April Gardening tips in the Gila Valley

April is the perfect month when it comes to getting your garden on it’s way. It is “perfect” because it is not too late to plant anything (except maybe cool weather crops such as head lettuce and perhaps members of the cabbage family), and it is not too early to plant anything! Wherever you find yourself today in regard to “planting” your garden, now is the time to “Just Do It”! Even if you haven’t prepared your garden plot, it is not too late. Just make up your mind that you are going to find the time to do some gardening. Start your “savings account” today in order to reap the harvest of your investment throughout the summer!

Despite the advantages pointed out in earlier writings pertaining to planting tomatoes and chili peppers early to avoid problems with these plants being able to “set” fruit once the temperatures reach summer highs, it is still not too late to plant these crops. The commercial growers in our area generally plant these crops for market around the 20th of March, so there is plenty of time to still reap the rewards of a good harvest with these crops. Summer squash and cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and other winter squash can definitely be planted now, whether you are transplanting or sowing seeds directly in the garden. Follow the planting recommendations regarding the number of seeds, depth of planting, and spacing between plants that can be found on your seed packets.

The need to protect young tender plants from the cold nights has passed, however, some protection may still be a consideration because of the significant winds we see here in our valley through the Spring months. Unless the plants are new transplants, or just emerging from seed plantings, they should be fine in the winds we have, however you may need to increase you watering slightly because the wind dries everything out faster, including the plants.

As promised, this month we will be discussing watering and weeding tips. First, in regards to watering, there are only two rules for watering the garden properly: water at the proper time and water deeply. Too often we tend to water too often. Plants should only be watered when they really need it. A tip for determining this is to look at your plants first thing in the morning. If they are wilted in the early morning hours, then this is a sure sign that the soil has very little moisture in it and it is time to water!

Plants will almost always look like they are wilting or drooping in the hot afternoon sun. This means that they are losing more water than they are absorbing. However, there is no need to rush to their aide with your garden hose. Hold off a while. Plants usually recover in the cooler evening and overnight hours when the sun is not beating directly on them. However, if your plants still look wilted the next morning, get busy and water them. Watering in the morning probably is most preferable because this is when you can tell if plants need it. Watering midday or in the afternoon is least preferable because of the evaporation factor. The sun and the heat being generated will cause you to “lose” a significant amount of your water to evaporation. Watering at night is fine, but it is preferable to avoid “sprinkling” your plants at this time since the increased duration of time when the leaves are damp tenders to increase the chances of diseases harmful to your plants. Even though normal dew that gathers on the leaves most morning hours causes the leaves to be wet for a time, it is not too significant an amount of time since the sun dries the leaves quickly. It also helps to cultivate around your plant to loosen the soil around them prior to watering.

Sprinkling your plants is probably the least preferable. This again encourages disease and it increases dramatically the amount of water lost to evaporation. The heavy mineral content in most of the water here in this area is also a good reason to not deposit any more of it on the plant’s leaves than is necessary. Drip system watering is only a fair alternative since you must have a dripper for every plant and again the local water’s mineral content can play havoc with the emitters. Flooding the rows works very well if you have access to a well. If you flood irrigate, make sure no water actually get on the plant itself. Plants need to be positioned on your rows so that they are watered by the ground being soaked rather than by the water coming into contact with them. If you are using water from a public utility water system, cost can be a major factor. For this reason, if your garden water comes from a water faucet, I recommend a soaker hose. You can purchase a fifty-foot hose for under $10, and you can connect several of these together as they are laid out back and forth throughout the garden. A final comment about watering is that using mulches in your garden makes the process most efficient because mulches help hold in the moisture and they cool the soil around the plant which is of benefit her in the valley in the hot summer months. Use a thick enough mulch to prevent the sun from even hitting the ground. Mulches also give a significant benefit of preventing weeds from coming up in your garden. And of course, this provides a perfect lead into our second major topic this month of “weeding” the garden.

My father always taught me …“you hoe the garden, you don’t hoe the weeds in the garden.” He said that the weeds are everywhere, not just where you can see them and besides loosening the soil throughout the garden is a great way to be kind to the plants because it makes it easier for them to grow and to get the most from the water when irrigating. I always hated to hear that because it meant having to hoe every square inch of the garden instead of just hunting for weeds that needed to be whacked! Here are a few weeding tips: 1) Use shallow cultivation (*no more than an inch or 2” deep) so you get the weeds you see as well as those just below the surface. This also prevents you from bringing any new weed seeds up into the germination zone from deeper layers of soil. This also prevents you from disturbing the roots of you plants in the garden. 2) Work the weeds into the soil or throw them on a compost pile to gain the benefit of having them help to feed your plants. 3) Weed after you harvest to keep annual weeds from maturing and producing new seeds that will become the weeds you will be dealing with the following growing season.

Good luck with your garden. Remember, April is the “perfect month” to get it done in the garden. Tasty nutritious eating is just around the corner unless you are already eating asparagus, radishes, lettuce, and cabbage! Boy are they good too!