Skip to main content

Veggie Gardening in Hot Areas: Long or Short Growing Periods?

Contrary to popular opinion, long hot summers do not necessarily mean long growing periods for vegetable gardens.

Some vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and squash don’t do well when the weather is extremely hot for long periods. There are also many varieties which are resistant to common tomato diseases.

 

Growing Periods

Tomatoes

Vegetable gardeners who live in areas with long, hot summers should plant early maturing varieties of tomatoes.

In fact, starting them indoors before last frost date, and then planting them in the garden after any threat of frost, will give the gardener a little more growing time, and allow the plants to set fruit before the weather gets too warm.

Many heirloom and older variety tomatoes have longer growing seasons. Tomato varieties which mature and fruit in less than 60 days are the ideal ones to use in warm areas.

Here are some tomato varieties which have shorter maturity and fruiting dates:

  • Bush Early Girl – 54 days
  • Early Girl – 52 days
  • Early Wonder- 55 days
  • Glacier – 58 days
  • Buckbees New 50 Day – 55 days
  • Oregon Spring – 58 days
  • Northern Lights- 56 days
  • Siletz – 52 days

While some of these varieties have been bred for colder climates, they are all short-season maturing. Bush Early Girl, Early Girl and Early Wonder tend to do best in warmer climates.

 

Cucumbers

While cucumbers and squash need warm weather, they produce fruit in short seasons, usually 55 to 65 days.

Both vegetables should be planted in hills or mounds. Build mounds about a foot high and four to six feet apart. (The mounds allow excess water to drain away, which is what the plant prefers.) Plant four or five seeds in the top of each mound and cover with about an inch of soil.

Starting the seeds indoors, like tomatoes, when the weather is colder, and then transplanting into the garden after danger of frost has passed can extend the growing season.

Cucumber varieties with shorter growing periods include:

  • Armada – 54 days
  • Armenian – 65 days
  • Blitz – 51 days
  • Carolina – 52 days
  • Calypso – 51 days
  • Explorer – 52 days
  • Pioneer Hybrid Pickling – 51 days
  • Pot Luck – 55 days
  • Early Pride – 55 days
  • Straight Eight – 58 days
  • Sweet Success – 54 days

 

Summer Squash

Summer squash includes crookneck, straight neck, scallop and zucchini types. Interestingly, many gardeners have the mindset of “the bigger the better.” However, when it comes to squash, think the opposite.

In fact, gardeners usually pick summer squash when it is too large or overmature. Squash has a very short maturing time and grow very quickly. They usually reach maturity within four to eight days after flowering.

Squash should be picked when small and tender. Elongated varieties like zucchini should be harvested when about two inches in diameter and six to eight inches long.

The post Veggie Gardening in Hot Areas: Long or Short Growing Periods? appeared first on Downtown Homestead.



from Downtown Homestead http://downtownhomestead.com/long-short-growing-periods
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harvest and Store Garden Vegetables

Vegetables gathered at just the right time can be stored naturally or, in many cases, by deep freezing, for use months later in the kitchen. Nature, however, makes its own provision for over- winter storage and the survival of the species, which involves either the production of seed (peas, beans, etc.) or roots to remain in the ground to produce seed heads the following season (parsnips, carrots, etc.). Vegetables in this latter group store much better if left in the ground and lifted as required, or stored in clamps. parsnips can be left in the ground throughout the winter Root crops should never be stored in plastic bags, for they will invariably rot. If you have well- drained soils, where slugs are not a problem, a winter hardy variety of carrot such as ‘Autumn King’ is best left in the ground; carrots stored in sand or peat often shrivel, rot or go moldy. Parsnips are certainly best left in the row; frost improves the flavor but it is a good idea to lift a few at a time during...
Post a Comment
Read more

Air Condition Your Garden

July, it is the time of the year when air conditioning is as important in the garden as it is in the home. You, as the temperature rises, can cool off with an electric fan, a cool drink or by hiding away in a cool spot. Your plants are not quite that lucky; yet certain gardening techniques can be employed to help your plants through the summer months. The benefits of air conditioning in your garden will show up in the form of increased production, greater resistance to disease and pests and, in general, a more attractive vista. An improper over-heated environment during the warmer months often leads to wilt, dropping of buds and yellowing of foliage. Aeration of the soil is concerned with its exposure to the air. If this is lacking then your plants very likely will suffer this summer. Believe it or not but there are millions of tiny spaces between the soil particles and this is where air resides. Soils that become water-logged force out this air, a condition that leads to souring of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Biochar – Promising Way to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Imagine this: You have a garden or yard full of trees. Each year you prune and cut dying branches to make room for new growth. Each autumn you rake in several pounds of dead leaves, fallen fruits and other garden “leftovers.” What are you going to do? Ordinarily, you would just leave them alone scattered on your yard, where they would just decay or be buried in winter frost. You probably would clear out a fallen branch or two as well.   How to make Biochar Clear your garden of all living, organic material. Dig a trench approx 12 inches deep. Use a fork to loosen and turn the soil at the bottom. Pile brush in the bottom of the trench, approx 8 inches deep. Light the brush on fire, and allow it to smolder until the smoke thins and turns bluish-gray. Cover lightly with an inch of dirt and let it continue to smolder until it turns to charcoal chunks. Put out with water. Turn and mix the charcoal with the soil turned underneath and then fill in the trench. Continue the proce...
Post a Comment
Read more