That's sure discouraging. Could you start some seeds indoors rather than put them out in the saturated ground, planting them when the weather clears up? I understand how upset you are. So sorry!

There is always "hope". That's just part of gardening. :)

But we - the gardeners - have to be flexible too and the weather this year in much of the country has required much later planting than normal. In some cases by several weeks. Those who ignored that fact and forced early planting or just used past planting dates as if they were cast in stone will have a heavy price to pay.

However, even in normal years I sure wouldn't have planted bush beans or squash much less okra yet. It would be way too early to plant them even in a good year.

Understanding the role that is played by soil temps and learning how to monitor it when it comes to planting seeds is vital to successful gardening regardless of the weather.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Temps and Germination of Seeds

That's really discouraging. Could you perhaps start things in pots indoors under lights? Salad greens and pea shoots would be ok done that way, and you could have a nice early salad while you're waiting to be able to plant outside.

Our daytime temps are in the upper 70s (and supposed to be 82 today!) but our nighttime temps are still in the 30s. I have my tomatoes and peppers planted out under floating row cover and they're doing quite well, but it looks like I won't be able to take the row cover off for another month! Lows are supposed to be 37 in the last week of May.

I had to plant my starts out because I started them in anticipation of our normal frost-free date, and they're growing too big for my light table. At least the row cover is keeping them safe outdoors.

What an odd spring this has been for everyone. It's hot and very dry here in NH where it shouldn't be, but the places where it should be hot and dry are cold and damp!

Of course there is hope for something. Different weather conditions will favor different crops. A cooler, wetter summer will favor things such as broccoli, cauliflower, etc. A warmer than normal summer will favor other things such as cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. The more diversity you have in the garden will insure that something at least does great.

At my place, the problem has been rain clouds passing through, without giving any rain. A hose mitigates that to some degree. The other problem has been wacky swings in temperature with highs in the upper 70s and 80s with lows in the 40s dropping two days later to a low of 17. Many of my plants and trees have not been happy at all with that.

Thanks for the encouragement. We have been running full tilt for months so when the weather ran 70's straight on and sunny, I planted. Last year as usual, I waited and by the time I went to plant Lowe's was sold out of peppers and Romas. Also, the squash beetles took everything. We hoped to beat it this year. The okra went in late last year, too but for some reason matured late (variety maybe?) and so the crop came in right before the hurricane hit in Fall. We have an acre and a half and are gradually converting an acre to growing. I used to think I had a green thumb but after spending time with all of you, I realize how little I know!!!

I'm sorry galiana, we can't grow anything indoors. There is not enough light nor space to grow. When I try, everything gets leggy and dies as soon as it is planted. It would have been a good idea though. I guess I will wait until the end of May to replant beans squash and okra. What do you think for Zone 6? The end of May?The mother's Day rule sure doesn't apply.

We generally plant things out in the last week of May, but check accuweather.com for the monthly forecast for your town and check to see when the nighttime temps will be reliably above 55 or so. I've been looking at accuweather every 5 minutes because I'm so anxious for planting season to really begin.

Actually the Mother's Day rule may still work for us IF the weather continues to be warm and dry. It is still a week away almost. But sounds like you planted well before Mother's Day. ;)

If not then yeah, it will be end of May for beans and squash and pepper plants.

Dave

There is no way my area of zone 6 will be ready in a week. Yes. I planted too much too early. We are adding 22 roses bushes and a small orchard this year as well as 8 new raised beds so I wanted to get the veggie gardens planted before everything arrived. Stupid. Thanks for the 55+ tip. I never check the monthly forecast thinking it is too far out. Next year I will remember to match my To Do list with the weather. Thanks to all.

I can so relate to this. It's been a miserable spring for gardening here. We operate a CSA and some of the things I was counting on having for our members just never got in the ground.

Hoping for a better summer and fall....

In Wi we are used to not being able to plant most things until mid to late May. The issue here is that until this week we havent even been able to plant cole crops due to snow snow snow. I had 8" last Thursday on May 2nd. If I had pushed for an early planting under my low tunnels, they would have been squashed under the heavy snow.

This week I will finally be able to put out the brassicas, potatoes, onions and peas. The 10 day forecast only has one night that will dip below 45 - day highs mostly in the 60's today it was over 75!

I was going to start hardening off tomatoes this weekend for planting last week of May since highs have been in the low 70's but now they're predicting low-mid 60's with a high of only 59 on Monday so going to wait until Tuesday (or later). Lows have been anywhere from 37-40 but some nights around 50! Finally getting some rain the next couple of days (and more on the weekend) so I am putting out my kale, broccoli, and spinach starts on Friday and seeding some lettuce, tatsoi, etc. on Monday hoping that it doesn't get really hot later this month and it all bolts. I never did get my peas or potatoes in due to snow in March and then a week's vacation in mid April. Not sure if it's worth doing peas now since in a month I'll want the trellises for tomatoes, cukes and pole beans.

But if we waited for lows to be consistently in the mid 50's it would be middle of June each year before we planted out tomatoes, so everyone around here takes a chance on lows in the high 40's and plants late May. At least the days are usually 70 by Memorial Day.

I just hope we get more rain consistently this summer than we've had the past 11 months or so. It's been very dry here (though not as bad a drought as MidWest), April was almost 4" below average and tomorrow will be the first rain we've had in nearly a month. The only reason everything's not all dried up already is because of the snow melt, though we haven't had our annual "mud season" this year.

I've been holding off sending in my fee for farmer's market waiting for some rain. If we don't get near normal this month I may just sell most of my seedlings (keep just enough to plant near the house for us) and give up on marketing. It was too hard trying to haul barrels of water out back to keep the potatoes and tomatoes going last year, the peppers didn't do much even with hand watering, and after a year of below-normal precipitation, I'm afraid of running the well dry this year.

I didn't know there was a z6 in MD.

I remember back in Connecticut Mothersday was the bench mark. In Atl. GA mid April. Now I am in Pacific NorthWest. Started a nice April. The I rushed to plant. Then it rained for ever. The it became like summer. Thanks, I am doing fine. Most the stuf I planted from seed (direct and in a box with platic cover..haha. My greenhouse) are doing just fine. Radishes are almost there with Bok Choy, Arugula. Basicalyy cool crops. We bought some tomatoes.
I lost some seeds (due to rotting) .
I was depressed to when it kept cloudy, damp and raining.

The good thing is that there is Home Depot near you to buy established plants.

In this area of PA, Lowe's is on some ridiculous schedule. By mid-April the cool weather crops are sold out but so are most varieties of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. I guess folks around here have greenhouses or cold frames. By early May, Lowe's has a few herbs and what is left of the early girl tomatoes. Home Depot sells mainly flowers as they are right next door to each other. I guess if I lose my Romas, I will call some stores in Maryland and drive down there. We are due to get freezing temps Thursday and Saturday nights. We are trying to rig a plastic cover so no more leaves get frost bitten.

Late spring here in upstate NY. I only got my peas and potatoes in last week. I plant a late variety of peas so I'm hoping they will go ahead and give me a decent crop. I have been hardening off my toms, peppers and eggplants for a week now, but since next week is going to be colder, I'm wondering whether or not to pot up. I think I will check with accuweather.
My set up for seed starting is a wire shelf unit from Target with shop lights hung from each shelf. It works very well in the basement. Takes up only a little floor space.
Keksi

After 6 inches of rain in three days, I am still a total optimist. The cabbage and broccoli don't seem to mind the rain, which never pools up in a terraced hillside garden. The shitakes are buttoning like crazy, but I can tell that the potatoes want sun as much as I do.

Keski, I tried that set up and the leaves turned yellow. Do you use some kind of plant grow lights?

Treehugger, can you revive some of your transplants that are already out by pretending you're in my zone? It's not unusual for gardeners here to put things like tomatoes out into the garden before the last frost date, we just give them protection - cloches, wall-o-waters, low tunnels, etc. I've covered with blankets overnight in the spring just like we would in the fall. If you've got them mulched, pull it off until the soil is warm.

My two car garage and huge shed are full of gardening stuff but I do not have the items you mentioned. I do have plastic. I will drape it over the cages the evenings that are too chill. You know if we calculated the cost per veggie, I am afraid to see what it would be. Yeah, I love it and the food is super fresh, no pesticides and all of that but seriously. Does it ever end or do you just get better at it?

A little of both, depending on the year. ;)

If you're going to try the plastic, make sure none of the leaves touch it. In the fall when we cover for frost, we don't care if we lose some of the outer leaves because at that point the plants can handle it. In the spring, though, you don't want to lose any. Make sure there are no gaps where frost can get in. Cover before sunset while it's still warm out.

Chilly only makes the plants sulk and slow down. It doesn't damage them. Frost kills. If there's not a chance of frost and you just want to warm them up a bit, wrap the plastic you have around the cage, but leave the top open for ventilation. If you have a bunch of empty 2-litre pop bottles, you can fill them up with water and make a circle around each plant (homemade wall-o-water). Both of these contraptions would be left on 24/7 as long as needed.

Yeah, it *is* a lot of fussing. I opt to grow super-short season varieties and just wait out the weather instead. Sometimes I use hot caps (plastic cloches), but quite often my transplants are too big for them. They do last many years, though, if you treat them well, so it's not money wasted. I have about 30 of them or so. Small cracks happen sometimes and I just tape them up. :)

To simplify things if you're expecting frost overnight, you could also just cover the entire thing with a really, really, REALLY big tarp (see pic link). This one finally bit the dust last spring. We'd had it for 14 years. Used it for all sorts of things, not just on the garden. Getting it up and over everything - especially the pole beans - was something of an art. Pic was taken in the fall (you'll see other odd blankets, old sheets and even cardboard boxes there), but the principle is the same in the spring.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:50858}}

treehugger,
I use plain old shop lights. You need to keep them about 2" away from the leaves. I use a timer to keep the lights on between 16-18 hours. Don't start seeds too early to keep them short. I also give the plants a little diluted seaweed/fish emulsion to feed them. Last year, my peppers turned yellow and purple, due to phosphorus lack. They did very well after I added some fertilizer to my seed starting mix, which had none in it. Actually, it was my best pepper year yet.
Keski