Fall Vegetables

Talk to any vegetable gardener about this growing season, and you will hear the same refrain —my tomatoes didn’t set any fruit, the squash didn’t grow, the beans were non-existent. This was not our best vegetable gardening season for even the most experienced gardener, and for the new gardener, that can be a hard lesson. But all is not lost. This is the time of year to replant or start a fall vegetable garden.

Fall gardens can be challenging, since diseases and insects have had all season to grow and build their populations, but as long as you are careful and monitor for problems, you can control them. Probably the biggest challenge is getting seedlings established when it is hot and dry out. Water is going to be crucial to success. Mulching with newspapers, shredded paper, shredded leaves or something similar will help to conserve moisture and keep weeds at bay. Rainfall has been spotty at best, so don’t rely solely on natural moisture, or you will not have any fall vegetables.

What can you plant now? The choices are wide open. You can replant many of your summer vegetables including summer squash—both yellow and zucchini, cucumbers, bush beans, tomatoes and peppers. If your early planted peppers and tomatoes are still looking good, keep watering and feeding and they will start producing again once the weather cools off. Remember that tomatoes in particular don’t set fruit when daytime temperatures exceed 95 degrees or nighttime temperatures don’t drop below 75 degrees. Adding additional plants into the mix will give you even more production. For the squash, cucumbers and beans you can plant seeds, but you will need transplants for peppers and tomatoes.

For most members of the cucurbit or cucumber/ squash family, it is best to plant in mounds or small hills. Mound up the soil and plant three or four seeds per mound. Thin them out to two plants per mound if they all germinate. With warm soil conditions, the seeds usually sprout quickly if they have ample moisture.

In addition to the warm-season vegetables, this is also the time to start planting the cool-season vegetables. Carrots, turnips, mustard, spinach, radish, beets and kale can all be seeded now through early to mid-September. Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage can also be grown now, but they must be planted as transplants (small plants) versus seed. You wouldn’t have enough time to grow a plant from seed and still get production with these vegetables.

When planting your fall garden, don’t forget to add a general complete fertilizer and till it into the soil. If you are planting in extreme heat, you may want to put down a lower rate of application so that you don’t burn tender new plants or seedlings. You can side-dress fertilizer down the row once the plants are established to make up for the lower rate. Water and mulch and monitor for insects. Mulching will help to moderate the soil temperature, keep moisture in and weeds out. Even with the best of mulches, some weeds will encroach. Use a hoe, not a tiller, to keep them down. Tilling the soil for weed control actually brings more weed seeds to the surface, giving you even more weeds.

Seeding rates vary by the vegetable you are growing. Read the seed packet to determine spacing. Many gardeners tend to seed a bit on the heavy side. That is fine, as long as you are able to thin them out to the recommended spacing once the vegetables begin to grow. If you leave all of the seedlings, your plants will be too crowded and you won’t have great production.

Length of time from seeding to harvest will vary with the vegetables you are growing. Seed packets give you that information too. They tell you the depth to plant the seeds, spacing of seedlings and time from seeding until harvest. The fastest return is radishes and leaf lettuces. Radishes can be harvested within 25–30 days of seeding, while leaf lettuces take about 45–50 days. Planting a small row every other week from now until mid-September will extend your harvest season for radishes and leaf lettuce. Heading lettuces like Bibb and buttercrunch take about 65 days. Leaf lettuces or soft-head lettuces are easier for us to grow in Arkansas. The iceberg heading lettuces are not recommended for Arkansas gardens since they need a long cool growing season to form the tight head.

Some vegetables are more tolerant of cold than others. As soon as a frost occurs, peppers and tomatoes shut down, but carrots, kale, spinach and cabbage will tolerate light freezes. Carrots and turnips may die back on top with a killing frost, but you can leave the roots underground with a light layer of mulch to harvest as needed throughout the winter. You will find that many vegetables have a sweeter flavor when harvested during cool weather versus the heat of summer. Kale and other leafy greens can actually stay in the garden all winter, depending on our season. Harvest as needed. Even in a cold spell, they may die back, but usually rebound with warmer weather and actually start growing again.

Another way to plant fall vegetables is in amongst your flowers and shrubs. Edible landscaping is becoming quite popular these days. Instead of planting ornamental cabbage and kale, consider planting edible kale and cabbage for double-duty beauty. Swiss chard has beautiful colored stems, and bull’s blood beets and giant purple mustard all are edible as well as ornamental. Many of the leaf lettuces are highly attractive, as are many herbs. Some herbs, such as rosemary and sage, are evergreen, and rosemary even blooms in the winter with purple flowers. Parsley and cilantro are best planted in the fall for all fall, winter and spring beauty. Cilantro quickly sets seed and becomes coriander if exposed to hot weather. But there is time to plant some annual basil for harvest up until frost, and planting perennial oregano, thyme and marjoram are also a great way to have your plants and eat them too!

For some gardeners, this season has taken its toll and they don’t want to plant again this year. Instead of leaving the garden barren, which will simply encourage weeds, consider planting a cover crop. A cover crop is also called a “green manure” crop. Planting a cover crop gives you something that “covers” the soil. This cover helps to reduce erosion, prevents weeds from growing and when tilled into the soil prior to planting in the spring, adds organic matter back into the soil, helping your vegetables grow. Clovers, annual ryegrass, hairy vetch and even mustard or turnip greens can be sown as a cover crop from late August through late October. Get it established, then let it take care of itself until you till it back into the soil prior to planting next spring.


Plant edible cabbage now

Rosemary is an excellent evergreen plant that blooms in the winter.

Swiss chard which is an easy edible ornamental	Parsley is a easy care fall/winter herb

Watch for insects that can attack your new vegetables such as this tomato hornworm.	Tomatoes must be grown from transplants

Pictures of chickens, flowers, wheat, a boy looking through a magnifying glass, irrigation pipe, soybean pods, and fruits and vegetables.	Cooperative Extension Service





Cooperative Extension Service	Agricultural Experiment Station
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