Get It Growing: Now's the time to pick fall veggies for transplanting

By OLIVIA McCLURE
LSU AgCenter
October days in Louisiana don’t always feel like fall. While it will still be a while before true “sweater weather” arrives in the Bayou State, things have cooled off enough for us to get started on our fall and winter vegetables in the garden.
Crops like mustard and collard greens, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and bunching onions all do well when planted this time of year, when overnight temperatures begin to drop.
“They really like a cooler night,” said LSU AgCenter vegetable specialist Christine Coker. “They’re fine with our warm days.”
Coker prefers using transplants, not seeds, at this point in the season to ensure plants have enough time to mature and be harvested before our harshest winter weather typically arrives.
“You can plant transplants from September through November,” she said. “If you wanted to start from seed, you would start a little earlier.”
When shopping for transplants, look for a strong, sturdy stem and a well-developed root system. Don’t be afraid to gently pop plants out of their containers to see what the roots look like.
“If it pulls away from the pot easily, that lets me know the root system is really nice and established,” Coker said.
Read the plant tags, too. They tell you the plant variety, sun and water requirements and how many days it will take from planting until harvest. Leafy greens grown from transplants often mature within six to eight weeks while cole crops — things like Brussels sprouts and cabbage — can take a bit longer.
Tags also usually suggest how far apart you should space plants. Coker said it’s important to pay attention to this piece of information, as crowding plants can lead to diminished harvests.
“A good rule of thumb for most vegetables is 12 to 18 inches,” she said. “It looks like you have a lot of space, but when these plants fill out, they’re going to fill up your bed.”
Most cool-season vegetables do best with six to eight hours of sun daily. Make sure your planting location gets the amount of sun recommended on the plant tag and has well-drained soil.
“Veggies do not like wet feet,” Coker said.
She likes to plant her vegetables in raised beds. They make it easy to control the growing media and moisture level, and they tend to have fewer weed problems.
But a raised bed setup isn’t a prerequisite for growing vegetables. Containers are always an option, and so is a traditional, in-ground garden.
“You’ll need a nice, weed-free spot, and that’s the hardest part to come by,” Coker said.
“But once you get a clear space, you can absolutely grow these in the ground, and they’ll do just fine. Of course, we always recommend a soil test so you know where you’re starting at, and a lot of times, we do recommend some amendments to get that organic matter up and to make sure that the fertility’s right.”