Did you do some spring planting already? With temperatures swinging this week, you may need to take some steps to keep your plants healthy.
“When people see the warm weather, they get spring fever, and they put their plants out way too early,” said Jeff Kushner, owner and president of Plant’s Alive! in Silver Spring, Maryland.
He said because temperatures can be warm one day and then freezing the next, he suggests waiting a bit.
“They really need to wait till the first week of May,” he said.
Kushner said being patient can save your plants.
“If you go too soon, it’s not going to end well, because we always get at least a nipping frost the last week of April. The frost-free date in this area is supposed to be April 15,” he said.
And if you’re already planted? Kushner said cover them.
“I would use plastic, because the moisture won’t penetrate. So the main thing is to keep the frost off of the plant, and the plastic will help,” he said.
Jon Traunfeld, University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Specialist, said you need to watch what you’re planting while the temperatures continue to fluctuate this spring.
“A light frost and temps in the upper 20s will not harm pansies or cool-season vegetables like lettuce,” Traunfeld said. “They can damage open blossoms of flowering shrubs, trees and fruit trees. Any warm-season crops like tomato and pepper can be covered overnight with a paper bag or light quilt.”
If you go to the store and see the perfect plants, you can buy them, but he said wait to plant or put them outside. You’ll want to keep them inside for now, especially if they are geraniums, begonias, impatiens and other similar plants.
“They’re available now, but I wouldn’t. I just wouldn’t plant anything outside unless it’s pansies, because that’s a late spring crop, early spring crop,” Kushner said. “An extra three weeks or a month, will literally save your plant.”
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