I remember a neighbor growing February peppers when I lived in Houston. It shocked me, but also made sense.
2020 Garden Thread
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DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
Do you mean just putting the new transplants in in February, or do you mean having ripe peppers? If the former, I'm beginning to believe it after living here for three years, though Houston is a different gardening world since it's one zone warmer and a lot more humid than I am. The last two years I've put transplants in in March, and they made it. Depending on how spring looks this year, I may see if I can grow the transplants larger and wait till April. It's a tough call here because it's too cold at night, but the heat comes so early that one does have to rush the plants.
I transplanted onions last week. That's when Dixondale Farms said I should do it, so I did it, and they survived the cold front that blew in strongly on Sunday and seem happy in the garden now. This is my first attempt at bulbing onions, so it will be a learning experience.
I transplanted onions last week. That's when Dixondale Farms said I should do it, so I did it, and they survived the cold front that blew in strongly on Sunday and seem happy in the garden now. This is my first attempt at bulbing onions, so it will be a learning experience.
I bet they went into the ground earlier than that. Houston would get into the 60s and 70s inFebruary. I used to joke that it'd be in the 90s from Valentines day to October. You'd have some days in the 30s in December, but not many. I bet they could be planted now with a cold cover on the cold days.
I just checked th he weather down there. Yeah,the stuff is in the ground now!
I just checked th he weather down there. Yeah,the stuff is in the ground now!
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DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
You got me curious about the weather differences between Houston and here (about three hours west). It's definitely colder here at night. We hit 28 two nights ago, 27 last night (with my temperature sensor perhaps too sheltered to be most accurate), whereas Houston was supposedly mid to upper 30's. I actually do (as of yesterday) have one bell pepper plant that hasn't died in my garden (it's closest to a large tree and perhaps getting shelter from some cauliflower, too). I thought it would be interesting to leave it unprotected to see how long it could survive. If it makes it through this month and next, I'll probably have to start protecting it in February and March because it will put out new growth, and I'll feel bad if I let it die then.
It looks like we get the same extreme heat in the summers though with less humidity. It probably makes it more comfortable for humans (not that it could be called comfortable) and harder on the plants because of increased sun intensity and drought.
I did spend time yesterday afternoon making sure that the pots of my blueberries were thoroughly wet as well as the ground around the young pomegranates (pretty hardy but needed a good watering anyway) and young citrus and olives. We're on the border of hardiness for those but hope to give them some extra care for their first few years to get them strong enough to take the occasional cold.
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