Spring Gardening Tips for Growing Leafy Vegetables
Many greens are cold-hardy. They are the perfect shoulder-season crop while you wait for the summer heat to enjoy a wonderful harvest. The following tips will help you have a beautiful and bountiful spring garden.
Prepare your soil
You can start planting your leafy greens as soon as the ground thaws. Most of these vegetables have seeds that germinate as long as it’s at least 40° F. If you are unsure about the right time to plan, work with a local professional for tips.
Avoid overly wet soil to keep the seeds from rotting. If you have rainy springs, postpone planting until the weather dries up. Test the soil by squeezing it in your fist. If it separates and crumbles, it's dry enough for planting. Hold off if it forms a ball that doesn't break apart easily. Another option is to create raised beds to avoid early spring’s wet soil. Beds 12 to 24 inches above the ground level are usually all you need to improve the soil and have enough drainage.
Provide the necessary nutrients
All plants need potassium, phosphorous, and nitrogen. Leafy green vegetables use much energy growing their beautiful leaves, so they need an extra dose of nitrogen. Be sure to fertilize the soil with rotted animal manure or compost before you start planting. This gives your leafy green roots the nitrogen boost they need.
Once your sprouts make their appearance, you can add more compost or water them with diluted fish fertilizer. Kelp meal and organic alfalfa worked into the soil before planting and helped provide the nitrogen your plants need.
Choose cold-hardy plants
Most leafy vegetables will do quite well in fluctuating temperatures. Excellent choices for spring planting include the following.
Spinach
Arugula
Kale
Mustard greens
Cress
Lettuce is a warmer-season green. It will grow slower than the others in the spring and require protection when there’s a hard frost. Otherwise, lettuce does best with only a thin layer of soil covering their seeds since they require plenty of light for germination.
Provide protective covering
You can start your greens up to a month before planting season with a greenhouse. Seeds started in greenhouses benefit from the shelter’s warmer temperatures. You can further help seeds along by adding a secondary layer of protection like mulch. This locks in moisture, helps them germinate, and speeds up their growth.
Adding a thin layer of light-permeable fabric improves the temperature and humidity of seeds planted in a greenhouse. This additional coverage protects the seeds and young sprouts from drastic temperature drops. This method is usually used during the first few weeks following planting.
By following these tips, you’ll enjoy leafy vegetables early this year. There’s no reason to wait for summer to arrive before planting. You can follow us on Facebook or Instagram for more spring gardening tips.
