Time to get them in the ground and growing ! !

Note: Originally written in mid-April…the actual planting took place at the end of March.

It’s early but it looks like no more freezes at night…time to get them in the ground. Why an early start? Butternut squash takes about 90 – 120 days from seed planting to harvest…of the first fruit. And for cantaloupe and watermelon is about 75 – 100 days. Depending on the weather flowering is 40 – 60 days. I figured I could get my plants to the flowering stage in the greenhouse…then only about 60 days to harvest…depending on weather. Our growing season…June 1^st still has a 10% chance of frost. The first frost usually hits between October 1 and the 17^th. So that is a clear window of 120 days +/- of growing fruit…if I start the plants in the greenhouse. Lot’s more fruit and fruit earlier 🙂

I plant a couple different ways depending on what I am planting. In this case butternut squash, watermelon, and my favorite…cantaloupe. Plants such as tomatoes can use really high-quality soil to make better tasting fruit and healthier plants. What I am planting today only needs good or decent soil so I plant differently.

See, I could mix up a big batch of high-quality planting soil and just use that for everything…but that would be a waste of that soil…and cost too much. But I still use it, just differently. I will explain in the pictures below.

I start off digging my hole at least twice as deep and twice as wide as the container that is holding the plant. I go deeper if the soil is poor quality. Once the hole is dug I add about 1/2tbsp of a balanced organic fertilizer such as a 4-4-4. I then use my trowel to rough it into the soil at the bottom of the hole. Then throw in a handful of my high-quality planting soil and stir it all up nicely. If you have time…like planting the next day…and you are planting in really dry soil, fill the hole with water and allow it to soak into the ground overnight. I build up the soil in the hole until the surface of the soil in the container will be even with, or slightly below, the soil in the container.

I can tell the plant is ready to be put in the ground. Nice root ball but not over crowded. You don’t want a dense & crowded root ball…that means the plant was stressed trying to grow roots with nowhere for them to go.
If there are fewer roots than what is showing…I put the plant back into the container and back into the greenhouse.

I break-up (gently loosen) the root ball a bit to encourage the plant to spread out its roots. I don’t get too crazy…just gently loosen them up as you can see.
If you plant a bound up root ball you will probably get a stunted plant with less growth than it could have.

I place the plant in the hole and add some of that planting soil for the first inch or two around the plant. Then comes a layer of native soil, then about 1/4sbsp of the 4-4-4 organic fertilizer. Then I gently stir that up and repeat the process until I reach about 1/2″ below the surface of soil around the plant.

When I get about 1″ from flush I add the final layer of native soil.

Then comes about 1/2 – 1tbsp of the fertilizer around the drip edge. I will use more fertilizer if the soil is really in bad shape.

Then finally top it off with the planting soil and gently mixed in and pressed down ever so gently and slightly. Then watered in thoroughly. If you want to water it in with each layer combination that is fine with me.

Then finally, once it has been watered in, I mulched around the plant with grass clippings…about 2 – 3″ or so. Then the protective fencing…protects against the rabbits who sneak into the yard at night…and two dogs that thinks organic fertilizer is an appetizer.

Then came the irrigation and this it what I ended up with…

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