Planting lettuce and spinach today

16 years ago

Finally, am getting lettuce, spinach, beet, bok choi,and swiss chard seed into the ground. And tomato, broccoli and pepper onto the garden bench. Just got the peas and onion plants transplanted on Sun--a good week later than I usually do, but last week was just too cold. HAs anyone else started planting outside yet? Dorothy

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Comments (4)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
16 years ago
Other than onions, garlic, shallots, rhubarb and potatoes, no. It is just too muddy here at the moment. As soon as the mud dries up a little, though, I'll be a planting fool!

Have fun today.

Dawn
sagenscotties
16 years ago
Today I set out my onions, leeks, turnips, bulb fennel, and artichokes (no idea how that last one is gonna do). My tomatoes & eggplants are sunning on the back porch. It was insanely beautiful today. Now watch mothernature crush me next week or something.
Anyone setting out flowers yet? Too cold yet for zinnias & marigolds right?
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Last year the lettuce seed got washed out twice by heavy rains. I thought they germinated better indoors if they were covered? I put domes on the flats yesterday, the lettuce got some afternoon sun so a little condensation - think I'll need to take the dome off this afternoon? But the seed is planted so shallow, I don't want it to dry out. I do have a south-facing window by the basement door, I can move them down there if you think that's better but not in the next week - they might freeze. Or since my racks are still set up from trying to ripen tomatoes, I can set up grow lights on those (farther from door), but I don't know if lettuce needs *that* much light before it germinates. I really should have planted peppers yesterday - hard to believe our last frost is only a little over 2 months away (I hope). Winter weather advisory tonight - tomorrow's high will be 17, low 6 with wind chills below zero. Sat might be warm enough (though rainy) to melt more snow and seed more flats out in the garage - I'll do the peppers then. Maybe tatsoi too, depending on what the 10-day forecast says. Right now looks like snow early next week, waiting to see what the first day of spring will be like!
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You must use summer lettuces if you hope to have summer lettuce--Batavias and any others listed in good catalogs as being heat tolerant. You must keep the seed well watered too. Even then, it's sometimes too hot for good germination. I'm not sure how successful you'd be in zone 7--hard enough in zone 6. Some shade, as mentioned would help. Spinach is impossible. It bolts from a combination of lengthening days and heat. Even here, spring spinach is best sown in late September and overwintered. I'll be picking my first spring harvest today.
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I have fairly large size spinach already growing from seeds in the ground left over from last year. So far, I've planted lettuce, argula, broccoli rabe, onions, potatoes, peas and Swiss chard.
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My how things change! I've abandoned the cold frame to have the soil worked and amended, but I grew bodacious iceburg and romaine lettuce in the big planter, a new planter. They were gorgeous. And with the weather and moisture we've had I gave up on them bolting and tossed them into the rabbit hutches. They were all about 18" high. I couldn't help but notice the white juice that bled from the stalks that were torn. How nutritious! When the rabbits saw me coming with these they would jump and pounce on the side of the cage and use their teeth to swing the cage doors open. But we didn't like the flavor.. especially the kids. Even when young and tender they seemed too bitter and too aromatic. I think I have many different varieties on hand. I've always had trouble establishing meslin mix and wanted to establish that so I can try the differences. I'm assuming the cool weather creates a sweeter lettuce. Hope so.
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
16 years ago
Artichokes have done well for me here. The key is to set them out early, which you've done, since they need a long season of growth. Some of them are perennial for me here in zone 7B.

You've been busy too. I agree with the "insanely beautiful" comment! And tomorrow should be even more insanely beautiful.

And you know that it is still too early for zinnias and marigolds, don't you? Yes, I thought so. A few pretty days can make us lose our minds and plant zinnias and marigolds in early March and then Mother Nature sends a cold spell to punish us.

I try to restrain myself and not plant zinnias or marigolds until it is warm enough to plant corn. How do you know when it is warm enough to plant corn? When the leaves on the white oaks are as large as a mouse's ear. (How's that for old-time garden lore.) Zinnias and marigolds do best if you wait and set them out once the soil temperature is consistently 70 degrees or above. You can plant them earlier, but they'll just sit and sulk.

Here in southern Oklahoma, our soil temps are in the upper 50s, so yours farther north are probably in the upper 40s to lower 50s. A few warm days can warm up the soil pretty quickly, though, as long as the nighttime lows are not going too low.
soonergrandmom
16 years ago
I got my sugar snap peas in the garden today. Most were about 6 inches tall and starting to form tendrils. Thought I had better put them near something to climb on. Hope the animals leave them alone. The fox have reduced the rabbit population but I still have lots of squirrels around. They love to check the newly tilled earth to see if they have walnuts buried there.

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Planting lettuce and spinach today

Comments (4)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

sagenscotties

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Okiedawn OK Zone 7

soonergrandmom

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