Every year, Fred Hoffman plants his vegetable garden on April 28. By then, he says, the weather is dependably warm enough for all crops to go into the ground. Plus, it's his birthday.
"Gardeners always want to jump the gun the first warm day and get the garden planted. Wrong," says Hoffman, a lifetime master gardener and the host of two Sunday morning Sacramento radio shows on gardening. "You need to wait. March is too early. April is better, but late April is best."
The reason is simple: "Air temperatures may feel mild and pleasant, and the sun feels great, but soil temperatures don't warm up until late April, and it's soil temperature, not air temperature, that signals plants to grow and lets them thrive. Plant seedlings outdoors too early, and they'll either sit there doing nothing or succumb to cool weather problems like damping off."
Also of paramount importance is where you site your vegetable garden, says Earle Eisley of Eisley Nursery in Auburn. "A vegetable garden wants as much sun as possible. Eight or nine hours of sunlight is plenty, but if your garden gets more, that's fine, too."
Too little sunshine, Eisley says, and your plants will still produce but not in great quantity.
"Also, one would not think of building a house without a good foundation, and the same applies to a successful garden, and that means healthy soil. You have to build a good foundation if you are going to get the flowers and vegetables you would like for your efforts," Eisley says.
He points to the varying soils in the Sacramento area and surrounding foothills. "In Auburn, we have clay. In Newcastle, they have decomposed granite. Both are good soils if you can keep them open in summer when plants need a drink of water. The best thing you can do for your soil is add some humus to loosen the soil."
Compost is a perfect soil amendment, says Steve Zien, president of Living Resources Co. and an authority on organic gardening: "Feed your soil and your plants will be healthy." He advocates the organic approach and champions worm compost as the best soil amendment available, since bagged compost is varied in quality and sometimes not fully composted.
"Gardeners should think more about feeding the soil, not the plants," he says.
But beware of adding amendments to your soil willy-nilly.
"I liken it to people who are feeling fine but think they should be doing something more for their health care, so they take all sorts of vitamins just in case they need them. It's true that as many as 85 percent of area soils are deficient in calcium and magnesium," Zien says, "and that, along with watering practices, can lead to problems like blossom end rot on tomatoes and peppers. But the only way to know what your soil needs is to do a soil test."
You get what you pay for, he cautions, and some tests don't tell you a lot, but even over-the-counter soil tests can be helpful.
Eisley knows that from experience. One year, his garden produced poorly. His sweet corn had no kernels. He called in a soil chemist who discovered several soil deficiencies. He now adds about 50 pounds of dolomite lime per 1,000 square feet, 10 pounds of gypsum and also incorporates super phosphate in his soil.
"I tell people if they have a soft end on their squash or cucumbers, that's a clue there's not enough phosphate in the soil," Eisley says.
Whatever you do, Zien says, don't rototill the garden. "More and more, the research says rototilling destroys soil structure and microorganisms that create soil structure."
Hoffman recommends raised beds for vegetable gardens. Having permanent beds means you never walk on your soil, and the soil in raised beds warms up faster in spring and drains better. Each bed is big enough to reach across, so it's easier to weed and plant.
Finally, Zien says, give plants a foliar feeding with fish emulsion or seaweed, preferably both.
"If people would use fish emulsion and seaweed," Zien says, "they'd have everything covered: The fish emulsion provides nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, and the seaweed provides growth hormones, vitamins and 55 trace minerals."
Plus, he says, the plant absorbs the nutrients more quickly through the leaves than via the roots.
Call The Bee's Pat Rubin, (916) 321-1075.
