Spring Garden vs. Fall Garden

Long-Season Summer Crops

• Many long-season crops associated with summer harvests must be planted in the spring because they require a long duration to grow and ripen. Most warm-season crops are grown for their fruit. Sweet corn (Zea mays var. saccharata), tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera), peppers (Capsicum spp.), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and a few others are in this group. Many of these have varieties that grow in a shorter amount of time, as well.

Short Crops

• While some crops take all summer to mature, several crops take only a couple of months and can be planted multiple times throughout the year or in small groups at intervals, a gardening style known as succession gardening. Most leaf lettuces (Lactuca sativa), radishes (Raphanus sativus), mustard greens (Brassica juncea) and turnips (Brassica rapa rapa) all have growing seasons that last 60 days or less. These examples are ideal for fall gardens, since they're semi-hardy against frost.

Cool-Season Crops

• Cool-season veggies prefer temperatures approximately 15 degrees cooler than their warm-season counterparts. Unlike most warm-season crops, most cool-season crops are grown for their edible leaves, flowers or roots. Leafy vegetables such as leaf lettuces, spinach (Spinacia oleracea), kale (Brassica oleracea), mustard greens and collard greens (Brassica oleracea) are examples of cool-season leafy vegetables. Carrots (Daucus carota) and radishes, on the other hand, are root crops. Broccoli and cauliflower (Brassica oleracea) are grown for their edible, immature flowers.

Pros and Cons of Fall Gardens

• Many vegetable gardeners run into various problems when they try to plant everything in spring. Some crops benefit from fall planting for a number of reasons. Fall gardens don't suffer the summer heat, a factor that can cause many veggies to turn bitter or go to seed. The hot summer sun can also create irrigation problems. Pest populations are also lower in fall than in spring and summer, giving relief to your ripening crops. Fall gardening, however, doesn't come without setbacks. For fall gardens, planting is done in the hottest part of the summer, a time when the young seedlings or transplants can succumb to the heat and large pest populations. To avoid these problems, start your seeds indoors and protect seedlings from the hot summer sun and pests. Transfer them to the garden after the threats have passed.