OBVIOUSLY, some seedlings is faster than others. Tomato seedlings appear to be slow; radishes are fast. Why? The answer have to do with the way each of these plants constructs itself. Each plant has its own engine for building and not all growth engines work the same way. The relative growth rate is measure of a plant’s ability to add dry matter in proportion to its existing size.
Fruiting crops have their feet on the ground (slow!), whereas leafy greens realy race along (fast!). Fast growers such as radishes is all about getting big in a hurry. They grow their leaves and swell their roots, pushing both upward quickly. So does lettuce and spinach. The leafy crops likes to turn over quickly. Get it out and get it planted before the slower things has rooted. That’s how you can garden intensively, fast growing plants open up area and light for the upcoming crop. But that’s generally going to be at the expense of more structural mass. It is good for salad leaves, but not so good for something you want to keep awhile.
Understanding Plant Growth Speeds
Slow crops: Potatoes, onions, and garlic are slow builders. They aren’t lazy; they are building tough tissue and storing energy at a slow but steady pace. A potato or onion doesn’t hurry; it take months, often months. There’s no speeding up a slow-growing thing by trying to fit it into a fast time slot. Respect the long timeline of these crops which will hold a bed down half the season if you let them. Slow-and-fast plants is your teammates; think of them that way: The slow ones anchor the year with produce later on, while the fast ones plug in space between.
The timing of peak growth also varies wildly among different plant. Some leafy greens, such as spinach, are earliest; they grow best in just a couple of weeks after appearing. That’s why it’s smart to count on growing leafies in spring and fall. Plants that fruit (such as zucchinis or tomatoes) doesn’t produce until later, after they’ve had some time to bulk up their canopies. That means gardeners tend to get impatient with those guys. “Oh,” people say about a slow tomato, “I think something’s wrong.” Nope… It’s simply getting its act together so there will be more things to come. If you know that your crop is delayed in this way, you can adjust your expectations: You’re waiting for the plant to transition from vegetative growth to making seeds.
To handle all this, you have to pay attention to the basics. Provide warmth for soil, enough space between plants so they are not overcrowded and even moisture. This will help you maintain high growth rates. Starve it of nutrients or expose it to shade and the plant lose its speed edge. Support it in the right environment and you’ve got a garden that is humming along at the plant’s natural beat.
By using a planting approach based off biology, you should of had a garden that works as a coordinated system, rather than one where you try to outsmart the plants by struggling against their internal clocks. Radishes will race; onions has their own pace, too. Let each play to its strength, and there’s a place for both. Success comes from understanding how nature works at so many different speeds.