Time to start thinking about your spring gardening
Published: Sunday, December 15, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, December 13, 2013 at 11:01 a.m.
Colder weather is finally upon south Louisiana. Fall gardens have grown since late August to early September, so it’s possible you have harvested and eaten some cool season crops so far.
If you’re still wanting to enjoy home grown broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, you can still pull it off. Cool-season plants, transplanted into the garden in mid-January to mid-February, are considered an early spring crop.
Vegetables to plant in December include onions and shallots, which continue to scout late-season fall crops for insects and disease.
Vegetables to plant in early January include onion sets. In mid- to late January, you should transplant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce into your garden. You can also direct seed Irish potatoes through mid-February.
If you have greenhouse space or a cool frame, start your warm-season transplants this month. You should start tomato, eggplant and pepper transplants about the middle of January.
Continue to transplant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce transplants into the garden in February.
You should also plant direct seed beets, turnips, mustard, parsley, radishes, lettuce, snap beans and Irish potatoes in February.
Facts about Mistletoe
You know about sneaking a kiss under the sprig of mistletoe, but did you know mistletoe is actually a parasite?
Here are a few facts about mistletoe:
- Mistletoe is a catchall term for more than 1,500 species of “mistletoe” growing around the world. The mistletoe of American Christmas tradition is known as Phoradendron spp, while the mistletoe of European Christmas tradition is an entirely different genus, Viscum album, however, both are members of the Viscaceae plant family.
- Mistletoe is a hemi-parasitic evergreen plant. While it does contain some chlorophyll and can photosynthesize some of its own nutrients, mistletoe prefers to live off its host tree. In America, mistletoe is considered an invasive species that eventually kills its host. European mistletoe merely weakens its host, but does not kill it.
- Mistletoe spreads through birds eating and digesting seeds, which are deposited on a tree branch where roots soon begin to grow and burrow into the host.
- The white berries of the American mistletoe are extremely poisonous to people and pets but not to birds. The berries of the European mistletoe are not poisonous at all and are used medicinally.
Checklist for 2014
- Remove old flowers from your cool-season bedding plants to extend blooming and improve flower performance.
- Plant gladiolus in late February.
- Mulch shrubs and flower beds.
- Watch for lace bugs in azaleas. Control with horticulture oil sprays or Orthene.
- Plant petunias for early spring — New Wave series is a good one.
- Plant trees.
Q AND A
When is the best time to plant Irish potatoes?
Answer: Begin planting in mid-January. Cut seed potatoes into block pieces that are about the size of an egg. Be sure each seed piece has at least one eye. Plant seed pieces 10-15 inches apart in a row. As potatoes grow, pull soil each week from the sides of the row toward the plants to prevent tubers from surfacing.
Barton Joffrion is a horticulturist with Terrebonne Parish’s LSU AgCenter office, 511 Roussell St., Houma. He can be reached at 873-6495 or email@example.com. For information, visit www.lsuagcenter.com.