RIVERSIDE, Ohio (WDTN) — The past week has featured temperatures as high as the 80s, but that doesn’t mean it is the right time to plant your garden.
Rick Kossoudji, president of the North Dayton Garden Center and Nursery, has seen an increased demand for plants since the weather turned nice last week, but with the current cold snap, he warns that it is too early to plant some of them outside and suggests planting cold hearty vegetables.
He said, “It’s okay to plant. They’ll take down to maybe the mid-twenties and still survive planted outdoor, and I’ve got those outdoors now and they’ll stay outdoors, so they are good. That’s lettuces, cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflowers.”
Certain vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, basil, peas, potatoes should not be planted right away.
Kossoudji said, “Tonight, it’s like 34 degrees. So the cold crops they’re okay, but tomato plants and pepper plants that could be there end.”
If you have mistakenly planted crops that will not survive a frost or freeze there is some hope, with a little extra work.
Kossoudji said, “Cover the lines of your young starters with either buckets upside down or, you know, people can put row covers out and they’ll hold the warmth into the ground and they’ll maybe make it, you know, 40 degrees during the night time.”
He acknowledges that covering plants doesn’t mean they will survive a freezing night, and instead suggests keeping them out of the cold for a while.
Kossoudji said, “Keep it in the kitchen window, keep it watered, and usually you’re going to take it out about the end of the month. It’s okay.”
Kossoudji said he has seen a good amount of people buying annual hanging baskets, and warns that they need to be brought inside when temperatures are below 40 degrees.
