what is bolting and how do you prevent it?

14 years ago

My gardening zone is 4 and I live in Boyne City Michigan; this town is in the northern part of the lower peninsula.

I have an idea of what bolting is. I know it effects cool weather vegetables; most of what bolting effects is leafy green things like spinach, cabbage, bok choy, lettuce,

and cabbage. I know bolting also is a problem with

broccoli and cauliflower.

When the weather becomes too hot they start to produce flowers and go to seed. Then what you're growing is essentially ruined because it makes the vegetable taste bitter.

I know that the main cause of bolting is when the weather becomes too hot. However I've also heard another cause

of bolting is when you plant stuff in summer and then the days make the transition from becoming longer to becoming shorter.

I planted spinach and romaine lettuce in about Mid-July.

It's starting to become darker earlier. Unfortunately there is really not much I can do about the days becoming shorter.

I know that cool weather crops should be planted in spring and that it's riskier to plant them in mid-summer because it's hotter. However I just recently relocated to Michigan.

I arrived here in June and realized that when I started to plant stuff it was late start, because I didn't plant

most of my stuff until about mid-July.

I am growing daikon radish, which is a white variety of radish that is bigger and longer than red radishes. I see little clusters at the top of the plant that look like

flower buds. I don't know if it's possible for daikon or any variety of radish to bolt. However is what I just described bolting in daikon? Will it ruin the flavor of my daikon and should I just pull it up and start over?

How can I prevent bolting? Next year I would like to try and plant stuff in spring, but when in Michigan is the ideal time to plant stuff? What is considered the beginning of the growing season? I've never tried to grow stuff in Michigan before so I don't know what is the beginning of the growing season in Michigan, when it's too late to plant stuff, and when is the end of the growing season in Michigan. I don't know what the first and last frost dates are, and even if I did I don't understand what those terminologies mean. If somebody could please clarify then I'd appreciate it.

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Comments (2)

denninmi
14 years ago
Overall, you've got a pretty good handle on it. Bolting is influenced by temperatures, daylength, soil moisture and fertility, variety/genetic factors among other things.

Daylength is a given -- lengthening days in late spring and the long days of early summer promote bolting. Now, days are going the other way, which helps prevent it in some crops, actually, but the effects of other things like heat stress can still cause it even in short day conditions.

If your radishes are starting to make tall stalks and flower buds, the odds are the roots aren't going to be very edible, generally will be woody and hot, so they should probably go to the compost.

In your part of Michigan, your last frost is probably around May 30th, and your first frost probably around October 1st. Your county extension office can tell you more precisely, or pick the brain of someone at a local garden center.

There isn't any one ideal time to plant things in the spring, it depends on what you're planting -- some things need to go in as soon as you can work the ground, others later as the season progresses.

By the way, sorry I never answered your second e-mail -- I got a really bad summer cold for a couple of weeks. I read it when I was sick but never got back around to it. Hope someone answered your soil related questions.

Dennis
SE Michigan
knittlin
14 years ago
Bolting is simply a plant flowering. The best way to prevent it (and only way I know of) is to plant at the correct time since, as you said, when conditions are right (or "wrong" ;) they'll do it almost no matter what you do. Down here in Texas, we can't grow cool season things in summer or they'll bolt no matter what we do. Broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage, etc., all will flower when temps get up above 85 and stay there. So we plant all those things to grow during winter.

I wholeheartedly agree with the advice to ask your local county extension agent or a local garden center when your first and last frosts are. Those dates are simply the beginning and end of the growing season for warm season veggies (ones that are killed by a frost). Those dates are only guidelines. They are different from zone to zone and even can be different county to county in the same state, hence why it's important to ask gardeners/county agents near you. And they're only averages, so there's no guarantee a frost won't happen after the spring date or before the fall date. It's a good idea to be prepared for either.

Here's how to use those dates:
Say you want to plant tomatoes ~ they're killed by frost, so the best time to set them out is after the average last frost date (in spring). How much after is up to you ~ if you do it right on the average last frost date, that means that there's only a %50 chance of another frost, so you may want to plant them a couple weeks after that. You can surely do it earlier, but just be prepared to cover them just in case.

Using the average first frost date in fall ~ say you want to plant some bush beans right now and they have a Days to Maturity (DTM) of 65 days. Count the days from today 'til your first average frost date ~ if it's really Oct. first, then you have only 43 days. So you know those beans probably won't have time to mature before a frost kills them.
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what is bolting and how do you prevent it?

Comments (2)

denninmi

knittlin

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