CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Here is what to plant this month and what to prepare for. Plus the supper food we can grow all year around.
Below are some staples of what we tend to eat here in Corpus Christi in regards to plants.( No such thing as a Taco tree) so now would be a good time to do you and your body a favor and grow some nutrient dense foods at the comfort of your own home weather its in a container or in the ground.
Gabriel Vega, our South Texas Gardener stopped by with the information.
Note all of the plants below will do a much better job of growing healthy when using a good quality soil combined with a 4 inch raised bed or a well draining container.
Specific details can be found using a quick search on the internet but for the sake of information at hand we will get into how to successfully grow one of these verities below. So for that purpose we will look into how to grow the onion as this is one of those plants that need a little attention to when to fertilize and how to water to avoid failed attempts. Plus we will also have the benefit of enjoying our efforts in as little as 30 days when harvesting the top part of the plant (green onion) but we can also enjoy the bulb portion of the plant should we succeed in a complete grow cycle of the highly versatile onion.
Onion verities that do well in Corpus Christi outdoor environments : 1015y Texas Super Sweet, Bermuda White, Southern Belle Red.
When picking the verity you want to grow it may appear dehydrated and with dried out roots. This is typical as the onion belongs to the lily family and will live off of the bulb for around 3 weeks or so.
Whether this is the case or not you will want to plant them into the ground as soon as possible. Be sure to plant in a 4inch raised bed or a container with good drainage. Don't use native heavy clay soils as this will cause your plants to rot at the bulb.
Plant in an area with full sun.
Space plants 4in apart from one another and 1inch deep. Water transplants immediately to establish new roots. But for a faster growing plant using a root inoculant such as great white will help establish a thriving root system sooner, as well as using a fertilizer with numbers similar to 2-6-1. The middle number of your fertilizer is phosphorous and is responsible for roots and fruits. Plus if you really want to show of your green thumb ph your water using Gh ph solutions to 5.5- 6.5. this well help to mitigate nutrient waist if using liquid nutrients. Our tap water vary form time to time here in CC but my most current reading showed to have our water at a 7.5 to 8 ph level which makes it alkaline and harder for nutrients to be available to our plants.
Pull every other plant during the growing season to make room for larger plants and fertilize during the third week and every 2 weeks there after using a stronger nitrogen fertilizer. This means using a fertilizer that has the first number higher than the rest ,in fact sense we are not producing any flowers or fruit with this verity we don't need any phosphorous or potassium at this stage in the growing cycle (that would be the second and third number on your fertilizer options).
Stop fertilizing 3 weeks before harvest.
Description:
• Perennial
• Growing 10 – 25 cm tall.
• Young stems are green, turning light purple with green spots.
• New shoots and branches appear frequently at base and leaf nodes.
• Fleshy branches can be trimmed and pinched regularly to grow as a low bush, or staked on trellis.
Spinach
Nov 25 - Dec 9
Jan 6 - Jan 20
Dec 20 - Jan 20
Peppers
Nov 25 - Dec 9
Feb 3 - Feb 17
Onions
Nov 18 - Nov 25
Dec 5 - Jan 4
Lettuce
Nov 25 - Dec 9
Dec 23 - Jan 20
Dec 23 - Jan 20
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