Ask a master gardener: March plant tips for your peninsula garden

What can grow in the shade?

Answer: Are you wondering what you should grow in this shady place in your garden? Most home gardeners have one or more areas that are full, partially or switched on. The Plus page of Shade Gardens is that you offer a cool retreat on hot summer days. The trick for success is to fit the plants to the Type of shadow you have. Ferns are a rightly popular choice with a large variety. There are many Native plant options Also that are often suitable for dry shadows. Find out more under our talk on March 8th.

March -garden tips

When should the summer vegetable from seeds begin

Now it is time to think about planting seeds for your summer garden: if you know that the right time for the plants of certain seeds is for your success. If you start your sowing too early, the plants can be long -legged and overgrown before it is time to plant them. Tomatoes, for example, reach the transplant in six weeks, peppers last eight to 10 weeks and cucumbers only for four weeks. To find out when you should start seeds, plan when you want to transplant you into the garden and calculate backwards. In our vegetable planting diagram, it is advisable to transplant tomatoes in May. So start six to eight weeks earlier, in March to early April. The hottest varieties of peppers need a long vegetation period so that the pods can mature. Start Peppers from mid -February to mid -March. Wait until May to start heat lovers such as cucumbers and melons.

Further information: Growing transplants from seeds

What to do with snails and snails

Rain is great for our gardens, but also the moist conditions. They hide in shady damp places during the day and then appear at night to feed, chew holes in leaves, flowers and fruits and even give up delicate seedlings completely. Reduce your population by removing daily shots. Use copper barriers to keep snails and snails out of garden beds. While bait alone does not control you, you can use iron phosphate baits in connection with these and other methods described here.

Plants

If you have light fluffy soil, maybe in an elevated bed, you can grow these long, beautiful carrots that you see in the grocery store. However, most of us have heavy tone floor, and it is best to expand the shorter varieties. It is good to add organic material such as compost and not. The seeds are very tiny and mixing sand with them helps them not be littered. Do not plant more than ½ inches deep. Carrots germinate slowly and can take up to three weeks. Keep the bottom moist until they are awake. Thin up to 2 or 3 inches. Plant every few weeks for a continuous harvest. If you only have limited space, try to expand them in your decorative nals, and your spring -up tops can look pretty pretty. They can also be grown in a container. Some frequent problems are twisted roots that planted too close together, fork or deformed roots of lumps and stones in the ground, hairy roots of too much nitrogen and the splitting of too much water.

Further information: Cultural tips for growing carrots

Plant flowers that attract useful insects

Certain flowers contribute to attracting natural enemies of pest insects in the garden. Tiny wasps that parasitize certain insect pests or their eggs need pollen and nectar to survive. Robbery insects (Syrphid fly larvae, women's beetle, peak wing and many others) and mites survive flowers on pollen and nectar when the pest populations are low, and some feed on pollen.

Most of these advantageous insects are small, and therefore the best flowering plants contained in the garden are those that have small flowers, the pollen and nectar that are easily accessible throughout the season. Avoid flowers that are difficult to complain about when again.

Many flowers that attract advantageous insects are easy to start from the seed, and March is a good time to start it – some indoors or outdoors later the risk of frost. Examples are sunflowers (try dwarf types such as “Sunspot” for smaller rooms), Calendula, cosmos and many herbs such as dill, basil and burage.

Other flowers and herbs that attract useful insects are easier to buy than plants. Some examples that can be planted this month are coreopsis, asters and thyme.

Breed your own sweet potatoes

Healthy and delicious sweet potatoes are a nutritious vegetables for every season, not just for Thanksgiving. If you want to grow your own, start briefs (sprouts on the potato) in March and transplant into your garden in May to June. You will only harvest them October to November, so you will be with these plants for some time! Here you will find information about how you can grow you successfully. You can also watch our video to learn more.

Would you like to ask a gardener from the UC master about a plant problem? Questions to ours Help desk on-line.

Have a sick plant? Ask questions and get answers in our monthly zoom Plant Clinic.You can also subscribe to our monthly subscription Tips and event newsletter. The residents of San Mateo also find garden advice on gardening UC master gardener of San Mateo and San Francisco Website.