By Terry Kelley
University of
Georgia

It’s midsummer in Georgia right now. But it could be spring all
over again for vegetables.

We generally plant summer vegetable crops in March and April and
wind them up about this time of year.

But we can grow two summer crops in Georgia.

The growing season can start in spring around mid-March. It
doesn’t have to end until the first frost of fall. This usually
happens around mid-October in the mountains and mid- to late
November in the southern part of the state.

That means we can plant crops like tomatoes, pepper, squash,
sweet corn, southern peas, snap beans, cantaloupe and eggplant
all over again. Cooler-season fall crops can be planted a little
later on.

Fresh start

Some folks may plant at intervals from spring through midsummer,
which is fine. Others may carry out harvests on tomatoes, squash
and the like throughout the summer. However, rather than trying
to keep the same plants producing indefinitely, you often get a
better harvest by making a fresh start.

Tomatoes, pepper and eggplant should be transplanted just as you
did in the spring. For crops like squash, cantaloupes and
cucumbers, however, seeding them directly into the ground will
work just as well if not better. Snap beans, sweet corn and
southern peas are generally directly seeded.

Rotate crops

Don’t plant the same crop back in the same place. Rotate your
space so you can reduce potential disease problems. If you
planted squash there this spring, plant pepper there for the
second crop.

Rotate families of crops. Plant peppers, tomatoes or eggplant
where you had squash, cukes or cantaloupe. But don’t plant cukes
on the same ground where you had squash.

Getting a crop established will be more of a challenge than it
was in the spring. Because of the intense heat, you’ll need to
keep the garden watered enough to reduce heat and drought stress.

Water during the day to provide some cooling on the surface and
allow foliage to dry by nightfall.

Don’t wait

From late July until frost will be roughly 120 days, so crops
that mature in less than four months will usually make before
frost, barring an early fall.

However, the longer you wait, the longer it will take your
second
crop to mature as days get shorter and the weather cools off
(eventually). So start these crops by mid-August. Some
fast-maturing crops like snap beans, cucumbers and squash can
still produce if planted by early September.

So don’t let the summer heat cheat you out of the rewards of
your
second harvest.

(Terry Kelley is an Extension Service horticulturist with the
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.)