In May there are many vegetables that can be sown directly in the garden or in the seedbed. Mild temperatures and longer days allow easy germination of the seeds. In addition, they allow shorter times for the growth of seedlings in the seedbed. However, there are still differences in timing between the different cultivars, so there are some that are more suitable for sowing in May and others that, on the other hand, it is not convenient to sow in this period and for which it is recommended to start directly from one seedling purchased in the nursery.
So let’s see how to correctly choose what to sow in May.

Direct sowing in May: legumes

Sprout in May
Among the most suitable vegetables for direct sowing in the ground of the garden of May there are certainly some legumes.
In particular, for the sowing of this month the following are indicated: beans, green beans And peanuts.

How are legumes sown directly in the ground

The sowing technique that we recommend is that of postarelle on regular rows. For distances, keep 20-30cm between plants and at least 1m between rows. Sowing a postarella means that on a well worked soil you need to make a small hole and lay 2-3 seeds on it. The depth should not exceed 3-4 cm. To sow on a regular row, it can be very helpful to follow the holes of the irrigation hoses, which have the “pitch” at 20/30/40 cm. In practice, the postarella is made in correspondence with the hole.
A regular row allows you to comfortably carry out subsequent processes, such as weeding or the preparation of support networks (for climbing varieties).
For a quick germination, keep the soil well moist, giving water regularly in the cool hours. Be careful not to overdo it, so as not to rot the seeds underground.

Sow the Cucurbits in May, but in seedbeds

Seed just sprouted in seedbed
Great protagonists of the summer gardens are certainly the Cucurbits, a family of vegetables that are sown in May. Let’s talk about crops such as: zuchinis, pumpkin, cucumbers And loofah. In this case, however, the advice we give to sow these vegetables in May is that of use the seedbed. Direct sowing in the ground, in fact, is not recommended, as the seeds are smaller and more delicate than legumes, they need more time to germinate and therefore could suffer from competition from weeds, which are very prolific and fast in this period. .

How Cucurbits are sown in seedbeds

Sowing in seedbeds can be done in special alveolar containers, for example the old polystyrene of the seedlings supplied by the nursery, or by using small jars of 10 cm in diameter.
A very fine and good quality soil should be used like the ones you find here.
The seed, 1 per position, must be inserted delicately, 1 cm deep, with the earth which must always be kept well moist. To irrigate without uncovering the seeds, it is better to use vaporizers or rain jets.
Place the seedbed in a warm and bright location, so as to prevent them seedlings stretch out in search of the light.
The Cucurbits they take about 7-10 days to germinate. After another 10-15 days from budding, when the central shoot is formed, they are ready to be transplanted in the open field in the garden. The distances indicated for each variety can be found in ours table of the distances of vegetables.

What to do with the Solanaceae to be sown in May?

The most cultivated vegetables ever in summer gardens are those belonging to the botanical family of Solanaceaeor tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, chili Peppers.
These are vegetables with a long cultivation cycle, which are characterized by having very small seeds. These seeds take much longer to germinate than the crops seen above. This implies first of all that we cannot sow them directly in the ground, and furthermore, if we start with the sowing in May, we will be able to plant the seedlings in the garden only in the month of June.

What is the best time for sowing

Planting tomatoes, peppers and aubergines in June is possible, but for the crops we will have to wait late August. For these reasons, these vegetables are usually sown in the previous months (March-April), while in May the plants already formed, self-produced or purchased in the nursery are planted.
However, if you want to try your hand at sowing these crops in May, the advice is similar to those seen previously for cucurbits.

Other tips after sowing in May

After having seen which are the most suitable sowings in the month of May, we invite you to follow our insights for this month, one of the most intense of the year for those who have the passion to cultivate the vegetable garden.
So do not miss the advice on you work in the garden in MayWhich plants transplantwhat are the more frequent problems in this period and what are the collections of the month.

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Philip Owell

Professional blogger, here to bring you new and interesting content every time you visit our blog.