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Old September 30, 2014   #11
b54red
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
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Another big problem with fall gardens in the south is you never know for sure when fall will get here. Some years the cool nights come as early as September and other years we may not see cold nights until well into December. Broccoli is one of the trickiest to plant because if the temps are too warm it will head almost immediately. I now wait til well into October or even sometimes as late as November to set out broccoli in order to get larger heads. Tomatoes can be set out anytime from July through September but you never know if the heat of late summer will kill them or if an early freeze will leave you with a pile of frozen green tomatoes.

I now just plant when I want and sometimes it works out and other times it doesn't but stressing out over getting things set out by a certain date down here is not worth the effort. Building some tunnels to protect fall crops during the coldest days of winter is worth the effort for crops like broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, and rutabagas. I don't make the same effort with tomatoes and peppers because there is only a short gap between when the fall plants die and it is time to start seed for the spring plants and I need that time to prepare the beds.

Bill
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