Some vegetables we don’t need to be afraid of planting across the southern half of Lower Michigan right now. But there certainly are some garden favorites that shouldn’t be planted just yet.
Let’s stick with the vegetable garden for now. And let’s start with seeds.
Seeds germinate based on the soil temperature at seed level. With recent very warm weather in the past few days, soil temperatures have warmed into the 50s. Some seeds will germinate in those soil temperatures, and some seeds will just sit there and rot.
The seeds that can germinate okay in cooler soil are beets, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, leaf lettuce, peas, collards greens, kale(yuck), kohlrabi(yummy), leeks, onions, parsley and turnips. Carrots may germinate in this soil temperature also. Any of these seeds should be able to handle a frosty morning or two after they germinate. If we do get a very cold night in the mid-20s yet in April, you might want to cover even these plants. Right now I don’t see a 25 degree morning in the next two weeks. I do think we will have a few mornings that touch 32 degrees for an hour or two.
This table shows the date when 90 percent of the time a certain temperature won't occur after that date. The first column is for the last 32 degree temperature and the second column is for the last 28 degree temperature. (Mark Torregrossa | MLive)
Vegetable plants that can take the cold are cabbage, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, and possibly head lettuce. You can buy these at your local greenhouse now and plant them.
Remember if you are planting seeds to just keep the top of the soil slightly moist.
A big summer favorite, sweet corn, could have some seed planted now. Most sweet corn will germinate at 50 degree to 55 degree soil temperatures. I’d give it a try with about one-third of your sweet corn seed. The soil temperature is probably going to go down to around 50 degrees in the second half of next week as some cooler air comes into southern Lower. Come back in about two weeks and plant another third of your sweet corn.
But what shouldn’t you plant now? We probably still have a few mornings with frost and temperatures down to around 32 degrees for a couple of hours. The obvious vegetables not to plant yet are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and any vine or squash. Green bean seed probably won’t germinate at this soil temperature, especially if the soil temperature is going to go down late this coming week.
I’ve tried to rush a tomato or two, and plant them early. The tomato plants just don’t like chilly, wet weather. Early tomatoes planted now may have a ripe tomato a week earlier than tomatoes planted in May. But I’ve found the quality is pretty poor on these stressed, cold planted tomatoes.
I’ve found the best bet for an early tomato is to buy the biggest tomato plant you can find in early May.
One last tip- we have rain coming later today, tonight and occasionally on Sunday and Monday. If you want to keep some of your garden from turning to mud, throw a tarp over a part of the garden today. When the rain stops next week, you’ll have a section that won’t be too wet to plant.
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April 10, 2021 at 10:25PM
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What to plant now, and more importantly what not to plant just yet - MLive.com
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