In general, wait until the temperatures range from 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit to plant tender vegetables like corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, okra, summer squash and beans. Use a soil thermometer to make sure the soil is warm enough to plant.
Generally March and April, when the soil begins to warm, are the best months to begin sowing many hardy annual vegetable seeds outdoors including broccoli, cabbage, chard, carrots, peas and parsnips.
Timing for all planting is based on first and last frost dates. For example, if planting in hardiness zone 5, the last frost date is generally between April 1st – April 15th, and the first frost date typically falls between October 16th – October 31st. These dates will in part dictate when the best time to plant is.
Planting too early in cooler temperatures can cause stunted growth, wilting, surface pitting, foliage necrosis and increased susceptibility to disease. Low soil temperatures can stunt plant growth and prevent root development. Most summer vegetables like soil temperatures of between 55 and 65 degrees.
Early Spring - As Soon as the Ground is Workable
To determine if the ground is too wet to work, squeeze a handful of dirt in your hand, it should fall apart easily. If it sticks together the ground is too wet to work. Bareroot perennials, as long as they are dormant, can be planted now.
April is the best time to plant most of your vegetable seeds after your last frost for all zones. It's still not too late to plant tomatoes and peppers from seeds as well! Check out the below vegetables that can be started in April. Be sure to check your gardening zone for last frost dates.
Whether your garden goals for the year include a vegetable garden, a perennial herb garden, or general landscaping ideas around your porch, patio, pergola, or pool, April is the time to start planting.
Some farmers have been hesitant to adopt the practice of planting early because a late-Spring frost can reduce the yield potential gained by planting early. However, planting later not only reduces yield potential, but also presents the risk of an early-Fall freeze.
Transplant Shock occurs when a plant is uprooted or placed in a new pot and shows distressed symptoms afterwards. Plant Shock is a more generalized term that happens when there is stress due to abrupt changes in environment like temperature changes, water stress, over fertilizing, or drastic changes in light.
Light freeze - 29° to 32° Fahrenheit will kill tender plants. Moderate freeze - 25° to 28° Fahrenheit is widely destructive to most vegetation. Severe or hard freeze - 25° Fahrenheit and colder causes heavy damage to most plants.
Start peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, Swiss chard, and tomatillos indoors. In early to mid-April, direct sow early successions of radish, beet, carrot, lettuce, and parsnip outdoors. In mid- to late April, direct sow the second succession of radish, beets, and carrots outdoors, and plant potato slips.
Even if you already have beans, squash, chard, carrots and basil in the ground, and your plants are growing well, June is a fine time to start a second crop to have ready for another bounteous late summer harvest when the first crops of these staples have finished up.
Generally speaking, spring-flowering bulbs should be planted in the fall (a few weeks before first frost), while summer-flowering bulbs should be planted in the spring (a few weeks after last frost).
Fall is Good for Root Growth
Warm soil temperatures encourage root growth – more so than in the spring when the soil is still warming up. Plus, with the shorter days and cooler air temperatures, plants spend less energy on growing foliage and flowers and more on building a strong root system in preparation for winter.
The best month to plant flowers in spring is really down to the USDA hardiness zone you live in and the likely last frost date. This is likely to be from around March, but if you live in a northern zone, be sure to plant frost-tolerant perennials until you are happy that the risk to more tender flowers has passed.
Annuals to plant in March
Sow seeds of summer-flowering annuals such as zinnias, salvia, marigolds, petunias, and nicotiana indoors under lights. Move seedlings of snapdragons and pansies into a cold frame outdoors late this month.
Red clay susbsoil percolates at a very slow rate. When an organic amendment like peat moss it added to a hole dug into red clay subsoil, that creates what is called the bathtub effect. Soil amendments collect and hold water. Then, the water doesn't drain away at a sufficient rate to keep the roots from suffocating.
Any contact, be it with your hand, washcloth, or even another plant, will trigger a stress response in your plant. These stress responses often involve producing and releasing hormones and chemicals designed to deter herbivory or save your plant from becoming a snack for some curious cat.
'Sugar water can conversely cause damage to plants that are otherwise growing healthily by changing the way their roots absorb moisture and nutrients. Sugar water can prevent plants from getting the right nutrients from the soil and kill the plants instead of helping them.
The latest time to plant for most vegetables would be the second week in June with a short harvest time. If planting crops that mature within 50 days, you could plant those as late as the last week in June, but keep in mind the weather will be turning cooler, especially at night. Cool crops are best for late plantings.
In the presence of light, plants direct their growth toward the light. The growth that occurs at night tends to be vertical, unaffected by this daytime tendency to reach toward the light. Some plants may even grow faster at night because during daylight they focus their energy resources on photosynthesis.
Keep in mind that morning sun, which is cooler and less intense, is easier on shade loving plants then the hot afternoon sun. Plants that receive too much intense light will scorch if pushed into too much hot sun.
Flowers that come back up from their roots every year in the springtime are called “perennial” flowers. Some of the best perennial flowers to grow in a garden are peonies, daylilies, coneflowers, and hollyhocks.
Perennials are tough plants. They're less fussy about when you plant them or move them. Most perennials can be planted any time from the last winter frost through autumn. When planting or transplanting, dig a hole that's twice as wide and no deeper than the container, then backfill the hole with soil.