What to plant in the garden in April

The month of April marks the arrival of spring, the ideal time to plant different vegetables and greens in our organic garden. Specifically, what to plant in April in the garden it depends a lot on the weather conditions of your region and, above all, on how the ground was prepared in the previous weeks. To be successful, a cultivation must meet, in the delicate moment of transplantation, the best possible soil and climatic conditions.

So let’s see which are the crops of the spring garden on which it is worthwhile to focus, and those on which it is better to pause, reflect and postpone.

Plants in the nursery to be planted in April

The seedlings on the market are produced in the nursery, in an environment where everything is controlled. Temperature, humidity, irrigation and fertilization, in a greenhouse that reproduces vegetable seedlings, are factors optimized in the best way to obtain healthy plants ready for the transplant in the vegetable garden.
The conditions that the map finds in the garden land however, they are not always ideal, let’s give some examples.
First, the temperature and humidity. These two factors are optimal during the day in April, but at night they can drop to critical levels for a small plant.
The soil temperature must also be taken into consideration. The roots of young plants are very delicate and require warm soil to take root easily, reducing transplant stress. For these reasons, in the month of April it is necessary to evaluate the climatic and soil conditions before carrying out the transplants.

Fertilizing in April

The spring and summer garden crops have a medium-long crop cycle. These are important crops that develop large plants.
To thrive, these plants need to “eat”, that is to say adequate organic fertilization. In organic chemical fertilizers are not used that dissolve in water, so soil fertilization must be done before transplanting. In this way, the seedlings will have all the necessary nutrients to face the long crop cycle.
If you have not fertilized in the previous months, do it in April, there is still time.

What to plant in April

Let’s get to the heart of the discussion and see what to plant in the garden in April. But first, one last clarification: this article will talk exclusively about transplants, but in the month of April we have plenty of time to start sowing vegetables as well. These can be done in the seedbed or in the open field, and here you will find an in-depth analysis:

Zucchini and other cucurbits

Let’s start by talking about the zuchinis and others Cucurbitsor: pumpkin, cucumbers, loofah, thorny pumpkin.
Zucchini is quite resistant to temperatures which drop a few degrees during the night. They also have a certain ease of vegetative restart, so it is possible plant them already at the beginning of the month.
The other cucurbits are more delicate and need higher temperatures in order not to suffer from transplant stress. Cucumbers, for example, if they do not have warm soil and temperatures above 10 ° C even at night, once transplanted into the soil they risk wilting and getting stuck in growth.
The advice is to raise the temperatures and wait for the second part of the month, when the risk of late cold should now be behind us.

Tomatoes

Tomato is the king of spring and summer vegetables. It is a long-cycle crop, which needs well-fertilized soil and grows well when the mercury does not drop below 15 ° C. There are also varieties that are more sensitive to temperatures and others that are more rustic.
Specifically, the salad tomatoes (heart-shaped, ribbed, smooth round, etc.) are more delicate, the cherry tomatoes (cherry, datterini, piennolo etc.) are much more resistant.
If you want to start grow tomatoes already in April, because maybe your soil is already ready, we advise you to start with the rustic varieties of small size, and then, in the second half of the month, continue with those salads.

Other solanaceae

In addition to tomatoes, others Solanaceae much cultivated in home gardens are chili Peppers, peppers And eggplant.
For chillies, the same goes for tomatoes, given that there are hundreds of varieties in existence. In April, the advice is to plant the Italian chillies at the beginning (like the Calabrese in bunch). Then, towards the end of the month, you can move on to the more exotic varieties (such as the habanero).
On the other hand, planting peppers and aubergines in open field in April is very risky, as they are crops that need heat, especially in the initial phase of growth. Maybe it is possible to proceed towards the end of the month, but only in the southern regions. In the Center-North it is better to wait until May.

Bulb vegetables

No problem, however, for the April transplants of bulb vegetables, such as onion, leeks And shallot. These are very rustic crops, which benefit from moist and fresh soils, so they can be planted at any time of the month without any worries.

Leafy vegetables

In April, the transplants of leafy vegetables already started in the previous months continue. Let’s talk about various types of salad (for example the classics romaine lettuce and canasta), chard, spinach, rocket, smooth endive And curly endive. These have no difficulty in transplants in April, on the contrary. With spring, the hours of light and heat are gradually increasing, therefore the crop cycle of these vegetables is shortened and they will be able to ripen in much shorter times than in the previous months.

Aromatic and medicinal plants

April is an excellent period for transplanting aromatic and medicinal plants into the garden or in pots. So let’s start the transplants of: basil, parsley, rosemary, celery, sage, lavender, lemon balm, stevia, tarragon, savory, Origan, dill, peppermint, marjoram, thyme.