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How a Warm Winter Affects Plants

For the past few years, Long Island has had relatively mild winter weather. While some people enjoy warmer weather in the middle of winter, for plants the fickleness of mother nature can be extremely confusing. 

During the cool season of fall, plants begin to enter dormancy. They are, for all intents and purposes, asleep. They do not put out new growth or take in many nutrients. However, when winter temperatures warm up for a long period of time (weeks instead of days) plants may break dormancy. 

When trees and shrubs break dormancy they may push out flower buds or new shoots for branches. This can be a problem when a cold snap comes and cold weather returns as those buds and branches will likely die off in the cold weather. Fruit trees in particular may have their spring fruiting ability affected by extremely cold weather after warm temperatures. 

Spring flowering plants may begin to push out of the ground early, breaking ground in early winter instead of spring with similar results as with trees and shrubs. 

Another issue that comes from a warmer winter is that harmful insects will not be killed off. Normally, during cold winters harmful insects and their eggs are killed off in great numbers with just a few surviving through until spring. These insects hide in tree bark, the grass of your lawn, leaf piles, the shingles on your house, and more. With a mild winter, there are more resources available for pests to consume, which means that there will be a lot more pests around. Bugs like cockroaches, mosquitoes, spiders, ticks, mites, moths, bees, and wasps can all benefit from a warmer winter. Bugs that burrow into trees may also be more active in a mild winter giving them more opportunity to cause damage. 

There is no good way to protect your plants from a fickle winter, but there is no need to worry as most of them will do just fine once spring comes around and the weather warms up normally. The best thing you can do is avoid heavy pruning in late summer and during the fall, as this triggers new growth that will likely be killed in the cold weather. Generally speaking, even if the cold kills off new growth and flowers the issue is only cosmetic and will resolve itself over the next growing season. 

When to Harvest Vegetables

We’re just about in the middle of summer and that means that some of your vegetables are ready to harvest while others still have a while to go. But how do you know exactly when harvest time is?

First: the time of day. Early in the morning is the best time to harvest vegetables. Vegetables harvested in the morning tend to be sweeter and crispier, with more taste than vegetables harvested in the evening; this is because the moisture that has been lost during the day is replenished overnight. 

Next: the time of the season. For many vegetables, you should harvest throughout the season to ensure the plant’s productivity. Plants like zucchini and cucumbers should be harvested throughout the summer months when the vegetables feel full. Summer squash like zucchini should be 6–12 inches long whereas cucumbers should be 7–9 inches long to ensure that they don’t turn bitter. The vegetables are done when they feel full and firm.

Winter squash should be harvested when the color of the fruit is deep and solid (except for speckled varieties) and the rind of the fruit is hard. It should thump when knocked on. Once harvested, store them in a cool, dry area and you’ll be able to keep them for months. 

Brussels sprouts are ready to harvest when the little sprouts are round and firm and at least an inch in diameter. Twist off the individual sprouts from the bottom up. You may also remove yellowing leaves at that time; the plant will continue to grow upward, growing more leaves and sprouts. 

Leaf lettuce is harvested by snipping off the outer leaves and leaving the inner leaves intact. While head lettuce is harvested when the lettuce head reaches full size and is cut off at the base, leaf lettuce can keep producing as long as there isn’t too much hot weather, and the main body is left in the ground. 

Green beans, snap beans, and bush beans will be ready for harvest from 50–90 days after planting. Beans will reach full size at about 3 inches long. Pick just before the seeds begin to grow plump and bulge.

Finally: flower seeds. When flower buds turn brown and dry out you should be able to harvest the seeds easily. This should be done on a dry, sunny day. Then, when the seed pods turn brown, you can easily harvest the seeds.

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