In the Garden: Maximize your harvest with succession planting
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Make the most of every square inch of garden space and containers with succession planting. As you harvest your first crop of the season, consider replanting the space with a vegetable that will mature and can be harvested before the end of the growing season.
Start by calculating the number of frost-free days remaining in your growing season. Next, review the plant tags and seed packets for the number of days from planting to harvest. Compare these two to see if you have time to replant one or maybe even two more quick-maturing vegetables in that space.
Keep in mind that cool season crops like lettuce, spinach and radishes perform and taste best when grown and harvested during the cooler months of spring and fall. Consider using these quick-maturing vegetables as your last planting of the season.
Others, like broccoli, collards and kale, taste even better after a light frost. Planting these so they mature in fall is another way to extend the harvest for maximum flavor and nutrition.
Warm season vegetables, like beans and cucumbers, are perfect for a summer planting. They prefer warm air and soil for the best growth and productivity.
Here are a few vegetables you may want to include in your succession planting this summer. Leaf lettuce and spinach prefer cooler temperatures and depending on the variety are ready to harvest in 30 to 60 days. If you can’t wait for cooler weather, try growing more heat-tolerant greens, like Sandy and Red Sails lettuce, and although they are not true spinaches New Zealand and Malabar are more heat tolerant and provide a similar flavor.
End the season with a harvest of peas. Short varieties, like Patio Pride and Sugar Ann sugar snap peas and Maestro and Laxton’s Progress #9 shelling peas, are perfect for containers and small spaces.
Root crops make great additions to succession plantings. Salad radishes are ready to harvest in 25 to 30 days, beets in 50 to 60 days, and carrots in 60 to 70 days.
Bush beans prefer warm temperatures and are ready to begin picking in 50 to 80 days. Mascotte compact snap beans are productive compact plants perfect for containers and window boxes. You’ll start harvesting these in as few as 50 days.
Cucumbers and summer squash are another option for summer plantings. Vining varieties can be trained onto a support to save space or crawl over the ground. Bush types are perfect for containers and small spaces. Check the seed packet for the number of days from planting to harvest.
Increase the health and productivity of your second planting by preparing the soil before planting seeds and transplants. Mix an inch of quality compost into the top six inches of soil. You’ll improve drainage in heavy soil, increase water retention in fast-draining sandy soils, and add micronutrients that feed the soil, building microorganisms.
Once your seeds and transplants are in the ground, be sure to water properly. Keep the seedbed and roots of transplants moist the first few weeks. Gradually reduce watering frequency as seedlings sprout and grow and transplants become established.
You may need to adjust your succession planting schedule based on the weather. Hotter and cooler than normal temperatures can delay seed germination, harvest times, and flavor.
With a bit of planning, succession plantings, and regular harvesting you can enjoy fresh vegetables throughout the growing season.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine, and her website is MelindaMyers.com, which features gardening videos, free webinars, monthly gardening tips, and more.
