Tips on how to Grow Your Heat Loving Veggies

Some common heat loving plants are cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, okra, beans, corn, and basil. These are known as semi tropical vegetables and need warm soil temperatures for the seeds to germinate and the plants to grow well. It is best to start most of these seeds indoors then transplanted out once the soil is warm and air temperature is at least in the high teens (C) or over 50 degrees (F).

A good rule of thumb – if you can walk on your garden soil with your bare feet, the soil is warm enough or your heat loving veggies.

Tomato, eggplant, pepper, okra, and basil seeds are best started indoors, usually in February or March, as they need 8 to 12 weeks to grow large enough to be planted outdoors. If you did not start your own seedlings do not worry as most nurseries or local farmers markets will have transplants for sale. Choose the healthiest, strongest transplants you can from reputable sources so as not to bring any disease or pests into your garden.

Cucumber and squash can be either started indoors or seeded directly into the ground, just make sure it is warm enough before you do so. With these two veggies I often will transplant a few, and then start some by seed as well. This is an easy way of succession planting to extend your harvest.

For beans and corn it is often best to plant these by seed (although corn can be transplanted as well). Both need a warm soil to germinate. One tip for growing beans - water once after seeding and then leave them until they germinate before watering again. With corn, they like a lot of water all though their growing season.

Vegetable gardening books written by Catherine Abbott, Your Vegetable Gardening Helper.

• 2011 Planning Guide
• Vegetable Garden Plans for Square foot Gardens
  
• Vegetable Garden Plans for your Rasised Beds
  
• Vegetable Garden Plans for Row Gardening
  
• My 2011 Vegetable Garden Journal
  
• The Everything Grow Your Own Vegetables Book
  

Catherine
your-vegetable-gardening-helper