Under the soil is where all of the magic happens, especially for root vegetables.
Did you know you don’t have to live in Idaho to grow potatoes? You can grow them right here in south Louisiana.
In the late Spring is when we pull up our root vegetables. Right before it starts getting too hot outside. Harvesting day this year was a special day, indeed. On top of the soil, it doesn’t look like much, but when you yank that plant out of the ground to discover what’s been happening underneath the soil, it’s very special. It’s almost like Christmas morning.
Here are the Top 3 Tips for a Successful Root Vegetable Harvest:
1. Plant in Raised Beds or Containers
It is so important to make sure you are planting in a raised bed or container. This allows you to manipulate what type of soil you use as well as controlling moisture. Root vegetables do not like to be wet constantly or they will rot. If you were to plant in the ground in Louisiana, you would probably have very heavy clay soil and if it were to rain weeks at a time, you may lost your crop. I’m not saying it is not possible to grow in ground, but I believe you will have more success using a raised bed or container. Now for containers, you want to make sure you have a grow bag or a large container because you need depth for root vegetables to grow down. A small pot will not do.
The raised beds I grow in are about 10-12″ deep, however I made the mistake of using a weed tarp when installing our raised beds and that is why my carrots look stunted at the bottom. They hit that fabric barrier and couldn’t grow any further down. So if you are building wooden raised beds in your garden, keep that in mind before using weed tarp/landscape fabric.
2. Plant Seeds at the Right Time of Year
Make sure you are planting your root vegetables at the correct time of the year. Sometimes you have to ignore what is written on the back of that seed packet because in the deep south we have our own rules.
If you are in zone 8 or 9 like me, here is a good idea for planting times.
Plant garlic cloves between late September and early November. There is a pretty good window of time there that you can plant in. An old timer once told me “You plant garlic when the kids go to school and harvest when the kids get out of school.” So garlic will be in the ground for most of the year (From October until May).
Plant carrot seeds in November or December. Think COOL weather. They will need a few months to grow. Sometimes they take longer to get established depending on the weather temperatures.
Plant potatoes in late January-mid February. I buy seed potatoes from a local nursery in January and plant around Valentine’s day. They take about 90 days to grow.
3. Do Not Overwater
Like I said previously in this article, root vegetables do NOT like to be wet constantly. They will rot and you will end up harvesting mushy vegetables that are decomposing underground. It is very important to only water every now and then. If it has been raining a lot, don’t hand water at all for a few weeks. If it’s been really dry then go ahead and give them a good watering. But just make sure they are not staying wet.
Side Note: Water garlic in at planting time but don’t water again until after winter because it goes dormant in the winter and will start putting on new growth in spring.
I hope this was helpful to you. I try to keep things simple and straight to the point.
Check out these full blog posts I’ve done on growing carrots, potatoes, and garlic in Louisiana.
Happy Gardening from Bayou Harvest!
Need to order seeds for next year’s garden? Check out Botanical Interest’s website today!