March has started! Here are some gardening tips for vegetable gardening, fruits and nuts.

Vegetable gardening

Clean up the asparagus bed before new spears emerge, remove weeds, the old, dead stalks of last year’s growth and remove any mulch that protected crowns over the winter. For more information, see MU Extension Guide g6405 Growing Asparagus in Missouri at https://extension.missouri.edu/g6405.

Cultivating wet garden soils can destroy soil composition. Delay planting if garden soil is wet. When a ball of soil crumbles easily after being squeezed together in hand, it is dry enough to be safely worked.

Plant cool season crops such as peas, lettuce, spinach, various greens, radishes, carrots, beets, kohlrabi, turnips, Irish potatoes and onions outdoors. Set out broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts and cauliflower transplants into the garden. For specific planting dates, see MU Extension Guide g6201 Vegetable Planting Calendar at https://extension.missouri.edu/g6201.

Start tomatoes indoors now for transplanting around May 1. For more information, see MU Extension Guide g6570 Starting Plants Indoors From Seeds at https://extension.missouri.edu/g6570.

Fruits and nuts

Gradually remove mulch from strawberries as the weather begins to warm. If nighttime temperatures dip below 32 degrees, place a protective covering or mulch layer over strawberry plants to prevent cold injury.

Finish pruning all fruit crops before bud break and leaf emergence. Burn or destroy all pruning to minimize insect or disease occurrence.

On grapes, tie vines to the trellis before the buds swell to prevent bud injury and crop loss. For more information, see MU Extension g6085 Home Fruit Production: Grape Culture at https://extension.missouri.edu/g6085.

Apply dormant oils to fruit crops when freezing temperatures are not expected and the days are dry. For more information, see MU Extension Guide g6010 Fruit Spray Schedules for the Homeowner at https://extension.missouri.edu/g6010.

Begin spraying for apple scab at green tip state (and thereafter) if this disease has been problematic in the past or after rainfall when leaves remain wet for an extended period of time.

Peaches and nectarines should be pruned just before they bloom.

Mulch blackberries and raspberries for weed control.

Thinning fruit trees should start at fruit set and be completed before the end of May. Thinned fruit should be 6-8 inches apart. For more information on thinning, see MU Extension Guide G6030 Home Fruit Production: Peach and Nectarine Culture at https://extension.missouri.edu/g6030.

Source: Missouri Botanical Garden

Dhruba Dhakal, PhD is a University of Missouri Extension Horticulturist, serving Missourians for about a decade in Central Missouri. Dhakal can be contacted at [email protected] with gardening questions.

Source: newstribune.com