to facilitate rapid growth. Luckily, many companies sell tomato starter plants.
Select the best location to plant tomatoes. Ensure the place receives sunlight for approximately eight hours. This will help the tomatoes to grow healthier, stronger, and tastier.
Look for a large quality pot to keep your tomato plants from the ground. Also, look for a support plan that will help you grow your tomatoes well.
Place each starter plant 3 feet apart from each other to allow them to grow well. Ensure that you use high-quality soil that prevents runoff of water.
Consider using the best fertilizers to grow your tomato plants quickly. Use high standard potting mix like Miracle-Gro Performance organics to promote healthy growth.
It is best to plant tomatoes in a wide container to give them sufficient space to grow. Keep in mind that tomatoes thrive in soil with a pH of about 6.2 to 6.8. So, maintain the pH of your soil to this range. Additionally, tomatoes thrive on both major and minor nutrients. Ask fertilizer manufacturers about the best nutrients to use on tomato plants.
One of the main organic nutrients needed by tomatoes is calcium. Calcium keeps tomato fruits safe from getting blossom end roots. Feed tomato plants with minor nutrients by mixing three to four inches of compost.
Doing this provides nutrients for the plant and helps water retain moisture and fertilizer in the plants.
How to grow healthy tomato plants
- One of the best ways to ensure your tomato plant grows healthy and strong is by leaving only a third of the stem above ground when planting. Doing this fosters the development of roots underneath the soil. This way, the plant develops a robust root system that can draw water even during dry seasons. Nonetheless, note that this technique only applies to tomato plants. You cannot plant other plants using this technique. Even so, always read and understand all instructions from seedling manufacturers before planting.
- Always water your seedlings immediately you place them in the starting soil. This helps them stay firmly grounded in the soil.
- Give the plant both major and minor nutrients to promote healthy growth. You can do this by making soil compost using organic matter. Also, feed your tomato plants with the most suitable fertilizers.
- Prevent weeds from growing through mulching. Mulching also helps the soil stay moist for long periods; you can use shredded leaves to mulch tomato plants. Also growing your plants in well spaced garden rows will help in weeding.
- Keep watering your plants from time to time. On hot sunny days, you will have to water your tomato plants more frequently. Doing this protects the plant from drying and withering.
Best season to start your garden
The time to start a garden varies depending on the type of plant and climatic conditions.
But generally, gardening experts recommend starting a garden in April or May. Even so, you can always start planting your plants earlier.
Plants like tomatoes and peppers can get planted during late winter or early spring.
On the other hand, you can start planting vegetables like beetroot later because they usually require a late harvest.
All in all, it is important to start your small garden at the right time. Failure to do so would be a waste of time, money and effort. Before you start planting, ensure you are planting at the right time.