Did I jump the gun?

Thess3_13 4/18/2013, 5:36 pm

Every year about this time I get that "itch" to start planting...go figure! While at Home Depot I found tomatoes, peppers and many other veggies to purchase (which I did). It wasn't until I got home that I realized my calendar says I shouldn't plant most of what I bought until early May. I'm in Central VA. Temps have been in the 80's but our weather has been bizarre all year. Should I keep them in the garage for now and wait until May 5th as originally planned or do you think it's safe to plant in my SFG now? Many thanks!

plantoid 4/18/2013, 7:42 pm

Hi ,
Welcome to the site .
Therer are several people in your part of the world who should be along shortly to give you the local advice.

How long have you been doing Square Foot Gardening ?

**walshevak** 4/18/2013, 7:51 pm

Thess3_13 wrote:Every year about this time I get that "itch" to start planting...go figure! While at Home Depot I found tomatoes, peppers and many other veggies to purchase (which I did). It wasn't until I got home that I realized my calendar says I shouldn't plant most of what I bought until early May. I'm in Central VA. Temps have been in the 80's but our weather has been bizarre all year. Should I keep them in the garage for now and wait until May 5th as originally planned or do you think it's safe to plant in my SFG now? Many thanks!

I'm way south of you in NC and I'm still not putting my peppers and tomatos out yet. We had mid 30's last week. Probably would have survived, but would definately have slowed them down. My actual last frost date was tax day.

Kay

Andrea13 4/18/2013, 9:52 pm

I'm just a little north of you in MD.... I noticed that HD has their veggies on sale this week 5 for $10, and I'm oh so tempted to get some. I only have 4 squares available right now, until the cool weather crops finish up. Our 10 day forecast looks very favorable (well, no freezing), and I may take a chance and get a few things to fill up those 4 squares. If the weather shifts, it's pretty easy to throw a bucket or sheet over the small plants, ya know? It's not all that risky at this point, as long as you keep a close watch on the forecast. I say go for it Smile

landarch 4/19/2013, 12:50 am

many retailers don't time their garden plants very well...they sell tomatoes and peppers way too early and cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower way too late.

I think peppers thrive with warm days and cool nights (just like the desert SW)...and I've noticed that my peppers really don't crank up until late August through September where the daytime temps can be near 100 but the evening temps cool off quite a bit.

johnsonjlj 4/19/2013, 5:30 am

Even though I'm far south of you (in North Florida), we had the same problem here this year. We even had a freeze the first of April, when last year the last freeze date was late February or early March. I planted the end of March and had 2-3 nights of freezing temperatures after that. Just covered everything with blankets and buckets. Had a few plants damaged- black leaves- and had to do some trimming, but everything survived.

Judy McConnell 4/22/2014, 8:42 am

Yes, the other replies to this thread were from last year but thought this could be a "bump"

Went to my favorite nursery center yesterday and it had so many nice looking tomato plants that I got carried away and brought home 12 plants.

About a month early to set out, our usual date is 5/15 so these babies will become enclosed porch sitters. Have decided to try 5 gal buckets this year - for the tomatoes and peppers. Today will see my planting into small pots for the 4-packs and directly into the buckets for the larger plants.

Marc Iverson 4/22/2014, 2:02 pm

Good luck on the buckets. I"ll be doing a bunch of them too.

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Did I jump the gun?

Did I jump the gun?

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Ooops - too many tomato plants too early

Re: Did I jump the gun?

Re: Did I jump the gun?


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