The Plotting and Planning of Planting
Spring: a time of sowing, a time of dreaming of what will be, and a time of waiting…lots and lots of waiting. If you start your vegetables from seed, it’s the anticipation of finding out what seeds will be viable, and carefully transplanting the seedlings to larger pots as they grow along the way. Or if you’re like me, it’s the holding on for that month (or more) from when you bring home plant starts from a nearby nursery to when the temperatures align, and you can finally plant them into the ground.
When the time does finally arrive to get our hands dirty and get planting, some of us may follow more of a “plant and pray” technique of hoping for the best while not exactly adhering to the best practices that will give your vegetables a fighting chance. This year, I’ve reached out to a few of the many local experts in this field about what we, the back (or in my case front) yard farmer can do – or not do – to improve our vegetable lot in life. This is by no means an all-encompassing how-to guide. It’s just a reminder of some areas of concern we should keep in mind as we start to dig in. Judging by the large turnout to a recent discussion on this very topic at Hyannis Country Garden by Master Gardener C.L. Fornari, we’re all looking to improve our harvests no matter how long we’ve been growing. Across the Cape, there are talks, hands-on workshops, and just speaking with the professionals at the nursery where you make your purchases that will help you be a better grower. I, for one, still have much to learn. Heck, two summers ago, about the only things I was able to grow in our raised beds were dozens of heads of garlic, and four baby bunnies!
Let’s start with starts. As you peruse the rows of plant seedlings in their six-packs or four-inch pots and the like, what constitutes a good, healthy plant from one that will struggle to produce fruit? One willowy tomato plant with numerous flowers already blooming sits alongside a shorter, stalkier version that lacks any buds at all. For Matt Ernst, owner of Matt’s Organics in Dennis Port, don’t be wowed by the foliage. “You’re looking for a good, healthy root system to start with,” he says. “Look for a thick stem” Depending on the size of the pot it’s in, the plant can quickly become rootbound, which could set its development back to start the season.
Color is another sign of a healthy plant. “A dark, vibrant green color is what you’re looking for,” he adds. “You want to avoid discoloring – yellowing, or a purpling that can be a sign of sun scald or a nutritional deficiency.” Perhaps you couldn’t get to the garden center when the starts first became available. Signs of a plant being in the pot too long are not necessarily a death knell for your garden. Matt says, “You’ll get it to come back as soon as you put it into the ground. You’re still going to have a decent plant.” He goes on to say, “All in all, you’re just a little behind and maybe just a little more susceptible to disease because now it has to recover.”
Soil. You’ve selected just the right plants – healthy and sturdy without being rootbound. As you wait not-so-patiently for temperatures to moderate, we can next turn to the soil in which the plants will be spending their sun-splashed summer days. To be sure, the soil in question should be in the ideal location: an area of the yard that’ll receive at least six hours of sunlight each day. For us, that meant taking over a portion of the front yard that bakes in sunlight for up to nine hours mid-season. (An unexpected side benefit of the front yard location are the pleasant visits we enjoy with neighbors strolling past.) Also, choose an area as far away from trees as possible. Besides the obvious benefit of more unfiltered sunlight, root intrusion can be an issue. If you’re too close, those roots can steal vital water and nutrients from your plantings. Some trees can be more of a problem than others. “Norway maples, willows, and black locusts are bad,” Dave Scandurra of Edible Landscapes points out. Having installed and maintained garden beds for clients across the Cape, Scandurra has pitched many a battle against all forms of invasive organisms, including tree roots. “Even if you’re twenty feet away from a black locust, it’ll find the water and good soil. Sometimes we have to dig down and install a rhizome barrier.”
When in doubt, embrace the science of it all and get your soil tested so you know what you’re dealing with, and how to amend it if need be. The Cape Cod Cooperative Extension (CCCE) offers soil testing. Simple and informative, you gather samples from different parts of the planting bed/area you want tested. Then, blend them together to get an accurate cross section of your soil. According to the CCCE, the Cape’s soil tends to be acidic thanks to the moderate to high amounts of rainfall. The good news is most vegetables and fruit trees enjoy a slightly acidic home. If your soil is very acidic, and you’re not looking to grow blueberries (they just love acidic soil), adding lime will raise the pH level. The bad news is this should be done in the fall so the lime has ample time to react with the soil. Scandurra always amends the soil, no matter how good it is, when building planting beds for his clients. “I always add biochar and organic granular fertilizer to the soil no matter how primo it is,” he explains. Biochar creates a structure for microbial organisms to thrive, and the fertilizer offers a food source. It’s kind of like supplying room and board to the house guests that you actually want to have around a while. All right, your beds are primed and ready. Here’s the hard part: waiting until nighttime temperatures consistently remain above 50 degrees. Many of us get fooled by the warm late spring days, but don’t fall for the trap! It can take until early June before we warm up sufficiently some years.
Laying out which plants go where, and with what neighbors can be a bit like creating the seating chart for a wedding reception. Uncle potato and cousin carrot aren’t speaking, while grandpa corn and nephew pole beans would love to see each other. There are examples of companion planting that are beneficial to both crops – nasturtium planted alongside squashes to help combat pests attacking the squash is one. The problem is that most “rules” have no basis in science. Long held rumors and anecdotal evidence have been passed down through the years for so long that they’re now taken as fact. Fornari turns to one source for the facts. “For companion planting, Plant Partners by Jessica Walliser is the only book on the subject that is science based,” she says. “Companion planting comes down to space and sun,” she adds. Low growing lettuce would work nicely with tomatoes. As the season heats up and the tomatoes fill out, they’ll provide some needed shade to help prevent the lettuce from bolting when things get a little too hot.
Spacing can be a challenge because of the limits in your beds. Note to self: must refrain from packing in the plants! Tomatoes are an excellent example of this. Overcrowding the plants can lead to problems. The resulting limited airflow from the condensed foliage can promote fungal growth. Another effect if you don’t maintain a proper two- to three-foot spacing is smaller tomatoes. Apparently, tomatoes are very considerate of one another. C.L. says, “Plants protect their own. Tomatoes will moderate themselves to not encroach another ‘cousin’.” She goes on to add, “The tomatoes can be fifty percent smaller if they’re with another plant in the same pot.”
Speaking of tomatoes, planting depth can be a factor for a strong healthy plant when it comes time to settle them into their new home. According to Matt, “The most basic way to plant the tomato seedling is to dig a hole deep enough so that the entire plant is buried up to the top-most set of leaves. However, if your plants have already reached a pretty good height, it may be difficult to dig this deeply. In this case, you can bury the tomato plants up to just below their bottom-most set of healthy leaves.” The benefits of planting deeply are two-fold. Matt continues, “The advantage is that the plant will form additional roots off of the stem making for a larger root system. A larger root system means more water and nutrient uptake and a more stable plant against winds.” Not all vegetable starts should be deeply buried. “Bury the tomatoes and peppers. All the rest can be planted at ground level,” Matt adds.
Once in the ground, plants much prefer to do their own thing. Forcing them to grow a certain way may lead to needless exposure to pests. Some, like cucumbers, have tendrils that can easily be repositioned (within reason) along a trellis. Others such as squashes tend to seek their own path regardless of your big ideas. Scandurra explains, “When you start to have to drag a whole vine, especially with squashes, they don’t like that. Then that’s going to stress them out. They’re going to start getting things like powdery mildew because stressed out plants are just generally going to be more prone to insects and diseases.”
Now, the plants are in the ground, and settling in nicely. The trouble many of us have (mirror presently held to my face) arises with the follow-though… or lack thereof in two ways: watering and feeding. I get it. Life gets in the way. Summer is a time of hyperactivity around the Cape whether it’s for work or play or a bit of both. In a perfect world, we’d all have dedicated drip irrigation lines on timers. Before visions of dragging the hose out every morning to water start dancing in your head, Ernst, Scandurra and Fornari all agree: water longer and less often. Instead of a daily sprinkling, try deep soaking sessions every few days. This will help promote deeper root growth for a healthier plant. Yes, top watering can be wasteful and support fungal growth on the foliage, but as C.L. says, “Top watering is better than no watering.” Fornari sets her sprinklers for an early morning 45-minute session. Before setting the sprinklers, arm yourself with information as to whether the soil needs watering in the first place. Rain gauges and soil moisture meters are invaluable, because too much water can be just as bad as too little. “Make sure you get a proper rain gauge. They’re calibrated. Don’t just use an old tuna can or milk carton,” Fornari warns. For moisture meters, low tech is an option if you don’t want to spend the money. Ernst says, “Stick your finger one inch down into the soil. If the soil feels moist, leave it alone. But if it’s dry, it’s time to water.”
A feeding schedule is crucial for a bountiful harvest. For Ernst, who grows organic produce at his Dennis Port nursery, a slow-release organic fertilizer is key. “Throughout the growing season, about every five weeks give your plants regular boosts of energy,” he says. This is where technology is our friend. Setting a simple reminder in your phone to pop-up every five weeks couldn’t be simpler. Seeing the reminder, saying to yourself “Oh yeah”, and then promptly forgetting about it is a personal problem that all the bells and whistles can’t help you with, unfortunately.
Protecting your crops from critters – chief among them rabbits – comes down to one thing: a physical barrier. Scandurra again, “A two-foot-high chicken wire fence is the only thing that’ll really keep the rabbits out, but it’s low enough for you to step over if you need to get in there and tend to things.” Fornari also suggests leaving an alternative water source nearby (changed frequently to prevent mosquitos from breeding) for other creatures such as chipmunks so they don’t go for your juicy tomatoes.
Critter control falls squarely under “Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results” (as much as I would love to believe it). Just because they haven’t found your plot yet, doesn’t mean they won’t. “We made it ten years without any rabbits,” Fornari reports. “Now, the whole garden is fenced in.” When I told C.L. about mama rabbit giving birth to four babies in between rows of garlic (without eating so much as a leaf of nearby lettuce) two years ago, she just chuckled. “Well, there you go. That’s just good companion planting.”
Along with being co-publisher of Edible Cape Cod with his wife Cori, Larry Egan is a New England Associated Press award-winning writer and commentator and host of the talk show The Handyman Hotline on Saturdays from 1-3 pm on 95.1 WXTK-FM. He can be found most afternoons on the trails of Cape Cod being worn out by his personal trainer – their Portuguese Water Dog, Archie.
Edible Landscapes
Hyannis Country Garden
380 West Main Street, Hyannis
Matt’s Organic Gardens
36 Upper County Road, Dennis Port
For soil testing:
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension
capecod.gov/departments/cooperative-extension
For workshops and further help in the garden:
Master Gardener Association of Cape Cod
Plant Partners by Jessica Walliser
