Planting and Caring for Fall and Winter Vegetable Starts
Transplanting
Transplant your new starts into the garden as soon as possible. If you need to hold them for a while in their pots, be sure to keep them watered to avoid any stress to the plants or they might bolt. Try to plant cole crops (cabbages, broccoli, kale, etc.) in different locations in your plot if you grew those crops this year. Keep in mind that winter crops need more space between them than spring or summer ones because light levels are so much lower in the winter.
To transplant:
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Dig a hole beneath where each plant will be set – several inches deeper than the plant will be placed and put a couple of tablespoons or so of fertilizer (available in the shed) in the hole and stir it around. Fill in the hole and then dig another shallow hole above it for planting.
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Gently knock the plants out of their pots (don’t pull them out) and carefully pull apart each plant’s roots if there is more than one plant in the pot. If only one plant, loosen the root ball gently before planting unless the root ball is already loose.
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Plant at the same depth as the plant is in the pot and firm the soil around the base. Some plants are naturally floppy (especially cabbage and fennel) and will not have straight stems, but they will still grow. If needed you can prop each start up with small pieces of bamboo.
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Water the plants in gently to avoid knocking them over with the water.
Watering
Keep your starts watered until the fall rains start. Then you’re done with watering for the season!
Pests
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Watch for bugs! The most likely problem will be from the larva of the white European moth – easy to spot hanging around broccoli, cabbage and kale plants. They lay their eggs on the leaves and the little green larva devour the leaves. The best way to control is to check every few days if you start seeing signs of chewing. Check on the underside of leaves and on the top along the middle vein. They are green and hard to see, but just pick them off and throw them away. The moths will come back several times so you have to keep checking.
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Also watch for slugs and snails, especially around lettuce and other greens.
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Aphids – small green, gray or black insects that especially like new leaves are less of a problem when planting in the fall, but if the warm weather continues they might be an issue. You can gently spray them off with a hose, spray with water with some dish soap in it, or use a product like Safer’s Soap. Check frequently.
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White fly (tiny white flies that flit up when disturbed and lay their eggs on the underside of leaves) can be a problem in the fall. Really cold winters will kill them, but if it’s not cold this year, they could overwinter and become a problem in the spring. Use soapy water, botanical soap or Neem oil to control.
Covering/Overwintering
Most fall/winter vegetables are super hardy and do not need winter protection – especially cabbage, kale, Portuguese Kale, cauliflower and broccoli. All these, except cauliflower will overwinter and begin producing in late February or early March. Sometimes cabbages will bolt if we get a warm spell in February. Chard will sometimes freeze out but will come back up from the roots in the spring.
The Amazing variety of Cauliflower may be ready for harvest in December. So, don’t forget to check on it or if it goes too long you will end up with brown, mushy heads!
Fennel bulb is more tender, and would benefit from a floating row cover when the temperatures drop below freezing. It should be ready for harvest in December or a bit earlier.
Lettuces and endives are very hardy but benefit from a floating row cover or even a plastic covering (preferably with some holes to let in a little rain) to keep them from being battered by wind and hard rain over the winter.
Spring Fertilizing
Overwintered vegetables should be fertilized in late February as growth restarts by side dressing about a half cup of fertilizer per plant – sprinkle around the plant and gently scratch it into the soil -avoid damaging roots.