After last week’s mid-90s daytime temperatures, this week’s back to almost-60s daytime temperatures with mid-40s nighttime temperatures is definitely a throw-back to our ideal late-winter weather, with even another rainstorm promised next week.  So, congratulations if you’d sown more seeds and planted transplants of cool-season veggies and posies so they can take advantage of this weather to settle in nicely.  If it doesn’t end up raining, be sure to keep soil moist so seeds can germinate well. 
     This weather is great for double-duty in the garden – sowing and transplanting more cool-season items, and transplanting first warm-season plants like tomatoes and peppers which will have no problem establishing themselves into their new homes.  I just sowed my second batch of peas, and also my first batch of pole and bush beans. 
     However, of the many warm-season choices we’re anxious to get started in our outdoor gardens, tomatoes and peppers are the only ones that will truly take off now.  Don’t even think about purchasing transplants of other warm-weather lovers like cucumber, eggplant, and squash which are just too tender to withstand further chill, especially when the soil is still so cold – they’ll just sit there and pout at you for subjecting them to such an undesirably chilly environment; and they may not even survive to when the weather becomes consistently warm.  Better to wait to get them in in another month -- or even two --  so they can truly thrive; ultimately these will bear much more prolifically.
     Each year, more and more nurseries – even big box stores – are carrying organically grown tomato and pepper seedlings of many more varieties earlier in the season.  I just purchased and transplanted sturdy-stemmed plants in 4-inch containers of my favorite tomatoes – Black Krim, Celebrity, Cherokee Purple, Stupice and Sungold.  Others I’m trying this year are a Brandywine Red and a Chocolate Sprinkles cherry tomato.
     For more of my favorites, I’ll depend on Tomatomania selections (some 200 tomatoes and 100 peppers at most sites) to plant as follow-up crops next month and into early April.  See https://tomatomania.com/ for the schedule of events. 
     I also transplanted 8 volunteer tomatoes that came up of their own accord in January, apparently from my compost that was spread around the garden and germinating as a result of December rains and January’s heat.  We’ll see whether it was worth giving them garden space when we harvest and eat them later this summer!
 
Planting Herbs
     Now’s a great time to take advantage of adding herbs to your garden for your culinary uses. 
     I sow cilantro and parsley seeds, and also transplant 4” containers of them.  I choose containers that are as crowded as possible, to make sure I’m buying as many individual plants as possible so I’ll have more to transplant, spacing them a couple of inches apart in my garden.  In between them, I’ll sow more seeds that’ll be edible after a couple of cuttings of the transplanted container ones.
     I’ll wait on purchasing or sowing basil, since it’s too tender to endure what might continue to be 40s-or even 50s-degrees nights. 
     Herbs that are drought-tolerant after they’re established include garlic chives, lavender, lemon balm, onion chives, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, sage and thyme.  These will need to be planted away from plants that need lots of water, like that cilantro and parsley.
 
     A warning about planting any mints – don’t plant it directly into garden soil unless you want a literally neverending supply.  Instead, plant it in a container with a drip hole that’s on pavement or other surface nowhere near the soil.  Mint roots are notorious for gaining access to soil and then taking over, so don’t give it even the possibility!  I learned this as a little kid – my Mom had planted mint under an orange tree, and by the time she decided that it had been too vigorous, it took 4 years of digging up new shoots to remove it all!
 
For more timely tasks, see February and March.
 
For major topics from previous blogs, see seasonal listings on Homepage.
 
 

      As lucky as we in Southern California are, being able to sow seeds and transplant seedlings every day throughout the year, some timings are potentially more successful than others.  And equally mysterious in trying to gauge what the future will bring.  Now is one of those times.  Should I continue to sow and plant more cool-season plants, with this week’s forecast of 80+ daytime temperatures? The short answer is yes, since we really don’t know what the future will bring, nighttime temperatures promise to remain in the 50s, and it is only February.  If it was mid-April or May, I’d say to shift to warm-season crops exclusively.  But, for now, continue to go with cool-season veggies and posies through at least March.
 
Start Watering:  Methods
     Since it’s been more than a full month since it rained, though, the garden will definitely need irrigation, so start applying water either by hand or via soaker hoses or drip irrigation or overhead sprinkler.  Each method differs in how it moistens the soil surrounding the plant, and consequently different plants do best with different modes.

• By hand is best for individual attention to plants when they need specific attention like filling a basin of a tomato plant.
• Soaker hose that weeps along its length (not just with holes a foot apart) can be strung about 9” apart throughout and around plants so the entire bed is moistened. This is ideal for closely-planted vegetable beds.
• Drip irrigation can be applied to individual plants that grow several feet from other plants. Be sure to use the appropriate head that will moisten the soil completely around the plant.  One great fault with this method is for the head to provide water only directly onto the center or stem of the plant alone, and leave the rest of the rootzone dry.
• Overhead sprinkler is ideal for grass.  The problem with its use for perennials or other ornamentals is that once they attain some size after a year or two, chances are the sprinkler spray will be blocked for any longer-distance plant.

 
Start Watering:  Depth and Frequency

• Depth of watering is consistent year-round depending on the individual plants -- however much is necessary to reach just below the full root zone of each plant.  For grass, this is 6”.  For most ornamentals, this is 12”.  For many vegetables, this is 12”; for tomatoes, it can be 3 feet! For trees, it’s 18-36”.
• Frequency of watering changes with the seasons because of the intensity of the heat and evaporation, and the bulkiness of the plant’s foliage.  Test how long it takes for water to reach the desired depth – water one day, and dig into the soil the next day to see how far down the water went.  Then, adjust the length of time you applied the water.  If your soil is heavier, like clay, you may have to water some on one day (until runoff) and then again more the next day (until runoff) to get the soil moist deep enough but avoid having runoff.  Timings may be as little as once a month during winter, once every two weeks in the Spring and Fall, but as frequently during our Summer as twice a week during our weeks of more than 100 degrees.

 
For more of what to do this month, see February’s Monthly Tips
 
For more main-topic articles from past blogs, see Home Page