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Thread: What can I plant now?

  1. #1
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    Default What can I plant now?

    Looking for ideas for something that I can plant from seed now, July 15.

    Normally, I would have 75 days from now until a killing frost.

    I could try to plant carrots (again), a few radishes, turnips and beets.

    Acorn squash? or some kind of squash.

    Right now, I have some crookneck and spaghetti squash if the critters stop eating the plants.

    Thanks
    Plato once said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools, because they have to say something.”

    "Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." "Men willingly believe what they wish to believe."
    Julius Caesar

    There's no natural calamity that government can't make worse.
    Bill Bonner

  2. #2
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    Peas will produce well in the cooler fall weather, and will stand some frost. Getting them to sprout might be a trick (same problem you'd have with carrots and lettuce- the soil may be too warm for the seeds to sprout)

    IT's a LITTLE late, but you could plant some onion seeds, for sets for next spring. Plant them in a block or wide row, sown heavily... don't thin much. You want them crowded. They'll start bulbing quickly because the day length affects that, and you should get hundreds of dime size (the perfect size set) sets to plant.

    Here is a chart that shows germination percentages in various SOIL temps. This is where a soil thermometer is VERY useful.
    http://tomclothier.hort.net/page11.html

    Summerthyme

  3. #3
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    I guess I'm going to have to get me one of those soil thermometers.
    Plato once said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools, because they have to say something.”

    "Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." "Men willingly believe what they wish to believe."
    Julius Caesar

    There's no natural calamity that government can't make worse.
    Bill Bonner

  4. #4
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    Any way to cool the soil?

    Water and mulch?
    Plato once said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools, because they have to say something.”

    "Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." "Men willingly believe what they wish to believe."
    Julius Caesar

    There's no natural calamity that government can't make worse.
    Bill Bonner

  5. #5
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    Most bush green beans take 75 days and soil temp shouldn't be a problem. Also squash, okra and tomatoes for fall. You don't say where you are, but in Texas we have trouble with the soil being too hot for anything else other than what I mentioned. Won't work with beans, but many veggies can be started in the house to get them to germinate. It's immperitive that you get them outside the moment you see even the tiniest speck of green or they will bolt upwards toward the light and their stems will be too weak and spindly to live. It's just the temp. at germination that is the problem Many veggies germinate best at about 75-80 degrees.

    You could also plant in partial shade. I almost do anyway since it is so hot here. I have lush herbs on a shady patio. It's not a hard and fast rule that all veggies need full sun. (Beets, lettuce, and peppers will tolerate shade,) Full sun is really a matter of lumins, not bright blistering sun. If you have high headed trees it often works well. When the seed catalogs say, "full sun" oftentimes they are talking about full sun in VT where people can't even go swimming 'til August. Full sun in Texas is as much as 119 degrees in July. And it stays there for at least 3 weeks at a time. You can water all you want, but everything just cooks in the ground, wet or not. Pots are even worse. (veggies and herbs grown in those don't even have to be cooked.) LOL

    You can also use misters to cool the air without running a lot of water. They are cheap to buy and run as most of them will only use about 15 gallons a day. We use them on everything......livestock, chickens, plants and patios. We even have to have ceiling fans in our horse stalls. We use them on our swimming pool decks or otherwise we could never walk on them. The only way we can live in this hot climate.

  6. #6
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    Davy... sneak out at midnight, drop your drawers and sit on the soil... if it feels warm, it's over 100°!! LOL!!

    I don't know of much of a way to cool the soil, but I DO know how you can "trick" almost any seeds into sprouting, if you then think you can keep them well watered until they establish! Take a paper towel (or "good" quality TP, for regular rows). Unroll a length on your table, and spritz it with water to dampen- not soak.

    Sprinkle your seeds on at an appropriate spacing (a lot farther apart for something like peas than for lettuce or carrots). Lay a second layer of toweling or TP over it, spritz it lightly again, then roll LOOSELY and gently. Put the roll inside an OPEN plastic bag, and stash it in the fridge for 48 hours. Then bring it out, and put it in the coolest area of the house for another 24- 48 hours. After 24 hours, start peeking carefully at the seeds you can see. As soon as plenty of them have started putting out roots, take the roll out to the garden, (pretill and water the soil) unroll it, and water it in.

    IF YOU HAVE PUPPIES AROUND, this WILL NOT WORK. Ask me how I know!! LOL!

    If you planted larger seeds using this trick (beans or peas) sprinkle some soil on top of the toweling. Smaller seeds can't handle much... maybe a little peatmoss to try to help hold moisture (or lay a single layer of newspaper over the sprouting seeds, to shade and hold moisture). That's the biggest headache with succession planting- keeping the plants cool and wet enough for the first two weeks.

    Summerthyme
    Last edited by Summerthyme; 07-16-2013 at 10:55 AM. Reason: spelling

  7. #7
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    Davy... sneak out at midnight, drop your drawers and sit on the soil... if it feels warm, it's over 100°!! LOL!!
    Ummmm....
    What if I already do this?

    Just kidding
    Plato once said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools, because they have to say something.”

    "Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." "Men willingly believe what they wish to believe."
    Julius Caesar

    There's no natural calamity that government can't make worse.
    Bill Bonner

  8. #8
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    Well, then you'll already know if it's over 100 or not! LOL!

    Seriously, this was an old timer (lacking technology such as soil thermometers!) way of telling if the soil was warm enough to plant corn (which is pretty touchy, and rots in cold soils). If they could sit, um... bare arsed... on the soil in relative comfort, rather than freezing their you-know-what's-off, it was time to plant corn!

    Summerthyme

  9. #9
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    Somehow, I can't picture my dad sitting his bare arse in the dirt.
    Plato once said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools, because they have to say something.”

    "Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." "Men willingly believe what they wish to believe."
    Julius Caesar

    There's no natural calamity that government can't make worse.
    Bill Bonner

  10. #10
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    i just did that a little while ago....
    float like a butterfly...

    <img src=http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/image.php?s=fd42b01563865e774f96446ef657fe33&type=sigpic&userid=769&dateline=1223824178 border=0 alt= />
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    highly functional, paranoid, tinfoiler
    currently in charge of the aluminatorium

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