New to SFG first plan

Here is my first plan. I have 2 4x4 one will have only Watermelon and cantaloupe for now. Not sure how much room those take and I have what I want to plant in the other box. I am sure I will find something else I want to plant. Most of my family is anti-veggie so what I plant will be for me and my youngest and stuff used in dishes such as herbs and onions. I may try potatoes at some point but not right now. I tried to use companion planting, but again I am new at gardening and did the best I could.

Tomatoes, peppers and more peppers. Sounds to me like some good stuff to put with meat.

I'm not sure what all is in the second and third rows. What all are those?

I used this site to make my plan - http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KGPJS

here is what I have planned by rows
tomatoes, cucumbers
bell peppers, basil, cilantro, broccoli
parsley, hot peppers, onions, broccoli
spinach, lettuce

Wow I was way off in guessing some of them, I'm glad I didn't post my thoughts.

Looks like you'll be growing some great stuff. Just one thought though: you do have a mix of hot and cold weather plants. I don't know what you're weather is like right now, but just make sure you watch out for that when you plant.

Iam brand new to gardening and I am not sure what is hot or cold. Can you help by telling me what is hot or cold? I am in south Louisiana right out side of New Orleans. I am pretty sure we have no more cold weather until the fall/winter. This week our temps have been in the high 60s to the low 70s.

Some plants like lettuce and peas do better in cold weather, in fact a frost or two will even help them taste better, but the heat of summer will kill them. Others like tomatoes and peppers can't stand cold and any frost can kill them. A couple of days ago I was looking at my seed packets and realized there's specific wording that can tell you. Some said, "plant as soon as you can work the ground" and those are the cold weather plants. Others said, "plant after all danger of frost has past" and those would be the warm weather plants.

That being said, it sounds like it's safe for you to plant the warm weather plants now. You could still try planting some of the cold weather plants. For example you might plant spinach now and enjoy some baby spinach before it gets too hot. Last year I read that my leeks couldn't survive a frost. Then Lavender Debs told me they'd be just fine, and they did. One thing I like about gardening is that you can experiment. Enjoy the process and discoveries!

Here's what I can tell you for your plants:

Warm Weather:
tomatoes
bell peppers
basil
hot peppers
parsley

Cold Weather:
broccoli
spinach
lettuce

I don't know, unsure:
cucumbers
cilantro
onions

Hi scases, welcome to the forum and to SFG! I have no experience gardening in such a hot climate, but I think I am safe to say that you need to get your broccoli, spinach and lettuce into the ground as soon as possible. The rest of your plants are heat loving and should be more forgiving.

Kabaju, cukes do best in heat... and cilantro, in my limited experience, does, too. Onions are a different beast that I'm still learning about.

Kabaju42 - Thanks for the tip on the seed packets and the reference list.

megan - I filled my boxes today and will finish filling them tomorrow. I did small batches of MM. I need one more batch and the boxes will be filled. Then I will put the lettuce, spinach and broccoli in the ground.

I can't wait to learn about gardening with the help of every one here. I have gotten some great help/advice in the 2 posts I created.

Scases, your onions should have been out long ago, or even planted in the fall. You are far enough south that you need to grow short-day onions which will begin bulbing when the hours of daylight per day reach 11-12. (Google for varieties, or some seed catalog denote short and long-day varieties.) Growers in the north where the days are longer in summer grow long-day onions which don't begin bulbing until the hours of daylight per day reach 14-16.

You can still get green onions if you plant sets or transplants now, but they likely won't get enough growing time in to make large leaves before the day length and warm temps trigger bulb making. The larger the leaves at that point, the larger the bulbs.

I'm saving my broccoli for fall-planting. Our summer heat arrives so quickly that the spring broccoli usually bolts before it gets large enough for a good harvest. I'm trying spring-planted rapini (broccoli raab) for the first time this spring. It has a shorter growing time, and I'm hoping it will take the place of spring broccoli for me.

Some lettuce varieties take heat better than others, but in my experience, they all turn bitter once the temps heat up. I sow some early in spring, and again in fall for a late crop.

Your garden plan looks great.

ander217 - Thanks for the information. I guess I should have specified the onions are green onions. Do you know where I could get a seed catalog? Or even a website that has information on what to plant each month? I am off to google to find a site with this information.

I did buy the New SFG book, but I haven't finished reading it yet. I was trying to get my 2 boxes ready so I can get stuff in there since I know I am behind on getting stuff planted. That is what happens when you decide to start a garden at the beginning of March.

check mysquarefootgarden - she sends emails weekly about what to plant depending on where you live. Very helpful!

This link is to a list of seed merchants. The list was ompiled by our members. Most have online catalogs, and you can order a paper catalog from their site.

Seed companies

When you get to pages 252 thru 259 of the ALL NEW SFG book, you will find information on how long it takes for seeds to germinate and when to plant seeds indoors and out, based on your last frost date.