WOW! NO WINTER AT ALL THIS YEAR, FOR THE MOST OF US…

March plantings are not much different from February’s, but the important thing is this:

MARCH IS THE LAST BIG PLANTING MONTH FOR THE SPRING SEASON.

With April’s warmth, the number of things you can plant drops drastically and then in May, June, and July there are really very few things you can plant at all… you need to have the plants growing already.  Heat and humidity will affect plant growth and productivity – and so will the bugs and diseases!!

So here’s the list for March

COOL WEATHER PLANTS

• Beets
• Carrots
• Collards
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• Mustard
• Onion – multiplier, bunching
• Peas
• Radish
• Turnip

WARM WEATHER PLANTS

• Beans – bush, pole, lima
• Cantaloups
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Okra
• Southern peas
• Peppers
• Sweet Potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Summer Squash
• Winter Squash
• Tomatoes
• Watermelon

Remember though, this is just a generic list.  At your house in your gardening, things aren’t going to be generic.  Yours may be warmer, cooler, sunnier, shadier, dryer, moister, more fertile, different pH, more organic matter, yadda yadda yadda… than the average generic garden.

Look around your garden world.  Observe what and where things are growing, sprouting, the color, the health, moisture, disease… and use this information combined with a little common sense to guide your garden planting decisions.

WOW!  Looks like we might have another mild to winterless year (from about Orlando south anyway)… 5 in a row.

That’s good, but it’s bad.

Good because we get extra growth, don’t have cold damage dieback, soil flora and fauna grow faster building that good rich soil, planting season is extended, more time to enjoy the outdoors in our garden paradises…

Bad because no freeze means no killing off some of the bugs or at least slowing them down, and bad because it gives us a false sense of “Spring is here” so we plant and then get a frost or freeze that destroys our seedlings and transplants.  The fruit trees and bushes get confused and bloom when they shouldn’t, and there won’t be enough ‘chill hours’ that some fruits and berries need to produce, ripen and sweeten fruit – including citrus.  The greens don’t get that touch of frost/cold to make them sweet…

Regardless of whether we have any winter weather or not, there is a lot of planting to be done in February.

This list is not carved in stone.  It is only the recommended list of the FL Extension Service — which means it’s general.  Your yard is not identical to their test plots.  Yours may be cooler, warmer, wetter, dryer, higher, lower, more sun, less sun, protected, exposed… and then there are the micro-climates all over the place. 

Experiment.  Chinese cabbage and spinach are not on the list for February, but I want to plant them.  So, I’ll find a spot in my yard that’s a little bit cooler and has a little less sun than the rest and plant some Chinese cabbage and spinach there.  If it works, GREAT!  If it doesn’t, nothing lost.  It’s worth the chance.

WARM WEATHER PLANTS

• Beans – bush, pole, lima
• Cantaloupes
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Sweet potatoes
• Pumpkin
• Summer Squash
• Winter Squash
• Tomatoes
• Watermelon

COOL WEATHER PLANTS

• Beets
• Carrots
• Celery
• Collards
• Endive/Escrole
• Kohlrabi
• Leek
• Lettuce
• Mustard
• Onion – multiplier, bunching
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Radish
• Turnip