veggie gardening

It’s Wyatt again – welcome to part 3 of my Fall Veggie Vlog. I decided to start all my cool weather veggies this year from seed and share video tips along the way – take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 (ICYMI). After sprouting in peat pots, my seedlings are ready to transplant into the ground. Check out my tips for transplanting young seedlings, including protecting them from still-warm temps, spacing, watering, and feeding.

Video Recap:

Protect Cool Weather Seedlings from High Temperatures

It’s time to get cool weather veggies like cabbage and broccoli planted into the ground, but we are still having some 90+ degree days. Using a thin layer of Pine Straw Mulch over your young plants can help protect their surface roots from heat and help retain moisture.

Tips for Transplanting

Not too deep! Be sure to plant level with the surrounding soil so you don’t suffocate the surface/feeder roots. Use a good organic starter fertilizer like Biotone when you plant. Mix a small handful with the soil, then backfill around your new plant.

Give Them Plenty of Space

A good rule of thumb is 12-16” spacing between most cool weather veggies. Visualize their full-grown size. Plants that are too crowded can encourage bad bug infestations.

Gentle Watering!

Don’t blast your tender young plants with a water hose. They need a gentle “blessing” of water from a watering can. Since you can’t drench them yet, they will likely need a gentle watering 2-3 times a day until they are established.

Feed Regularly

Liquid Hastagro is an excellent organic plant food that’s great for young plants. You can hook it up to your hose and broadcast it over the whole garden about once every 2 weeks. Liquid fertilizer is easier to apply accurately on young plants. Using a granular is ok too, but it’s easy to use too much.

-Wyatt

This past week, one of our customers explained that her squash plant had great foliage and lots of blooms, but it was not producing any squash. This can often be attributed to a watering or fertilizer issue, but sometimes you might have a pollination problem. So, what’s the solution?

Bees! Bees are the best pollinators, and they are the reason many of your veggies are able to produce. Bees move pollen back and forth between male and female flowers on your plants. The transfer of pollen fertilizes the female flower allowing the plant to fruit.

The best way to attract these powerful pollinators to your garden is to plant pollinizer plants. Here are some of our favorite plants to bring home the bees:

Magic Mountain Basil or Thai Basil: excellent varieties for cooking and irresistible to bees!
Dwarf Calliandra (powder puff plant): popular landscape shrub that has beautiful “powder puff” blooms.

Mystic Spires Salvia: long purple spires that attract a variety of pollinators to the garden including bees and hummingbirds.
Alyssum: low- growing annual with purple or white blooms and a lovely fragrance that’s attractive to humans and bees.

Pro tip: On occasion, the bees can miss some plants. You can “false pollinate” your plants with a Q tip or a small paint brush. Lightly brush inside the male flower, then brush inside the female flower to help transfer pollen.

-Wyatt

Start Veggie Seeds Now for a Spring Harvest

Spring in South Texas starts around February 15^th– only 31 days away! We may have a couple more cold snaps ahead of us, but it’s time to start planning our Spring projects and planting veggie seeds. The first day for planting Spring seeds is January 15th give or take a few days – aka RIGHT NOW!

Simple Method for Starting Seeds

I’ve tried a few different methods for starting seeds but have been most successful using a damp paper towel, then folding the seed inside the towel and placing it in a sealable bag or dish. This will create a “mini greenhouse” effect and will help the seed germinate. I leave them in the bag for no longer than 24 hours, then put them into soil. When planting, I make the hole about a fingernail’s depth, gently place the seeds in the hole, and cover lightly with soil. Check out my video demo of this process – quick and easy!

We also carry seed-starting trays, peat pots, and special cutting/seedling soil if you’d like to skip the wet paper towel method. Either way, a good rule of thumb is that once the seedlings have made their first true set of leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into a larger container or directly into the garden bed.

Seeds to Start in January

Tomatoes!
Cold Crops and Greens: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, and mustard greens
Root Crops: onions, carrots, beets, and potatoes
Herbs: parsley

Check out our full Spring planting guide here.

Pro Tip: When planting new seed be sure the soil is wet at the time of planting and always water with a light sprinkle. This will prevent your seeds from floating/washing out of the soil.

-Wyatt

Just like us, plants can’t live on water alone. To thrive, plants must have food, especially in Spring when they are actively growing. Rather than try to carry every fertilizer imaginable (there are hundreds!), we focus on the ones that we can really stand behind. Here is our menu of favorite plant foods, tested and used by the pros here at Gill’s.

Medina Growin’ Green

Our most versatile plant food. Organic and great for lawns, trees, shrubs, veggies, flowers, potted plants, you name it! Use a spreader to spread over your lawn. Each bag covers 3,000 sq. ft. Or sprinkle a small handful of granules on the soil around your plants, then water it in well.

Gill Lawn and Garden Food

Back in the 80s, James worked with Texas A&M to create a fertilizer formulated specially for South Texas lawns and gardens. It’s been a fav ever since. Each bag covers 6,000 sq. ft. of lawn. Or broadcast under trees and shrubs and water in well.

HastaGro

Another amazing organic food. Also very versatile. Mix the liquid with water (or use the hose-end sprayer) and use almost everywhere. Great for veggie gardens, blooming plants, succulents and more. HastaGro provides excellent nutrients for houseplants and none of the smell! You may not want to bring stinky granular plant food inside the house 🙂

Espoma “Tone” Foods

We love organic foods by Espoma. BioTone starter fertilizer with beneficial microbes is great to use at planting time to stimulate root growth. PlantTone is an excellent granular for veggies and flowering plants, CitrusTone is specifically formulated for citrus or other fruiting trees, and AzaleaTone for Azaleas, Magnolia, and Gardenias.

Pro tip: Fish Emulsion is another very popular and effective organic that works great for leafy veggies. Just be aware that cats go crazy for it too!

It’s officially Summer – don’t forget to hydrate your plants and yourself! Here are some useful watering tips from the plant pros to keep everything green and happy.

DeAnna: New Trees are Thirsty

I am hearing customers ask daily, “how often should I be watering my new tree?” We are watering trees twice a day here in the garden center; first thing in the morning and again mid-afternoon. Morning watering is most important to make sure the trees are well hydrated to handle the heat of the day. Big drinks of water are necessary to saturate the root balls. I recommend watering twice a day for the first 2 weeks, then once a day for 2 weeks, then every other day for 2 weeks. This is just an approximate schedule depending on the heat, wind, type of tree, and of course rain. I should have taken my own advice on my new Southern Catalpa tree at home – I got busy, and the tree got too dry: perfect on Saturday, damaged by Monday. Gonna strip the leaves and let it start over!

Harry: Let the Hose Do the Work!

I tell my clients all the time – don’t work too hard! Instead of holding the hose while you water, drag the hose to the base of the plant, then go turn it on to a slow trickle. This gets water down deep to the roots. If you turn the hose on full blast, most of the water will run off instead of soak in. This slow, deep watering takes time, but you can play with the dog while the hose does the work for you.

Diane: Don’t Scald Your Plants!

Run the hot water out of your hose before you water!! The longer the hose, the longer this takes. And remember that water can burn a leaf if it sits on the foliage (like the way a magnifying glass focuses heat), so always water the soil, not the leaves.

Hidalgo: How to Use a Jar or Glass to Prevent Soil Erosion

My Grandfather always had a big veggie garden with long planted rows that he watered by hand. He taught me this trick: to keep the water from blasting the soil and eroding at the base of your plants, slide a mason jar or heavy drinking glass over the end of the hose, lay it down, then turn on the water. This way the water hits the bottom of the glass first, then flows back gently and evenly instead of eroding the soil.

Mike: Aerate (Poke Holes) to Get Oxygen and Water to the Roots

Our heavy clay soil tends to compact and not allow oxygen and water to penetrate, especially after a rain. For trees and large shrubs (or any plant that looks like water is not soaking into the soil), I recommend aerating around the root ball about once a month. Drive a piece of rebar into the soil about 2 feet deep, about every 8 inches outside the root ball to help get oxygen and water down to the roots.

Right now is a very exciting time for us South Texas Gardeners. It doesn’t feel like it yet, but our Summer season is coming to a close, and our best growing season is right around the corner. That’s means it’s time to decide what you’re growing and get going! Here are our tips for getting started.

Plan Your Garden

It’s veggie time – start by thinking about what you like to eat! You can produce a surprising amount of food for you and food to share in a small backyard (or front yard) garden. If you have limited space, containers or small raised beds are great. Watch James’ guide to container gardening – Grow Food Everywhere! Consider mixing Fall flowers like Marigolds, Lobelia, or Violas with your herbs and veggies.

Start Your Seeds!

If you’re starting from scratch (seed), right now is the time to start cabbage, squash, beans, and lots of others. Here’s our schedule for popular Fall veggie seeds. Also, check out Wyatt’s video demo about starting seeds – it’s not the only way, but it really helps with germination. If you prefer transplanting, we’ll start getting all our Fall veggie plants in the next week or 2. Our Texas growers have been prepping for a big Fall.

Clear out Weeds and Tired Plants

As our Summer veggies and cover crops finish their life cycle, harvest what you can and clean out the rest. When you start prepping your soil for new plants, you’ll be encouraging new growth, including weeds. So, take your time pulling weeds and get as many of the roots as you can.

Prep Your Soil

If you’re planting in the ground, your soil needs a good turning before planting. This is a good time to add some compost as well. By turning about 1 bag of Nature’s Blend compost into every 12 sq. ft. of soil (or a similar amount if you make your own compost), you create a perfect environment for young plant roots to take hold. If you’re prepping raised beds, we love Gardener’s Magic soil. It’s specially formulated for raised beds; just dump the bags in and start planting.

Think Trees Too

Fall is THE best time to plant trees in our area. Cooler temps mean less watering for you and less stress on the young tree. Planting in Fall also gives the tree roots plenty of time to get established before temps warm up again next Spring/Summer. New citrus and fruit trees have arrived this week, and lots of our South Texas favs like Cedar Elm, Live Oak, and Crape Myrtles are here with more en route. Check out Josh’s citrus planting demo – lots of these planting tips are great for all kinds of trees.

We are so happy to welcome Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds back to Gill’s! Baker Creek offers one of the largest selections of 19th century heirloom seeds from Europe and Asia, and their 2021 catalog contains about 1,000 varieties.

Founder Jere Gettle started Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. in 1998 as a hobby in Mansfield, Missouri. Today, Baker Creek includes trial gardens, greenhouses, a pioneer village, and a seed store. Their seed packets feature amazing photos of crops grown at their facility! We brought in a cool assortment of varieties that we think will work well in our area, like these Bosque Blue Bumblebee tomatoes and Pippin’s Golden Honey sweet peppers.

Tips for Starting Seeds:

I tried Wyatt’s kickstart method for starting seeds this week and it worked great:

Fold seeds in a damp paper towel.
Seal the damp paper towel inside a zip-loc bag overnight.
Remove the seeds from the bag/towel and plant in peat pots using seed and cutting soil.
Once the plants are ready, transplant the peat pots directly into the ground or other container.

Of course, you could start the seeds directly in soil, but this extra step speeds up germination. I actually left my seeds in the bags for 2 days (because I forgot, oops). By the time I got around to opening the bags, most of the seeds had already sprouted. One day later, they’re already pushing up out of the soil.

Right now is the time to start lots of veggies like squashes, cabbage, and beans from seed – here’s our schedule for Fall veggies.

One more tip – seed and cutting soil is blended to allow tiny young roots and sprouts to break through. It’s very light and fluffy, so the soil and seeds tend to float up out of the container when you add water. So, water the soil first, let it settle, then push your seeds into the saturated soil. The back end of a pair of tweezers works well.

–Jesse

Tomatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow, but you need to get the timing right. Typically, you’d want to get them in the ground in August, but since it’s been so warm, it’s ok to wait until early to mid-September. But don’t wait longer than that! Here are a few tips for getting the best (and the most) tomatoes this Fall.

Start with a quart size or even a 1 gallon because you can wait a little longer to plant and it is easier to keep them watered in the heat. Add some organic Bio-tone starter fertilizer when you plant, add a tomato cage, water well, and watch them grow! On the first of the month, fertilize with Espoma Plant tone and on the 15^th use Hasta Gro liquid. Vegetables are heavy feeders and will reward you with a bountiful harvest if fed regularly.

Celebrity and Tycoon are 2 of the most popular larger tomatoes. Red Snapper, Red Deuce, Ruby Crush and Better Boy are also very good tried and true varieties. Most of these take about 70+ days from fruit to harvest.

If you’re looking for big flavor in a bite size, cherry or grape tomatoes are the ticket! Some of the tops, are Large, Red Cherry, Sweet 100, Juliet, Yellow Pear and my favorite… Sweet Cherry Surprise 968 aka BHN 968. Great for growing in a container, a raised bed, or in the ground. It is 4 times sweeter than any other cherry tomato on the market – almost like eating candy. Cherry tomatoes produce an abundance of fruit in a short period of time. One plant is plenty to keep several people supplied in tomatoes.

–DeAnna

veggie gardening

Seeds to Start in January

Medina Growin’ Green

Gill Lawn and Garden Food

HastaGro

Espoma “Tone” Foods

Plan Your Garden

Start Your Seeds!

Clear out Weeds and Tired Plants

Prep Your Soil

Think Trees Too

Tips for Starting Seeds:

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