Question: How to start fall plants in 103 degree temps. My most pressing issues involve the climate extremes we are having. Extremely hot and dry, dry, dry. I am in south Mississippi. I would like a fall garden but it is entirely too hot for anything to get started I think. – Lucy

Answer:

Hi Lucy,

Very Good Question! If you’re in Southern Mississippi and your temperatures are that hot, you’re still very much in the summer season and may need to plant your fall garden starts later than those in different climates.

However, if your temperatures go from 103F to fall temperatures (45-65 F roughly) within a few weeks, then you’ll want to start as many of your fall garden plants as you can indoors. Kale, chard, spinach, beets, and other cool and cold weather crops can be started indoors.

Your root crops–carrots, radish, turnips, etc.–(aside from beets) don’t like to be transplanted because there is too much disturbance on the root systems when transplanting. So, you can do one of two things:

Start them in the ground as late as you can. Double the depth of planting to protect them from the heat and dry. To keep them moist, you can use a trick from Tom Bartels who lives in a high altitude, extremely dry area of Colorado. Soak the seeds for 3 days (rinsing every 6 hours or so).

Then, make a corn starch gel, mix the seeds in the cornstarch and using a piping bag, pipe the seeds into the ground in rows.

Alternatively, you might experiment by planting those root crops in soil blocks indoors. Soil blocks are less disruptive to roots during the transplant process, so you might try that so you can start them indoors in a cooler environment, and then transplant outdoors when ready.

I hope that helps, Lucy!