With the redbuds, daffodils, dogwoods and hellebores starting to bloom, master gardener Paul James knows that spring has sprung. That means there are some chores to be done in his vegetable garden:
Thinning
In the bed of two-week-old lettuce, the crop needs to be thinned. This is an important task that many veggie gardeners, especially new and inexperienced ones, fail to do. By thinning, you remove excess seedlings in order to provide adequate spacing between the remaining plants. The process can be somewhat tedious, but it’s essential to the success of the crop. The failure to thin leads inevitably to crop failure.
If you’re feeding a family of five but only have enough food for three, then either two people are going to go hungry, or no one is going to get all the food they need. It’s the same with plants.” There is only so much water and nutrients available to plants. Thinning them reduces competition between plants and ensures that the remaining plants will get the water and nutrients they need.
Before you start the process of thinning, it is important to know the proper spacing between plants. Make sure to read the instructions on the back of the seed packet.
Planting Tomatoes
In his gardening zone, Paul is unable to harvest lettuce and tomatoes at the same time because lettuce is a cool-season crop and tomatoes are a warm-season crop. But since warm weather is just around the corner, he decides to go ahead and plant a few tomatoes.
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