For Release March 20, 2001

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

Well, I certainly hope no one planted potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day! It was too wet and too cold. Even if you trust the almanac and the moon phases, St. Patrick’s Day was the absolutely worse day to be planting potatoes. Traditions are nice, but traditions have very little to do with good gardening. And can someone explain to me why we so many people want to plant potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day?

In this area, the gardening season will start sometime from mid-March to early April, depending on the weather. The soil has to be starting to warm up and it has to be dry enough to till. We are coming up short on both ends of that equation. Because of the continued cold and wet weather, soil temperatures are only into the low to mid 40’s as of last week. I don’t think they’ve warmed up a lot since then.

Temperatures are the first factor we need to consider. If temperatures are too cold, seeds will take so long to germinate that they will probably rot. It’s the same way with potatoes. They like cool weather, but wet soggy soils will let them rot in a hurry. I really feel that minimum soil temperature should be 50 degrees before we start getting the first garden crops of spring into the ground.

Soil moisture is the second factor to consider. Dry soil will warm faster than wet soil. Dry soil is easier to work than wet soil. We have wet soil this spring. We have very wet soil this spring. If you try to work soil that is too wet, you wind up with a mess. Even soil that is a little too wet can create a cloddy mess. Sandy soils will dry faster and be ready to work sooner than all other soils. A lot of our soils have a lot of clay in them. These soils need to get significantly drier before you work them.

If you want to know if the soil is too wet, here’s a simple test. Get a small handful of soil. Squeeze it into a ball. If water runs out of the soil it is definitely too wet. If you open your hand and the ball of soil starts to fall apart in just a few seconds, then the soil is dry enough to be safely worked. Now it gets tricky. If the ball of soil holds together for several seconds you need to take the next step. Get a little bit of soil between your thumb and index finger and start squishing the soil together. This is called making a ribbon of soil. If you can squish out a ribbon of soil several inches long, then you have a lot of clay in your soil and it is too wet. If you can’t squish out very much of a ribbon because it keeps breaking off, then you either have less clay or drier soil, or both, and it is probably safe to work the soil.

Once the soil does warm up, we can get planting with our normal early season crops. Potatoes are the first thing that many people think of, but that is just the start. From mid March through mid April we can also plant: cabbage, broccoli, endive, cauliflower, lettuce, radish, peas turnips and beets. Onions and spinach can be planted anytime during April. Remember, we are not having an early spring. Do not be in a hurry. Take your time and let the soil warm up and dry out.

The word to remember this year is patience. Everyone has spring fever. It’s been a long winter and everyone wants to get out in the yard and garden. But let’s not make problems worse by getting going before the soil, or the weather is ready.

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