Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

General information and discussion about cultivating all other edible garden plants.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old November 30, 2007   #1
ibadreamer
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: southern california
Posts: 10
Default slow growing

i have recently started a winter garden. i have planted spinach, kale, beets, lettuce and carrots. i planted the first batch about 7 weeks ago. then another batch 2 weeks later. the first batch is only about 3" tall so far and seems to be growing real slow and the same with second batch. i live in so cal and the weather has been cool. the seed package for the spinach said it was like 60 days. mine will sure not be ready in that time. what should i expect for growing time? thanks
ibadreamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 30, 2007   #2
shelleybean
Tomatovillian™
 
shelleybean's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Virginia Beach
Posts: 2,648
Default

Hi, IB. I don't know a thing about gardening where you live but I can tell you this about fall gardening here. Between the planting schedule provided by Southern Exposure for this area and the schedule they have at my local garden center, I try to get most of my stuff in the ground by September. It's still very hot here at that time of year but I try to follow their guidelines. I start cabbage and broccoli indoors at the end of July and plant out about six weeks later. The stuff that I put out on time grows much better than the things I put out later, when it's cooler. I did two plantings this year, kind of like you did, and the earlier stuff is doing great. The cabbage is almost ready, I've already eaten broccoli, pulled carrots, turnips and greens, etc. The stuff I planted in October and still small and I doubt it'll catch up. I don't know why it happens that way but it seems to turn out about the same each year. Even though these are cool weather veggies, they seem to need some heat in the beginning to get going. I hope things speed up for you.
__________________
Michele
shelleybean is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 30, 2007   #3
Luvgardening2
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: California
Posts: 88
Default

Hi, I also live in Southern California and I am having the same problem. My seedlings are taking FOREVER to become mature.

I also purchased seedlings (spinach and lettuce) from the nursery and those are taking about a month to mature. The broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage looks like it will be a very long time. I can be more specific because I wrote down dates on them but it is RAINING right now. Finally!

Nancy
Luvgardening2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old November 30, 2007   #4
ibadreamer
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: southern california
Posts: 10
Default

thank you michele and nancy, i was begining to think i did something wrong, i guess i will just have to be patient. it is nice to have some rain for a change. i will keep you posted as things ( improve ) i hope. dave
ibadreamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 1, 2007   #5
Ruth_10
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MO z6a near St. Louis
Posts: 1,349
Default

Even if the daily temps are favorable, you'll be getting fewer hours of sun and the sun you do get will be less intense because it is hitting from more of an angle rather than from overhead. This will cause things to grow more slowly and that is most likely what you are experiencing. Not much you can do about it other than planting out a bit earlier so more growth occurs when the sunlight is more optimal. Then you'll be able to eat from the winter garden all winter long.
__________________
--Ruth

Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.
Ruth_10 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 3, 2007   #6
shelleybean
Tomatovillian™
 
shelleybean's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Virginia Beach
Posts: 2,648
Default

I found a nice surprise in the garden today. Suddenly, a bunch of carrots had grown large enough to be pulled. I'd been checking them and was getting a few here and there. Today, though, I got a nice big batch and we had some of them with dinner. They were very sweet and well worth the wait. These were from that first planting I mentioned. I hope things pick up for all of us and we get to sample more!
__________________
Michele
shelleybean is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 8, 2007   #7
Ruth_10
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MO z6a near St. Louis
Posts: 1,349
Default

I am getting some nice-sized carrots from my garden. The tricky part now will be getting them out of the ground before the ground freezes. What I need to do but haven't done yet is put a straw mulch over them to keep the ground from freezing.

It sure is nice to have something fresh out of the garden this time of year!
__________________
--Ruth

Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.
Ruth_10 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:23 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★