Fall Planting

[BattleOfBennington]

Greetings -

I have always only done one planting in the spring of the year.

I am reading alot about fall planting dates.

Does this mean I should be culling beans, cukes, etc as we get close to mid summer, removing those old plants and putting new onesin the ground?

I am confused by spring and fall planting.

Anyone able to help decode this for me?

Thanks
C

[Ruth_10]

Fall gardens of heat-loving vegetables are for the most part restricted to the south, where they have long growing seasons. In Indiana you will have a limited opportunity for fall planting (more in the southern part of the state than the north).

Some vegetables do well in cool to cold weather and will even tolerate light frosts. Most of those plants fall into the Brassicca family. Thus you could harvest a fall crop of broccoli, cabage, kohlrabi, etc. To do this, you would need to start plants in mid summer such that they could be planted out in early August at the latest. (It can be difficult to direct seed Brassicas in mid summer because of insects and heat. I start mine indoors in the basement and grow them to transplant size under lights.)

Carrots and other root crops are a crop that you can direct seed, again in an early August time frame. Carrots can be harvested well into winter and are a treat.

As for cukes, beans, tomatoes--no, you probably don't want to plant a fall crop of those heat-lovers. Your cucumbers, beans, and tomatoes should continue to produce for you until your first frost.

You can do some succession planting with beans, cucumbers, squash, etc, by planting some, then waiting a week or two and make a second planting (this assumes you start from seed so have control). That way everything shouldn't come ready to harvest all at once, although often things have a way of catching up.

Hope this helps.

[Polar_Lace]

Cole crops Wikipedia: Species

Cruciferous vegetables

~* Robin

[BattleOfBennington]

Ruth, thanks, that is what I thought for my region.


very helpful indeed.

Originally Posted by Ruth_10

Fall gardens of heat-loving vegetables are for the most part restricted to the south, where they have long growing seasons. In Indiana you will have a limited opportunity for fall planting (more in the southern part of the state than the north).

Some vegetables do well in cool to cold weather and will even tolerate light frosts. Most of those plants fall into the Brassicca family. Thus you could harvest a fall crop of broccoli, cabage, kohlrabi, etc. To do this, you would need to start plants in mid summer such that they could be planted out in early August at the latest. (It can be difficult to direct seed Brassicas in mid summer because of insects and heat. I start mine indoors in the basement and grow them to transplant size under lights.)

Carrots and other root crops are a crop that you can direct seed, again in an early August time frame. Carrots can be harvested well into winter and are a treat.

As for cukes, beans, tomatoes--no, you probably don't want to plant a fall crop of those heat-lovers. Your cucumbers, beans, and tomatoes should continue to produce for you until your first frost.

You can do some succession planting with beans, cucumbers, squash, etc, by planting some, then waiting a week or two and make a second planting (this assumes you start from seed so have control). That way everything shouldn't come ready to harvest all at once, although often things have a way of catching up.

Hope this helps.