What are your recommended transplants to start for the fall?

[aswell]

Hi tomatoville,

I'm a home gardener new to growing my own food. I'd like to continue getting food production into the fall, but I've never had what I'd call a successful fall garden before. I'd like to do what I can now to prepare.

Our garden beds are full now, so I though I could start some transplants. Are there more experienced people out there who have some recommendations for transplants to start in the summer for a fall garden?

We like to eat all manner of greens, herbs, and other vegetables, so we'd especially appreciate recommendations that are delicious!

[GoDawgs]

I'm making my fall garden plans now. Here's a list of what I'll be growing and about when I'll be starting sets and/or direct seeding. Keep in mind I'm farther south than your location so start times for you might vary.

Bush Bean, Contender - planting Sep 4-5. It's a 40-50 day bean so finishes fast and produces lots for me. I hope so because this heat is treating my spring beans badly!

Broccoli, Packman - Stagger starting four sets of three plants each every 7-10 days starting mid July for fresh eating so I won't have a ton of broccoli at once. Learned my lesson! Packman also produces a ton of side shoots after the initial harvest if you keep them fertilized.

Cabbage, Stonehead and Charleston Wakefield - Starting sets Sep 4-5. Stonehead is round and a 50-60 day cabbage. The Chas. Wakefield is a 70 day pointy headed variety developed for the South. Tasty too!

Carrots - Still undecided as to fall variety but will sow them Sep 4-5.

Cucumber, National Pickling - sowing mid July. A 52 day variety. Doing just a few for fresh eating as the spring batch is kicking out a lot right now and will handle all the pickles I want to do.

Collards, Vates - A 68 day variety; starting just 3 plants on July 21. For just two of us, three plants is a plenty along with the kale. Collards and kale last all fall, winter and spring here.

Kale, Premier - A 60 day variety; starting just 3 plants on July 21. I used to grow just Dwarf Siberian but found that Premier has larger leaves and held up in very cold winter weather as well as the Siberian. Both are more flat leaf than frilly. Frilly gives aphids too many nooks and crannies to hide and multiply in.

Field peas (aka Southern peas, cow peas), Big Red Ripper - I will plant these in the corn rows once I pull the stalks out. Probably mid July. This is a large rambunctious field pea that produces heavily for me.

Peppers - Down here spring peppers just get going well and start producing and then the heat mid June through August slows them way down. But if you can just keep them alive they'll bounce right back and produce in the fall for you until frost.

Radishes, round and daikon - Succession plant these when the weather cools down. I like French Breakfast. If you do daikon (I love 'em!), prep the soil deeply and give them 6" spacing. The tops will get huge.

Scallions, Warrior - A 60 day variety. I do my sets from seed. They take about 2 months to make 1/8" wide seedlings so I will sow some market packs July 11 for mid September or later planting, depending on how hot it is.

Tomatoes, Summer squash/zukes - I started one of each squash and three more tomatoes on June 15th for planting in 15 gallon buckets rather than down in the garden. I want to keep an eye on them as well as protect from the nematodes that love the hot weather.

Turnips, Purple Top - A 55 day variety that has consistently produced for me. Sowing 18' of them (one side of a raised bed) Sep 4-5 and I'll probably stagger the planting into two groups, ten days apart. One can have too many turnips ready at once!

If you do bulbing onions and garlic, that is October planting here.

If you're wondering about my use of specific sowing dates, it's because I've been playing with the "planting by the moon" thing for two springs/falls now. Certain dates are listed in the almanac as being better for above or below ground crops not just because there is a waning or waxing moon but also certain zodiac signs. So far it seems my plants are doing better than before but that could be for other reasons too. Too many variables. But it gives me something to play with.

[aswell]

Thank you! This is a wealth of information.

[pmcgrady]

I just stated a bunch of Red cabbage, Flathead Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts... It's up!

[JRinPA]

I can't claim to have years of experience with fall gardens, but I'm getting a little more each season. Last year I sowed peas in the shade of my tomato rows. Those tomatoes came out a little early and up with the trellis. Cascadia snap peas are nice and quick for fall planting. Early August is the time for that here (6B/7A). This year they may go in first sweet corn block, after picking.

I am also planning to start some cauliflower for fall transplants fairly soon. My brussel sprouts are in the ground (and some pots) for a couple weeks now.

Parsnips are pretty neat, if you have any spot left for root crops get them in ASAP. Black Swallowtails love the tops and lay eggs there. In late fall you can mulch them and dig them up at will throughout the winter.

Here is a chart I really like for general guidelines. This is zone 6, but also look at the zone 7 chart to compare. One example, zone 6 cauliflower is considered spring only, but as I understand for my area, cauliflower is an iffy spring crop that might fail, but a guaranteed fall crop. So, grain of salt, as zones are just guidelines.
https://www.ufseeds.com/learning/pla...nting-Calendar

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by JRinPA

I am also planning to start some cauliflower for fall transplants fairly soon. My brussel sprouts are in the ground (and some pots) for a couple weeks now.

I envy you your cauliflower and brussels! After repeated failures at cauliflower I finally read where the early spring and the fall (even winter) temps are too variable here to do cauliflower. They like a more steady cool temp and we're subject to streaks of warm spells.

Brussels never head up for me. Only little loose heads. Go figure as cabbage does just fine.

[JRinPA]

Fairly soon was probably not the best wording. Might be the end of July to start them. But I do plan to try some. I am picking broccoli for a couple weeks now, and boy is it good compared to supermarket stuff. I am down to two healthy cauliflower plants, with no sign of a head yet on either as yet. When the time comes, I hope to have good transplants of both of them and whatever other short season crops I have seed for. May try red beet transplants this fall as well. These beds need to be kept in use!


This is only my second year at brussel sprouts. They were superb for a neighbor two years back, but he lives down by they crick through town, and has lots of groundwater for brussels sprouts. I had to try some last year, and they were so so for me with lots of worm damage. I didn't really fertilize at all. This year, so far so good in the raised bed with a rubber "trench" I can fill easily to irrigate. It has been so dry, there are very few cabbage moths as yet.