We haven't had fresh garden produce for months! The weather is mostly warm and greenhouses and garden centers are filling up with plants all over town. Some people are planting already and others say it's not time yet. Waiting to plant out the vegetable garden is taking all the self-control I have! How do you know when it is time to plant your vegetable garden?!

1. Know your last Frost date and plan according to your risk level and willingness to protect plants if the weather turns cold.
2. Be able to find/measure your soil temperature and know what it means for the crop you want to grow. Cool season crops like peas, lettuce, radishes, onions, potatoes, kohlrabi etc. can be grown at cooler temperatures than warm season crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash and melons.
3.Check your 10-day forecast to see if there is anything to work around. Warm season crops want overnight temps in the 50's and trending upwards. If the weather is 57 one night and 34 the next you might want to wait for more settled weather for better growing conditions.
4. Know your soil moisture. Mudding plants into wet soil can cause compaction. Planting seeds right before a big rain can mean your seeds get displaced and the soil can crust over making it more challenging for plants to emerge.
5. Consider the size of the plant. Small seedlings can struggle with too much sun, wind and rain and might benefit from waiting for better weather. Seeds can be planted if the air temp is cool and the soil temp is warm if the weather will improve by the time they germinate. Larger seedlings may do better in the garden than in a pot.
6. Consider what you are trying to avoid. We plant cool season crops earlier in more adverse conditions than are ideal because they like the hot weather in July even less and we want a good harvest. Lettuce and spinach will bolt and radishes turn spongy in hot weather. We want to avoid that. We start summer squash inside and set it out early so we can get a harvest before vine borers are a problem. We might also wait to plant zucchini until later so the vine borers are less of a problem. We don't start pumpkins in the first week of May because having halloween pumpkins ready to go in August presents a challenge in keeping them fresh until October.
7. Consider what you are trying to accomplish. We have about 160 frost free days here in central Iowa. Planting early helps us maximize our production. If I was a market gardener an early start might give me a harvest premium. Everyone has tomatoes in August, if you can get them to market earlier that is less competition and more money. Bragging rights are real. If you are growing indeterminate tomatoes a longer season means more potential yield.
8. Weigh your risks and rewards. Commercial growers have access to seed treatments and crop insurance that help mitigate some of the risks of early planting. We don't have those, so if we plant earlier than recommended we risk needing to replant and the cost of the inputs. We will have to be more vigilant of disease and watch the weather more carefully being prepared to protect crops as needed. Seeds sown early in cold wet soil frequently have a lower and slower germination and are more susceptible to rot and soil borne diseases. If you plant it just the right amount of early you can get an early harvest, bragging rights on the first ripe tomato, a nice harvest and maybe even avoid some pest pressure.

https://www.iowabackyardfarmer.org/sp...

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