Planting your cold crops in hot temps

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Get ready to be green. Collards, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, Swiss chard, and more. All are fall crops that like cool or cold weather. They suffer when the temperatures are toasty warm as they still are.

So, why is now the time to plant your seeds? And how do you keep them from passing out in the hot sun?

Sal Sharpe knows how. She’s the owner and master gardener at Sal’s Ol’ Timey Feed & Seed which is on the north side of Columbia. She joined WIS Midday.

Sal says that fall crops like and need cool to cold weather. They suffer from temperatures that stay above 85 degrees. But Sal says you can get the plants started early by putting them in a bucket and bringing them in and out of the shade. You have to protect them from the extra hot 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. sun. When it cools down, you can separate and transplant them into full sun.

These seeds are tiny, tiny so Sal says to just scatter them on top of the ground. Add compost to your garden to recharge the soil and fertilize each month with Tomatone and some nitrogen. Nitrogen grows the leaves which you will be eating.

Your fall and winter garden is the gift that keeps giving because you can cut what you want to eat and it will grow back!

Sal is having a special Labor Day opening for fall plants and seeds at Sal’s Ol’ Timey Feed & Seed. It is this coming Monday, September 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sal’s is located at 113 Hilltop Drive on the north side of Columbia in the 29203-zip code.

Learn more at https://www.salslocalseed.com/.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article's headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

Copyright 2023 WIS. All rights reserved.