Columbia Basin Vegetable Growers Warned Against Planting Too Early

While the calendar may say it’s time to plant vegetables across the Columbia Basin, Mother Nature is saying something else.  Washington State University's Tim Waters told the Washington Ag Network there are dangers when planning seeds with soil conditions like these.

“So soil diseases tend to thrive under cool wet conditions.  And so, when that plant is taking longer to grow, it is suitable for a longer window of time, then under warmer conditions where that seedling would germinate much more quickly.”

Other issues include bacterial rots, chilling injures to some seed when imbibing cool water.  In addition, Waters said there is a risk planting now and applying a pre-emergent herbicide.

“The crop is able to not be damaged by the herbicide from several different mechni9isims, one of those is metabolism of that herbicide.  The metabolism by that plant will slow down under cool conditions, so we could see, if you pant under cooler conditions and apply your herbicide, you could see damage to the crop, because it can’t metabolize that herbicide that it could under normally warmer and dryer soil conditions.”

Waters said that most likely will result in a loss of yield for the year.  Potatoes and corn, will grow at 50 degree soil temperature, but it’s best to wait until those soil temperatures are in the upper 50s and into the 60s.  Waters added while growers may not want to hear it, he says it may be best to push a schedules back a few weeks to ensure the best crop come harvest.

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