How soon can I plant...
 

I just turned over my cover crop last week. How soon can I plant in it? Last year, my first year cover cropping, I waited several weeks. But this year, our weather is wacky crazy warm, it feels like summer already and even tho my seedlings are still small I'd like to plant NOW.
Should I give my soil more time to "take in" the cover crops? Thanks!

[QUOTE=peebee;535677]I just turned over my cover crop last week. How soon can I plant in it? Last year, my first year cover cropping, I waited several weeks. But this year, our weather is wacky crazy warm, it feels like summer already and even tho my seedlings are still small I'd like to plant NOW.
Should I give my soil more time to "take in" the cover crops? Thanks![/QUOTE]

Check the soil temps first and see what they are.
I planted on top of some mixed in rotted leaves and when I did it was warm but not too warm.

Worth

Peebee, I would let them grow out some. It never hurts to let a cover crop decompose some more. That is just my personal opinion.

Early March can be a little risky. We can get cold storms in March. I will be planting a few plants starting tomorrow. Usually the early plants don't do as well as those planted in late March. However our weather is unpredictable so it is worth the risk as long as long as you save some for later.

[QUOTE=Worth1;535680]Check the soil temps first and see what they are.
I planted on top of some mixed in rotted leaves and when I did it was warm but not too warm.

Worth[/QUOTE]

What should the temperature be, Worth?

Soil temps need to be around 60 degrees for optimum results. However planting sooner you will not see growth above ground but root systems will grow at lower temps.

ron

I think I would let the cover crop breakdown a bit more. Planting too soon behind adding anything that is decomposing heavily in the soil can result in the seedlings not having enough nitrogen. I sometimes have to plant too soon after adding something that needs to breakdown in the soil and have had some plants just yellow to the point of dying from it. I found a way to overcome that though. You can add a tiny amount of ammonium nitrate and till it in the top few inches and wet the soil down well and plant a day or two later with much better results. I am not a big believer in using ammonium nitrate as a regular fertilizer because it seems to really work on the worm population but when I have to set things out in a bed to which I have added a lot of alfalfa pellets I find it very helpful. I'm sure the same thing could be accomplished with a feeding of any quick release high nitrogen fertilizer but I just find this is pretty easy to do and cheap. It also has given my earthworm population no problems like when in the past I used much heavier applications of chemical fertilizers.

Bill

When I asked about soil temps I meant how hot was it as in too hot.
I was thinking all of the green may be breaking down and causing too much heat.
I have no idea and no experience with it.
Worth

You can get around the decomposition problem by digging a bigger hole. Put some non-affected soil at the bottom and around the plant, as if you are potting it into a bigger pot. It will take quite a while for the roots travel/grow out of it toward the tilled soil.

Gatdeneer

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I didn't get around to planting this weekend so I will do so next weekend. I have plenty of seedlings to play around with, as once again I have far too many plants, not enough space (over 150 seedlings for 30 spots, plus maybe 5 pots).:roll: Gotta start contacting friends and neighbors to take the rest.

I usually end up having more than I can handle. Right now I have 3-4 sprouts of some that I can only grow one plant. So little by little I'll be culling them to keep 1 or 2 of each at the most.
Yeah ! I don't want to run around , asking people to come and take free plants.:?!?::))

I am in Zone 6B, and I am going to try and zone push this year with the help of a 1000w hps I found on craigs list. Does anyone have any tips regarding going from indoor to outdoor?

[QUOTE=peebee;536227] I have plenty of seedlings to play around with, as once again I have far too many plants, not enough space (over 150 seedlings for 30 spots, plus maybe 5 pots).:roll: Gotta start contacting friends and neighbors to take the rest.[/QUOTE]

Story of my life. :dizzy:

S.C.Linda, when do you start your plantings? I was all set for this weekend, now rain is forecast and cooler temps too. They are saying we might get a partial El Nino after all, though weaker as it is Spring now. Our Feb was the hottest on record.

Nitrogen will not be tied up if you leave your cut cover laying on top like a mulch.
It is when you mix it into the soil that it becomes an issue.

I posted this in the soil building thread, but this is great video about the topic of leaves.

[URL="Everything You Know About Composting is Wrong: Mike McGrath at TEDxPhoenixville"]Everything You Know About Composting is Wrong: Mike McGrath at TEDxPhoenixville[/URL]

I think I will plant some tomatoes in March this year, looking at the long range forecast I am only seeing 2 days beyond March 6th forecasted to get near freezing. Since I have extras, If it freezes and they die then no biggie.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;537866]I think I will plant some tomatoes in March this year, looking at the long range forecast I am only seeing 2 days beyond March 6th forecasted to get near freezing. Since I have extras, If it freezes and they die then no biggie.[/QUOTE]

Hope you are feeling better! Since you are in the upstate peach country, always keep in mind they usually get a late cold snap in late March or early April.

Planted in wow yesterday. 9 tomatoes. First time trying this.

We still have a while to wait here in southern Connecticut. Soil temperature is only at 40F

[QUOTE=cloz;539207]We still have a while to wait here in southern Connecticut. Soil temperature is only at 40F[/QUOTE]

Not for sure if it ever gets to 40 degrees where I live.:lol:

Worth

today hit 74, tomorrow 76, thurs almost 80.... god it is so tempting

[QUOTE=Jonnyhat;539681]today hit 74, tomorrow 76, thurs almost 80.... god it is so tempting[/QUOTE]
No matter how warm it is if you are putting the roots in an ice box they wont do anything.
Better to up size the container if you have good soil to plant in later.

Worth

pee...we are finally getting some weather here in SoCal! Of course, some folks are tired of the weather. They have had plenty of "weather" the last few months. Anyway, I read somewhere that nights below 50 degrees tends to stunt/delay growth of young plants. I am not smart enough to do the soil temp thing like worth is talkin' about. I think cold nights (below 50) can play right into the hand of cool soil temps though...huh?

[QUOTE=Ed of Somis;539694]pee...we are finally getting some weather here in SoCal! Of course, some folks are tired of the weather. They have had plenty of "weather" the last few months. Anyway, I read somewhere that nights below 50 degrees tends to stunt/delay growth of young plants. I am not smart enough to do the soil temp thing like worth is talkin' about. I think cold nights (below 50) can play right into the hand of cool soil temps though...huh?[/QUOTE]

It is just meat thermometers stuck in the soil.:lol:
Not all tomato varieties respond the same either.
Some sulk and some dont in cooler soils.
If you have enough warm and sunny days in the upper 70's the soil temps will stay in the 60's even if it gets below that with the air temps.
This is why I was getting up at sunrise to check soil temps and them again at noon.

Here is how it works at my house.
The plants in the morning will have a light green at the new growth area.
This is from growing at night with warm soil temps.
Then during the day the new growth gets a darker green due to the sun.
This process repeats itself every day.
If you dont see the new growth in the morning then you have a problem.
Soil temps or something else.

Worth

[QUOTE=Ed of Somis;539694]pee...we are finally getting some weather here in SoCal! Of course, some folks are tired of the weather. They have had plenty of "weather" the last few months. Anyway, I read somewhere that nights below 50 degrees tends to stunt/delay growth of young plants. I am not smart enough to do the soil temp thing like worth is talkin' about. I think cold nights (below 50) can play right into the hand of cool soil temps though...huh?[/QUOTE]

You don't have to worry about "weather", Ed.:cute:
Speaking of night lows, I can tell from my personal experience that tomato plants can withstand and survive night lows as low as 35F. I have not experimented below that.
Most important is the soil temperature where the roots are buried, that is about 8" below the surface. I start planting out whe it is ~55F.
Our night lows wont get up to 50F til sometime in July and by then I start harvesting.
Gardeneer

Yup, I said to hell with waiting for my cover crop to break down further, I just dug holes and planted last week. If I saw a big chunk of something I just pushed it aside and let it dry out on the surface. I will use it as mulch later. From now on I think I will only cut the cover crops and use as mulch, not turn it in. I will turn in the mulch at the end of the season. There is too little time to wait for it to decompose. However I will keep one bed open to turn it in, on a rotating basis each year.

I went out and measured the soil temp again after 3 weeks from measuring 40 degrees F. Black soil in direct sunlight measures 48F. So does the soil under 4" of leaves and in direct sunlight. I have a 3 gallon black container sitting on top of a black tarp in direct sunlight and it's soil temperature also measures 48F. The soil that has been covered by a black tarp for 3 weeks now also measures 48F. It seems you can't rush mother nature. And no my thermometer is not stuck at 48. I ran it up to 70 between each measure.

Cloz

[QUOTE=cloz;546675]I went out and measured the soil temp again after 3 weeks from measuring 40 degrees F. Black soil in direct sunlight measures 48F. So does the soil under 4" of leaves and in direct sunlight. I have a 3 gallon black container sitting on top of a black tarp in direct sunlight and it's soil temperature also measures 48F. The soil that has been covered by a black tarp for 3 weeks now also measures 48F. It seems you can't rush mother nature. And no my thermometer is not stuck at 48. I ran it up to 70 between each measure.

Cloz[/QUOTE]

The tale of black mulch cooking roots in Texas sort of baffled me too.
I have seen some huge gardens here that were fantastic with the black breathable mulch on them.

I think some of this stuff gets started and passed around with no proof what so ever and becomes gospel.

Worth.