PNW May updates :)

gwennifer wrote:...Hot out there for the last few days!...

gwennifer wrote:boffer, I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids. I have to keep repeating that to myself sometimes! I will miss it when they've grown out of this stage of life, but so many things that should be easy (stepping out the back door to water my SFG) are not once the young 'uns are figured in. And 75 degrees is too hot! I may not be native to Washington, but remember I was raised in Alaska.

Rose, Thanks for the planting guide! I recognize that website - it's the one I found when trying to figure out how to make my SFG bed out of the vinyl fence parts. Now you have me wondering about onions. I inherited some green onions three years ago from a neighbor who was moving out of state. I cut them off, they grow again. They've never made a flower, no matter how long I've gone without cutting them. Hmmmm... wonder why not?

Question: My planting guide also said to start cucumbers indoors this month. Yet all my cucumber packets say to direct sow as soon as all danger of frost has passed and that starting indoors is not recommended. Does anyone know what the deal is with this?

Daniel9999 wrote:

gwennifer wrote:Question: My planting guide also said to start cucumbers indoors this month. Yet all my cucumber packets say to direct sow as soon as all danger of frost has passed and that starting indoors is not recommended. Does anyone know what the deal is with this?

You might find this helpful.

When to Plant

Cucumbers are usually started by planting seeds directly
in the garden. Plant after the danger of frost has passed,
and the soil has warmed in the spring. Warm soil is necessary for
germination of seeds and proper growth of plants. With ample soil
moisture, cucumbers thrive in warm summer weather. A second planting
for fall harvest may be made in mid- to late summer.

Cucumbers may be transplanted for extra-early yields. Sow two or
three seeds in peat pots, peat pellets or other containers 3 to 4 weeks
before the frost-free date. Thin to one plant per container. Plant
transplants 1 to 2 feet apart in rows 5 to 6 feet apart when they have
two to four true leaves. Do not allow transplants to get too large in
containers or they will not transplant well. Like other vine crops,
cucumbers do not transplant successfully when pulled as bare-root
plants.

[url=http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/cucumber.cfm

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:Daniel - I got a chuckle out of your post. The main campus of the U of I (where the link is from) is about 90 miles east of me. I've learned a LOT about weather in the PNW from all of you (never having been there). I never knew such a place existed where the climate was so...errr...temperate (well, AND rainy).

This is what the daily temps are like during our seasons in central Illinois (where we abound in tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini).

Winter - cold, cold, cold, darn cold, darn cold, darn cold, cold, cold
Spring - cold, darn cold, cold, cold, hot, cold, hot, hot, cold, hot, hot, hot, cold, hot
Summer - hot, hot, darn hot, darn hot, hot, hot, darn hot, hot
Fall - hot, darn hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold, cold, hot, cold, cold, cold

During Spring and Fall, cold days and hot days just battle it out until one wins. We can literally be 40 degrees one day, and over 80 the next. The word "weather" and "temperate" in our area don't often get used in the same sentence. (But it makes for great cucumbers because we pass moderate Spring right up and go right on to Summer.)

Lavender Debs wrote:What does "darn hot" mean? More than 78*?