Probably, one of the most common occurrences in the garden is the lack of practicing succession planting (IMHO). Succession planting (SP) is the periodic replanting of a particular veggie in order to have a continual harvest throughout the growing season. Sounds great, right?
Of, course, not every garden plot can support this activity and not every gardener has enough time to pull off SP. However, knowing about succession planting and considering how it may apply to your situation, could enhance how you grow certain of your favorite crops.
One of the veggies that I have a lot of success with are bush beans. As a general rule, I’ll plant bush beans every 15 – 20 days following each previous planting. In central MO, 5 to 7 plantings are possible.
If you love fresh basil, like I do, I recommend SP in order to have a fresh and high-quality supply of leaves all season long. Unlike bush beans, you will most likely need 2 to 3 plants for your early spring crop and a similar second planting in mid to late summer to insure a good crop through the Fall months.
Two additional favorites for SP are green onions (aka, scallions or spring onions) and radish. Both are easy to cultivate and don’t require a lot of garden space to satisfy the appetite of for 1 to 3 individuals. Radish can be resown every two weeks whereas bunching onions may do best with sowings every three to 4 weeks.
Other crops that lend themselves to SP are lettuce, spinach and bok choy (aka, pak choi). These favorites can also be planted each 2 to 3 weeks throughout the summer. However, if you are in a hot climate, with a lot of sun light exposure, these plants may begin to bolt rapidly. Some modern hybrids have been developed to tolerate such climate conditions and are less apt to bolt. Unfortunately, my experience has been hit and miss with these newer plant materials, so I’m unable to make a recommendation for their use.
Obviously, there are several additional species which can be considered for SP, however, our objective is to get you excited about utilizing succession planting for some of your favorite veggies while determining what works best in your garden’s location. If you enjoyed this post, or not, please give us your feedback (see below).
The Garden Dreamer 