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Row covers can be installed over individual rows or even entire blocks of garden space.
Photo by S. Cory Tanner
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Row covers, secured over a raised bed, can provide double duty by shading seedlings from harsh summer sun and protecting crops from winter cold and winds.
Photo by S. Cory Tanner
My garden area occupies a relatively small space, so I’m always looking for ways to get more out of my home vegetable plot. One of my favorite techniques is making the growing season last longer.
Fall can actually be our most productive season in South Carolina, with optimal temperatures (warm days and cool nights) for many crops. The air is less humid, so plants face fewer disease problems. Less appealing is the fact that a fall garden needs to be prepared and planted in the hottest part of the summer, August.
Cool-season crops—Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, collards, turnips, beets—should be planted between mid-July and September 1. You can start cole crops as transplants or sow them directly in the garden. Root crops generally perform best when direct sown.
Making sure those seeds and seedlings don’t dry out is critical for summer-planted, cool-season crops. On a hot, sunny day, your seeds and transplants may need watering twice a day.
Here’s a trick I learned from a farmer some years ago to protect small seeds sown directly in the garden. After you sow and water them in, cover each row with a piece of lumber. This holds moisture in the row and prevents soil crusting. It also keeps the soil around the seeds from getting excessively hot during germination. Obviously, you’ll need to remove the boards after a couple days to allow the new seedlings to emerge and get sunlight. Remove the boards in the early evening to allow any emerging seedlings to adapt to the rising sun the following morning. I’ve had good success with summer-seeded crops using this technique.
Another simple season-extension idea I encourage vegetable gardeners to try is row covers. These spun-bonded polypropylene fabrics come in multiple sizes. You can install them over individual rows or even entire blocks of garden space. Lightweight row covers are porous, letting light, water and air pass through, so you can leave them over a planting throughout the day or for extended periods without causing excessive heat buildup or blocking rain.
Covers can be simply draped over a planting, but I prefer to prop them above the crop with homemade or store-bought wire supports. Row covers serve double duty in season extension: They protect tender seedlings of summer-sown, cool-season crops from the intense August sun, and they are equally helpful in frost protection in later months.
You can get a jump on fall planting by using row covers to shade cool-season crops that can’t take late summer heat, like lettuce, carrots and beets. Standard row covers provide about 15 percent shade, and because the fabric is white, it reflects sunlight instead of trapping it as heat. Leave the ends of the row covers open for cross-ventilation, which will allow for cooling and reduce disease-inducing humidity under the cover. Once daytime temperatures drop below 80 degrees, you can remove the covers or leave them on for frost protection on semi-hardy vegetables.
For frost protection, secure your row-cover edges to the soil with sod staples, rocks, sandbags or lumber to seal in heat and prevent them from blowing away. This way the material will hold in soil heat, giving a slight greenhouse effect of 2 to 4 degrees F. That may not seem like much, but it can make a big difference in guarding crops against cold winds.
Give these strategies a try to keep your garden busy and productive right through the fall.
S. Cory Tanner is an area horticulture agent and Master Gardener coordinator for Clemson Extension based in Greenville County. If you have any questions or comments, you can email him here.