Days to harvest on the back of a seed pack is a figure we count on, but one that almost never coincides with when we actualy get a crop. Plan on picking those tomatoes at mid-July, for instance? Cool nights can throws a monkey wrench into equation.
That’s because the date on the seed pack is typically not the same as where your day-to-day calendar begins. Every seed company has its own starting point for counting down days to harvest. This means every seed-packet number doesn’t mean the same thing which causes confusion among gardener.
Understanding Days to Harvest
Days to maturity dates for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other warm-season crops is measured from the date you transplanted the seedling into garden soil; not from the date you planted the seed in a tray. Why? Because all those weeks indoors are spent getting built up (and rooted!) as seedlings. When you tack on another week or two (or more) by counting forward from sowing date, you’re adding time to your calendar that breeder didn’t account for. To arrive at a realistic seed-to-plate clock, you have to combine the weeks-in-the-garden with the weeks-in-nursery time: Add them together. That’s why most folks skip right past it, the task involve keeping tabs on two times, rather than just one.
Cucumbers, bush beans, and zucchini is midseason crops. They’re usually listed with just one days-to-maturity number, beginning when they’re planted directly into the ground. What’s interesting about them is that they tend to fall within a reliable range. Say, around forty-eight to eighty-two days (see chart).
That tells you where to expect your crop to come in, which allows you to plan for successive plantings: Sow a row of bush beans every couple of weeks and you have a continuous supply of fresh ones, not a giant heap all at once! Knowing their timing can also help you rotate beds well, so you have something that grows fast like spinach or lettuce tilled under just before something slower to get going like bush beans, say. If you know what percentage of your frost-free season one crop fills, then you can see at a glance how much space there is on the calendar for other crops (the season share column in the graphic).
For example, a radish cycle uses just a fraction of the calendar so you have time to plant another. But celery or winter squash take almost all season. This means you must commit to them early and make sure soil is prepared. There is no way you are going to be able to fix mistakes when only 20 percent of the year remains. Long-cycle crops require more commitment then short-cycle ones; they’re unforgiving, whereas short-cycle crops are forgiving.
Temperature is the silent variable that breaks these charts every year. Cool nights will stop plants even if days are very warm, and the chart assume steady and perfect warmth. Wait until the soil warms in springtime if you’re planting. According to the infographic, wait for the soil to hit sixty-four degrees Fahrenheit before sowing delicate seeds, because cold, wet soil can rots them or stunt their seedlings. Better to begin a week later in warm ground than a week sooner in chilly dirt, since nothing grows until the conditions allow the growth cycle to turn.
The garden has its own pattern: it follows a sequence of harvests (called “waves,” as if they were on parade). First leafy things (greens), then squash and beans, then big-fruit crops, and last, roots to store. That’s how you harvest at the best time, and avoid getting fatigued in the garden. Most of your beans or tomatoes or any later crop that bears over several weeks will come in during those last few weeks of their life cycle, so knowing that helps you manage the work. Plan on easy pickin’ for radishes in early May, then save yourself from the hard work when the tomatoes are realy pumping away in high summer. Then you have a manageable flow in the garden rather than chaos.
Gardening follows a seasonal rhythm. It is not merely a matter of jotting down numbers on a calendar. It helps to know the season’s pace as part of your planning for a vegetable garden. Use the chart as a guideline, then add real-life soil and weather conditions from where you live to the mix. Begin by testing the soil temperature, follow the planting schedules, and base your succession on what’s in your share of the season.
Get your timing more closely aligned with the actual cycle of things growing, and suddenly the garden isn’t such a guessing game… It’s more of a well-tended system.
You should of gotten an October radish. But that’s good news.