LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — It’s barely spring but the hint of warmer days might be giving you the itch to get outside and plant something.
When is the right time to do that? The fickle warm-cold-warm weather has also planted the seed of doubt about what will survive if we start gardening now.
Weather anchor Sherry Swensk talked with an expert, Dr. Q, at Star Nursery.
The nursery was buzzing with people looking for the perfect flowers, veggies, and herbs to plant now that hopefully sustain the change of seasons.
“I want something that’s going to hold up a little bit. And the weather has been so on again off again as you know. I don’t want to get something that’s going to last a day,” said Stella Helvie, amateur gardener.
“Most plants can take extremely high temperatures and extremely low temperatures as long as it’s just for a short time,” said Dr. Q with Star Nursery.
So good news. Dr. Q is giving us the green light to start our spring gardens, but he also warns us to stay alert to sneaky cold snaps.
“It is safe to plant. But if you’re forecasting some really cold weather like freezing temperatures, we recommend that you protect all the young plants with some kind of frost protection, like these little hot caps that you can put over brand new-planted little, little plants that are in the ground that will protect them from the cold,” he said.
Larger plants may need covering with fabric like a material called insulate or breathable burlap works great, too. So, which plants are best for planting right now?
“You should be pretty safe with planting any of the warm season vegetables and herbs and also any of the warm season flowers are good to put in right now as well,” Dr. Q said.
He added patio pots, raised boxes or flowerbeds are all good growing containers but prepping the soil with good organic matter does matter.
“And our Filthy Rich Gold here actually has our starter fertilizer in it. So it has fertilizer that’ll keep your plants healthy for up to six months after you plant them,” He said.
But to get a good bumper crop of veggies, Dr. Q recommends adding fertilizer every six to eight weeks during the growing season.
Star Nursery has all of the planting mixes and fertilizers you need to help your beautiful garden grow and flourish.
