It's time to start planting fall vegetables in the garden. Here's what to know.
Most people associate summer with vegetable gardens. As fall arrives, we tend to put the garden to bed, but it’s not too late to continue to enjoy your garden and to add new plantings.
You can grow a variety of produce in Tri-State gardens in the coming weeks and have several fresh items available well into the fall ? typically, until our first frost in mid-October.
Fall has another great advantage for vegetables: cooler nights later in the year can increase the sugar content of many crops and thus increase their quality.
Cooler nights also slow growth, so your crops can take longer to mature than in the summer. Keep this slower pace in mind when you check seeds for days to maturity.
Early August is the right time to make your last planting of bush beans, carrots, sweet corn, kale, collards, bibb lettuce, turnips and cole crops such as kohlrabi, Chinese cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. For late August and into September you can try planting mustard greens, spinach greens, radishes, turnip greens and leaf lettuce.
It is important before planting to remove any existing debris, including crops and weeds from your garden bed, move them to the compost bin and then prepare the soil.
Plant debris harbors insect eggs and pathogens that could potentially infect your new fall crops. Removing old debris will also help ensure your seed contacts the soil which is very important for good germination.
If the previous crop was well-fertilized and grew vigorously you may not need to add much (if any) fertilizer, otherwise apply about two to three pounds of a complete fertilizer such as 5-10-10 or 10-10-10 per 100 square feet of planting area.
It is a good idea to get your soil tested if you haven't done so recently. A soil test will tell you what major nutrients the soil is lacking and the soil's acidity level.
Remember to keep fall gardens well-watered as this tends to be a fairly dry time in this region. A weekly irrigation sufficient to wet the soil to six to eight inches should be adequate. This is more or less equivalent to a weekly one-inch rain.
A good layer of mulch such as leaves or straw will help conserve water and reduce weed pressures.
Typically, in the fall, insect pressures are significantly worse than early spring so be prepared to protect your plants with an insecticide or neem oil. Make sure to identify the insect first and select the correct product to apply.
P. Andrew Rideout is the UK Extension Agent for Horticulture and can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: What vegetables can I plant in the garden for fall?
