Too chilly to plant tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant?

 

When do we plant summer vegetables?

The soil needs to be warm!

Night temperature can be a guide to how warm the soil is.

 

 

For night temperature: use a maximum-minimum thermometer, or check the local weather listings.

For soil temperature: use a soil thermometer, or visit ipm.ucdavis.edu/WEATHER.

Going by the calendar: usually mid to late April for tomatoes, early May for peppers.

 

Why do we have them now?

Some gardeners like to buy small plants to shift them into larger pots for a few weeks before setting them out.

What happens if we plant too early?

Tomatoes will sit, discolor a bit, and then begin to grow as it warms.

Peppers and eggplant will sulk and be stunted all season. Peppers planted later out-perform peppers planted early.

To increase soil temperature:

--         turn in organic material and mound up the soil.

--         build a raised planter bed

--         cover the area with seedling blanket

Or, just wait! We'll have plenty in stock through May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information on vegetable gardening, visit our web site at