Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

This reminds me of a question I have been wanting
to ask. Last fall I had a large beautiful crop of mature chard and New Zealand
spinach. Just before the cold hit, my husband and I put up a hoop house over
it. Because I knew temps would drop soon, I put a second layer of plastic
tented just over the veggies inside also. Before we closed it up, I watered
well. When I came back about 3 weeks later everything was dead. The dirt was
dry and the spinach color of cocoa. The chard leaves were wilted like they had
been hit by a sudden frost and then thawed. I had a hoop house in the past and
never had anything die. My husband thinks because we had such a severe drought
here in Iowa
that the earth under my watered raised beds acted like a blotter and just
pulled all the moisture away from my plants. Any thoughts on this? Also, I
cleared out the dead plants and want to give melons and zucchini and head start
in that protected space. When would be the best time to start them? Thanks so
much!
 
Debbie Freeberg-Renwick

www.frdesignsiowa.com

Debbie:

Hopefully the first lesson we learn from this is not to leave your garden untended for 3 weeks! Your husband is probably right. But drought or not 3 weeks is far too long to leave something without water. If rain or snow waters the surrounding soil the opposite effect could benefit your plants, but you DO need to check on them regularly.

How early you plant warm-weather plants depends on your ADLF (average date of last spring frost) and whether or not, and to what degree you are able or willing to provide some supplemental heat. Frost intolerant plants like melons and zucchini should be set out 2-3 weeks AFTER the ADLF, unless they have protection, because they can not tolerate ANY frost.

And not only air temperature is important. In early spring the soil is cold, and you need to make sure something is done to warm the soil. This is one of the benefits of a low tunnel/hoop house, etc. The plastic helps the soil become warm during the day, and can mitigate, to a small degree, the drop in temperature during the nighttime. But the plastic does NOT insulate the air inside the structure against freezing nighttime temps. and this is when supplemental heat becomes most important.

Plan on using a thermometer, and check it daily, at the warmest time of the day to determine if the covering needs to be opened up (temps above 80), and at night to learn if supplemental heat is needed. You should try and maintain night-time temps above 50 degrees for warm weather plants to stay healthy and grow.

Jim Kennard

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