Did your Virus Victory Garden get frostbitten on May 9? Freezing temperatures overnight in Central Indiana set a new record for lows, and many people who got plant fever during the warm days of early May are now trudging back to the stores to buy replacement flowers and vegetables.
If you covered your plants with old bed sheets or other cloth coverings on May 8, many of your plants probably survived. If you removed the plastic sheeting over your plants early the next morning, you also probably managed to save many of the babies you so carefully planted. If your tomato and pepper plants survived with damage to just the lower leaves, pluck those off and your plants should be fine. The soil is still chilly, so there will be slow growth on these warmth-loving plants for a while.
Cool weather flowers and plants likely fared better in the cold snap, but the chill was deep and growth will be slowed. Be patient, as the weather is about to turn much warmer in the week ahead — projected highs will be in the upper 70s. The soil will begin to warm up as well, and new growth will be stimulated.
Your Virus Victory Garden could also do with a little bit of fertilizer when the weather warms up. Organic-minded gardeners will do well with fish emulsion fertilizer, which is heavy on the nitrogen and provides a rapid boost to plants. As someone who used fish emulsion faithfully for years, I can tell you it is a great fertilizer — except for the smell. Yes, it smells like fish and your neighborhood cats are going to come see you in droves. My dogs appreciated the extra exercise as they chased them up and over the fences (don’t worry — the cats were much faster than my fat mutts). There are formulations available that aren’t quite as smelly. In addition to fish emulsion, there are blends of fish and seaweed emulsions that aren’t quite as aromatic and more balanced. They are available at most decent-sized garden centers for $10-$12 a quart, to be mixed with water.
I discovered that earthworm castings are probably the best overall, slow-release fertilizers for soil feeding throughout the season. Castings are essentially earthworm manure, and have been used for a long time as soil enrichers. Applied a couple of times a year around flowers and vegetables, earthworm castings break down in the soil and feed the roots of plants. The years I used them around tomato plants, I got twice the yield I ever had before, and healthier plants all year long. A 10 lb. bag of earthworm castings can cost anywhere from $8-$15, and are available in larger garden centers. You can also use the castings in container plantings for extra growth and lovely blooms.
Garden fertilizers are also available for online purchase, though the cost of shipping large bags can cancel out savings on the product itself. If you are uncomfortable going into stores to shop, you can always call your favorite garden center and ask if they have them in stock before you go.
Now is also a good time to begin to mulch your garden. Mulch, whether decorative bark or the straw-and-cut-grass utilitarian covering under and between plants, helps keep weeds down and nutrients and water in the soil. If you have problems with slugs, rough bark and pine needles will help keep them off your plants — they avoid crawling over scratchy surfaces. I also avoid straw mulch under vegetables because I discovered that mice liked to make nests in the straw, which gave me a powerful startlement a few times when I went out to pull weeds!
Most nurseries and garden center are requiring face masks to shop during the pandemic. Please be considerate of your fellow gardeners and wear a face mask, observe physical distancing guidelines, and don’t touch anything unless you are going to buy it. Several local garden centers are offering curbside service.