mean back to Memorial Day weekend — spring at last ! You spend a busy weekend jubilantly putting all of those seedlings in the earth , direct seed some veggie and thinking with joy of the garden feasts to come .
Now you swing off lettuce at the neighbors ’ homes before it all thunderbolt . The prickly-seeded spinach has get along and gone , and no more radishes or scallions remain .
Weeds sprout where the Japanese radish once grow . Tomatoes still are n’t ready yet . You planted all of those longsighted - season heirloom and beefsteak one that you know so much .
You start to marvel : “ How come the farmers market seems to always have leafy greens and radish to sell ! And they have other tomatoes , too . ”
What are those farmers doing that you ’re not ? It ’s no secret . It ’s simplysuccession planting .
Succeeding in Succession Planting
In a nutshell , successiveness planting means planting one crop after another to make more efficient use of space . The welfare of doing this far outweigh just a more efficient use of garden substantial estate of the realm .
Using ecological succession - planting techniques allows a grower to harvest successive crops throughout the garden season .
This means that you could tailor your planting so that you reap measure that are less potential to overwhelm you ( 24 foreland of lettuce ready to pick now ! ) . It have in mind that doing this will provide you with more salmagundi throughout the time of year .
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Using the garden place fully all season even means less chance for Mary Jane to establish themselves . Basically , succession planting has all positive degree and no negative . Once you try it , you ’ll clear how easy it is .
There ’s another technique , which is n’t straight succession planting , that will also leave you to spread out your harvest over the season . This is the planting at one time of several varieties of one type of flora ( tomatoes for instance ) that have dissimilar day to due date .
By found several varieties with different maturity date appointment , you may spread out your harvesting , with early , mid- and tardy season harvest of the same vegetable .
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The dates for planting will depart depending on yourUSDA ag geographical zone . The length of your grow time of year will determine how many plantings of a crop you may do .
As well , for those who live in places with very red-hot summers , some period of meter are n’t tractable to planting certain crops such as leafy greens .
Read more : Grow collard greens for year - round nutrition from the garden .
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Selections for Succession Planting
Any crop that has a short enough growing season that it does n’t need to invade garden outer space for the integral season is a undecomposed campaigner . Some obvious I include :
harvest that loosely are n’t suited to this are those that want a long growing time of year such as :
Then there are crop such as Allium sativum , which only occupy the space for part of the season and allow for a short - season craw to be planted there once the garlic is harvested .
Start by stimulate a list of the vegetables you bid to develop . Looking though the seed catalogue , note all of those that have relatively brusk escort to maturity . These will be your best candidate for succession planting unless you exist in a place with an exceedingly foresighted growing season .
You wo n’t necessarily want to just engraft the same motley of a crop each clip . Some varieties are better suited to nerveless leap plantings . Some crop care mid - summer heat well . Others will gayly produce into fall and shrug off easy frosts .
Daucus carota sativa , for representative , have mixed bag that are best become to fresh feeding and those that are known for their memory qualities . In that slip , you ’d need to plant an early variety for reinvigorated eating ( such as Yaya ) , a mid - summertime one ( Sugarsnax ) and a storage carrot ( Bolero ) .
This is a combining of true succession planting plus the proficiency of planting several varieties that have varied date until harvest , as well as feature such as best for overbold eating or storage . Sarah Marchant / Shutterstock
Don’t Forget Leafy Greens
Leafy green are a vast category of craw that are tailor - made for succession planting . Asiatic Green such as bok choy can be successfully planted in successive plantings every few weeks from early spring into mid - summer . In the South , fall plantings will also work well .
Lettuce is well suited for taking over planting . In other leap , a salad mix / mesclun for harvest home as child jet can be planted as soon as the solid ground can be worked . As well , a lettuce form or two that are quick to mature can be plant at this point for harvest as full heads .
Two to three calendar week afterward , imbed a lettuce kind or two that will tolerate more summer heat . Repeat after another two to three calendar week .
Working back 60 twenty-four hour period from your expect first frost escort , plant a crop of lettuce that will handle light frosts . So if you expect your first frost by Oct. 1 , you ’ll want to plant some cabbage by August 1 for an other fall harvest home .
Spinach really takes to succession planting . It can be seed in early fountain , as shortly as the ground can be knead . Plant some every week—10 sidereal day until early summertime , unless you live in an area with exceptionally cool summers .
Some varieties , such as Space , are better equipped to handle some summer high temperature . In mid - former summer , a fall crop of spinach plant can be inseminate .
In realm with red-hot summers , tetragonia ( aka New Zealand spinach ) can be grown , which will render some leafy greens during the summer season .
More Options to Consider
Broccoli responds well to chronological succession planting . Select variety that are best suit to other spring planting , mid - summertime maturity and late time of year use . Coupled with the harvest home of side shoots , this should provide a long broccoli harvest season .
Bush beans ( immature or yellow ) are also suited to successive crops being inseminate . Planting every two to three calendar week will offer a continuous harvest of bean plant until frost intervenes .
How many plantings will be determined by your last and first frost escort . enumeration back from the anticipated first frost appointment to determine the last possible planting for the season . As day duration and heat is decreasing then , add in more of a cushion .
For object lesson : If you ’re implant Provider , with a 50 - 24-hour interval adulthood , and your first frost is expected Oct. 1 , seed your last planting no later than August 1 .
Some crops such as beet , radishes and scallions lend themselves easily to succession planting . Just keep seeding every calendar week or two to keep well render all summertime . pea — shelling and comestible podded — can be planted for an early bounce crop and in tardy summer / early fall .
experimentation and see what works for you .
scan more : Here are 5 reasons every grocery farmer should grow beets in the garden .
Beyond Succession
Some crop varieties , due to varied maturity dates , can be planted at the same time yet supply a longer crop period . This is like to succession and is a valuable proficiency to carry your harvests .
As the plants or seeds are begun at the same time , it ’s quite easy .
Corn Considerations
sure harvest add themselves well to this such as corn . An added benefit to plant several varieties of corn whisky with dissimilar maturity date is that this allows you to establish topnotch - sweet and non - super - sweet corn in a small garden without the risk of cross - pollination between form .
For corn , you could do reliable succession planting by planting the same multifariousness every 10 days or so , to offer a continuous corn harvest home . However , you could also implant several variety at one time that will mature at least 12 days aside .
If the topnotch - seraphic and non - super sweet varieties are plant this way , they are improbable to cross - pollinate . Michael Ebardt / Shutterstock
Tomato Time!
Tomatoes lend themselves to the enjoyment of varieties with different maturity dates to spread out the harvest . A cherry tomato and a low salad - character could be implant to supply early time of year tomatoes .
A determinate tomato variety is utile for this , but some undetermined variety will also create very former season crops .
A main time of year salmagundi is plant as well to take over for mid - summertime output . A later long - season heirloom or beefsteak eccentric can also be planted provided it will grow in your neighborhood . If canning is on your to - do list , a paste tomato plant works wonders .
All of these tomato plant could be started at the same time , yet will render a longer tomato harvest flow as they have a variety of adulthood date .
Fertility is Key to Success
When doing chronological succession planting , keep in mind that safe territory fecundity is needed to cater optimal condition for each crop . Adding compost or other plant food during the time of year is wise . Row cover or cold frames can extend the time of year at both end .
Good seed catalogs provide a wealth of info on dates to adulthood and recommendation on varieties well fit to planting at different metre in the season .
Happy planting !
Sidebar:Not a Perfect Science
Crops farm at different rates depending on factors such as grunge and air temperatures , moisture , day length and increase versus decrease mean solar day duration .
give this , it ’s not as if you could just plant six heads of clams each and every week and expect to harvest six newly matured heads each calendar week .
When lineal seeding , crops started a few weeks apart might suppurate at the same time if the filth temp was quite nerveless for the early one and warm up by the clip of the subsequently planting .
Succession planting crops take some trial - and - misplay and fine - tuning . Keep note of what you plant when , if it was verbatim seeded or utilized seedling , and when it was ready to glean .
Sidebar:Consider This
Once you start out thinking about succession planting , you should start to consider the wide-ranging uses you wish for your harvest .
Do you plan on doing any preserving such as canning , drying , fermenting , pickling , etc . ? Do you have a ascendent basement to store some crops in ?
These considerations will impact which varieties you implant and when .
Obviously , repositing carrot should be grown so that they are ready to glean quite late in the season , when they can go into a root wine cellar . This would order their planting particular date .
Planning ahead is central . Before you start to constitute , sketch out a garden plan and note where you want to plant what . For representative , in the cylinder block devote to early radishes and spinach , inseminate a harvest of bush beans when the space open up . After the garlic is harvest , pop in a fall spinach plant harvest .
Consider what your optimal harvesting amount are . How much bread would you go for to have available each workweek ? If you ’re unlikely to use more than six heads of lettuce / calendar week , implant 24 seedlings at a time is n’t wise .
alternatively , broadcast out the planting so that the quantities useable will more closely resemble your usage targets .
This article originally appeared in the May / June 2021 payoff ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
