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Suggestions on what a novice gardener should plant during February?
Tylergardener
Posts: 3
Hello, I am starting a garden in my backyard with great sun coverage and inside of pots. But i do not know what seeds to get at my local nursery. I live in Southern California, in the month of February where I live the mornings are pretty chilly and humid but it gets warmer by the afternoons. I am looking to grow vegetables but am open anything viable in the weather where I live. I am looking forward to your suggestions. ????
0
Posts
Hi Tyler! Welcome to our forum , though I'm not sure we will be much help to you
We are mostly UK based and have little or no experience of your kind of weather - you mentioned sun? There are some good US forums where you might find more relevant advice, as there will be a whole range of things that will grow for you but not for us (and vice versa). Or you could just go to your local nursery and ask them what is popular in your area and start from there. If they are good they shoud be able to offer some useful advice. If they can't, look for a better one, a good nursery is always worth knowing
There maybe someone on here able to offer a bit more help than me, but good luck anyway!
I realized that this is a UK based site while I was creating this account. But the reason I posted this is because i posted this on a few sights trying to find a solution for my problem hoping at least one of the many sights I sights I posted this on would have a solution. Thanks for the reply and guidance though!
Dear Tyler, you're lucky to have the Californian sun as all vegetables and fruit will thrive in that. If I understand correctly, gardening in pots means you will have to water generously every morning though.
firstly,Mediterranean herbs such as thyme, rosemary and oregano (marjoram) will naturally do well in sunny pots with little watering, and not much feeding. Similarly lavender, though that is more decorative it can be edible and used occasionally in baking, etc.
tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, zucchini and squashes will all do well in sunny pots in rich soil and regular watering as well as a weekly tomato feed. It is a bit early for these this month, but maybe March onwards.
a really easy start (because they germinate really well if you want to start from seed rather than buying ready plantlets from your garden centre) are all sorts of pulses: peas, French or broad beans. They can easily be pushed into the soil, watered and supported with a tripod of bamboo sticks as they climb. Again, regular watering and weekly feed needed. Broad beans can be sown now and peas soon after.
On the flower side you could put in some nasturtiums (again germinate easily and are edible), sunflowers, or just scented sweet peas (though the latter are poisonous!).
if you can go with the biggest pots they will stay cooler and retain more water. Perhaps you could get a lemon tree or fig tree which should do really well in that climate also.
good luck!
Thanks a lot guys for your help and input. I did a little research on the information of my city to narrow it down to a selection of plants. Where i live the average first and last frost dates are Spring: 5/2, Fall 10/27. The average night temperatures here are a high of 63 and a low of 37. I am looking to grow anything viable where I live, I just want the experience so I can be a better grower. Also I am in hardiness zone 8b.