![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillThe cucumbers and regular basil have gone in -- the lemon cukes are seeds, but the Armenian and Cool Breeze are small transplants.
One thing I learned over the last couple of years is that proper timing is really important. I used to plant my peppers too early, which is why they never thrived -- they simply didn't recover from the chill, and stayed stunted all season. Conversely, last year I planted my tomatoes too late, and a third of them died from Fusarium when they were too young to bounce back (while the peppers tried to take over).
So this year I'm separating things out -- tomatoes first, while the soil is cool, along with the squash, beans, and some flowers. Then the tomatillos. Now I've got the cukes and basil in, and I'll hold off for a little longer before I put in the peppers, melons, and Thai basil. Finally, the hot weather stuff -- the sweet potatoes and okra -- will take up the rear. If I've done it right, nothing will stunt, and I'm going to finish off by Memorial Day so that (hopefully) nothing will fry either.
As the garden gets larger, this also makes planting less of an all-day push. I can go out and spend a half-hour putting cucumber seedlings in, then it's another week before I have to plant anything else. As long as I have the bandwidth to track the weather and what still remains to be planted, it works really well.
I'm trying to allow the celery and parsley to go to seed... the last pepper will have to share some root space with the parsley, but the Thai basil still isn't even showing in its pot yet (there's celery in its spot) and the other celery plants are shading the young tomato starts. So I think it'll work out.
One thing I learned over the last couple of years is that proper timing is really important. I used to plant my peppers too early, which is why they never thrived -- they simply didn't recover from the chill, and stayed stunted all season. Conversely, last year I planted my tomatoes too late, and a third of them died from Fusarium when they were too young to bounce back (while the peppers tried to take over).
So this year I'm separating things out -- tomatoes first, while the soil is cool, along with the squash, beans, and some flowers. Then the tomatillos. Now I've got the cukes and basil in, and I'll hold off for a little longer before I put in the peppers, melons, and Thai basil. Finally, the hot weather stuff -- the sweet potatoes and okra -- will take up the rear. If I've done it right, nothing will stunt, and I'm going to finish off by Memorial Day so that (hopefully) nothing will fry either.
As the garden gets larger, this also makes planting less of an all-day push. I can go out and spend a half-hour putting cucumber seedlings in, then it's another week before I have to plant anything else. As long as I have the bandwidth to track the weather and what still remains to be planted, it works really well.
I'm trying to allow the celery and parsley to go to seed... the last pepper will have to share some root space with the parsley, but the Thai basil still isn't even showing in its pot yet (there's celery in its spot) and the other celery plants are shading the young tomato starts. So I think it'll work out.
