Shopping for Garden Transplants

It's time to start planning out your garden for 2022

What will you plant? Where should you plant it? What should you transplant vs what should you direct sow?

Gardening can be overwhelming, but it shouldn't be stressful. If it's your first year gardening just jump in head first. Will you make mistakes? Probably. But everyone does. I've been gardening for years and I still make mistakes.

In an effort to make your gardening adventure more enjoyable for 2022 I have put together a quick guide of what plants should be purchased as transplants and what plants you should plant directly from seed.

Transplants

Peppers

Peppers typically require a longer growing season. For those who experience four seasons you will need to transplant peppers in order to provide the plant with enough time to mature in order to have a harvest.

Tomatoes

Similar to peppers, tomatoes also require a longer growing season.

Eggplant

Eggplant also require a longer growing season. They are also very slow growing plants. Transplanting is your best bet to get a harvest.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers can be direct sown into your garden. But this can delay your harvest until later in the summer. In order to get a mid summer harvest of cucumbers you should transplant starts into your garden. Careful when transplanting though. Cucumbers have sensitive roots and too much disturbance can cause your transplants to die.

Cabbage/Cauliflower/Broccoli

Cabbage/Cauliflower/Broccoli are in the brassica family. Brassica's enjoy cooler weather. If you direct sow them you will want to ensure you are in a region with a longer spring. If you have a short spring you will want to plant already started brassicas to ensure you can harvest before the growing season gets too hot. Because they enjoy cooler weather you can also plant brassicas in late summer as the weather starts to cool for fall to enjoy a fall harvest.

Kale/Lettuce/Spinach

Similar to brassica's most of the leafy greens also enjoy cooler weather. You can direct sow these as well as long as your cool spring weather is long enough. For most you will want to transplant starts in order to harvest before it gets too hot and your greens bolt. Bolting is when greens put out seeds, this is triggered by hot weather. Once your greens bolt, they often times become bitter and are no longer at their prime for harvest. Similar to brassica's you can transplant greens in late summer for a fall harvest.

Direct Sow

Beans

Beans grow quickly, pop some seeds into your garden after your last frost to have an abundant midsummer harvest

Carrots

Carrots are slow growers and also enjoy cool weather. You should sow carrots when soil temperatures reach about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Approximately 75 days after sowing you should have a tasty summer harvest of carrots.

Corn

Corn can be transplanted but I would suggest directly planting from seed. Most regions have a long enough summer to allow the corn to mature before the weather cools for fall. Corn can be directly planted once soil temperatures reach 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Radishes

Root vegetable in general should all be direct sown. These plants typically do well with early plantings. One of the quickest root veggies and earliest harvests in the garden is radishes. They tend to like cooler weather so plant in the early fall and early spring and harvest within 1 month of planting. Similar to lettuces, radishes will bolt in the heat.

Hope this helps with your 2022 garden plans.

Happy Planting!