When to Grow Fruit & Vegetables?
- The planting season runs for only a few months of the year to a year-round growing season, depending on your location. Often spring is the start of the growing or planting season, and fall is the end of the growing and harvest season. In some places, however, winter-time growing using covered gardens is possible with cold-hardy vegetables.
- Regional climate has one of the strongest influences on when fruits and vegetables are grown. The warmer the climate, the longer the growing season. However, temperature is not the only thing that affects growth options for plants. Other factors include inclement weather or severity in temperature fluctuations. In some climates, there is a drastic change between daytime and evening temperatures that make it difficult to grow certain plants. Inclement weather such as storm or hurricane seasons also affect when fruits and vegetables are planted or grown.
- Separate plants into warm- or cold-weather plants. Warm-weather plants such as tomatoes, basil and cucumbers grow best when there have been steadily warm temperatures for sometime. As well, the chance of frost must have passed or be far away enough so that there is sufficient growing time available. Cold weather plants such as cabbage, kale and peas are best suited to cooler climates and temperatures. These plants can be grown earlier or later in the growing season, as in some cases, a light frost actually improves the taste of some plants.
- Transplant vegetable seedlings, fruit seedlings or even fruit trees either early in the day, or towards the end of the day. Planting seedlings at the height of heat often causes undue stress to the plant, as the high temperatures and the shock of the transplant creates a longer transition period for the plant.
