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| In southern Louisiana, plant carrots, peas and radishes in March. Wait about three weeks to plant the same in northern Louisiana. (Composite image by Mark Claesgens.) |
News You Can Use Distributed 02/16/07
March is a critical month for vegetable gardens – early for planting some veggies and late for raising others. With proper timing, gardeners can increase potential yield and decrease production problems, according to LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dr. Tom Koske.
Between the northern and southern parts of the state, planting times are about three to four weeks apart.
March is the time to start planting seed for snap beans, lima beans, butter beans, butter peas, cucumber, muskmelons, okra, radishes, corn, collards and watermelons. You may plant the entire garden with early and late varieties, or plant the same ones but stagger plantings by a few weeks for later harvests.
Sweet potato roots may still be bedded early in the month on well-drained, warm beds for slip production for May. Pepper, eggplants and tomato transplants may be planted now whenever danger of frost is mostly over. Using black plastic mulch with these crops is a good idea for weed and moisture control as well as an early start.
Don’t be in a rush to set out the peppers, okra and eggplants if the soil is cold. All these vegetables can be hurt by a late frost. Northern parishes still may plant shallots, Chinese cabbage and cabbage transplants, and southern parishes now can start seeding southern peas, squash and pumpkin.
In the southern half of the state it is too late for good spring plantings of beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, garlic, onion, Irish potatoes, lettuce, parsley, English or snow peas, spinach, mustard and turnips. Try more timely crops. Northern parishes may still try some early beets, carrots and loose-head lettuce.
Vegetables to plant in April include collards, squash, pumpkins, okra, tomatoes, corn, radishes, peppers, mirliton, melons, eggplants, cucumbers, bush or pole snap beans and limas, watermelons, southern peas and early sweet potato slips.
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On the Internet: LSU AgCenter: www.lsuagcenter.com/
On the Internet: www.louisianalawnandgarden.org
Contact: Tom Koske (225) 578-2222, or tkoske@agcenter.lsu.edu
Editor: Mark Claesgens (225) 578-2939 or mclaesgens@agcenter.lsu.edu