Row By Row Episode 113: The BEST Crops to Replant in the Fall for the Home Gardener
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List of Crops to Replant in the Fall
Many of us home gardeners enjoy our spring garden but become unsure as the summer months heat up, and it is time to replant for the fall garden. So what are the best crops I can carry over to my fall garden? The men of Hoss Tools came up with a list of vegetables that your Fall garden is going to love!!
- Christmas Lima Pole Bean
- Rattlesnake Pole Bean
- Halo Canary Melon
- Ambrosia Sweet Corn
- Texas Creme 40 Pea
- Gold Star Squash
- Olympian Cucumber
- Pascola Zucchini
There are a few other crops we believe can thrive in a Fall garden, such as Okra, Peppers, and Eggplant. With the right irrigation and spraying program, these crops can beat the Fall heat!
Things to Remember if you are Going to Replant in the Fall
As mentioned, you have to stay on top of your Fall garden to make sure you can get a plentiful harvest. That begins with picking an excellent disease-resistant variety like the ones listed above. You also need to pay attention to the maturity dates and know if the crop is a one time harvest, like corn, or multiple harvests such as our cucumbers. You would not want to plant your cucumbers with only enough time before the first frost for one harvest because it would not be worth your time and resources. If you have that short window before frost, you need to plant something that would only have one harvest.
For different crops, different varieties may mature faster than others. For example, the Pepo species of summer squash is much quicker to develop than the Machado varieties.
There are some vegetable plants you can let go dormant to come alive again in the Fall. They might start to look a little raggedy, but they will come alive again and give you harvest if you continue to spray and take care of them. Some of those crops include our lima and pole beans, peppers, and eggplants.
However, a crop like Okra is better to succession plant throughout the spring and Fall to get the best harvest. Doing the succession planting with our Silver Queen Okra like that will give you Okra till the first frost date.
Show and Tell Segment
Growing new things you have never tried before is one of the highlights of gardening. Travis has never tasted, let alone grown a Canary Melon until now, and it was a hit! Our Halo Canary Melon is a winter melon meaning that it can store a lot longer than most of your Muskmelons. Of course, with growing anything new, the guys had to do a taste test. The results came back good, with the texture of a watermelon and the refreshing taste of cucumber, I believe we will see more of this Canary Melon.
Speaking of Cucumbers, they are still kicking! As long as you have a disease-resistant variety like our Olympus, you can grow Cucumbers well into August. To avoid the bitter taste that comes with the heat stress, make sure they are on drip tape or getting adequate water!
Our Sweet Potatoes are coming along and different from the Cucumbers; it is time to back off on our Sweet Potato plants' watering. Once they get on up, this drought-resistant crop does better with a lack of water.
Another crop that loves the hot, dry weather of South Georgia in August is Sunflowers. Our Sunflowers are not only a pretty sight to see in the garden, but they are doing their job as a cover crop as they help cleanse the soil.
Viewer Question Segment
Our viewers are always challenging us to dig deeper and help answer some of their tough gardening questions. This week our first question asked us, did we think there will be a food shortage, and should we be saving all of our heirloom seeds? From the looks of the thousands of acres of commercial produce farms near us and the way they are still steadily out there every day, we don't see a food shortage in our near future. Saving heirloom seeds can be a neat thing to do if your variety is hard to get your hands on, but if it is one you can find easily, it might not be worth your time to save those seeds.
Can corn be too short when it starts tasseling? The idea of mini corn stalks was brought to our attention, but the Hoss men clarified that most corn is about 3-4 feet tall before it tassels, and if you are spraying fertilizer, it will probably get on up to 7 foot before it starts putting on. Just like with everything, it all depends on the type of variety you are growing. The Ambrosia Sweet Corn is a 6-7 foot in size one that is great to replant in the Fall!
Fig trees are a trendy commodity down here in the South, and one of our viewers wants to know, where is the best place to buy one? Greg explained that it's about knowing what you are buying and to see the difference in getting a Fig tree tissue culture or a tree grown from a cutting. Both Travis and Greg prefer tree cuttings better as they are usually more prominent and more vigorous plants. To get these cuttings, you will have to find local nurseries as it is generally challenging to ship the larger trees.