WHEN AND WHAT TO PLANT
Understanding the need: What to plant and when? is one of the biggest challenges one faces when it comes to organic gardening. Growing organic is all about growing along with the nature so that the plants use the best of the resources and climatic conditions available during the season to grow and nurture plants. This reduces the efforts and costs incurred while still giving you best of the results.
In simple terms the climate prevailing in a climate zone has a direct impact on seed germination, growth and yield.
CROPPING SEASONS IN INDIA
India has many growing seasons due to prevalence of high temperature through a long period. The agricultural crop year in India is from July to June. The Indian cropping season is classified into two main seasons.
Kharif: Originates from Arabic language where Kharif means autumn. Karif crops are sown at the beginning of the south-west monsoon and harvested at the end of the south-west monsoon.
Sowing seasons-May to July.
Harvesting season-September to October
Important crops: Jowar, bajra, rice, maize, cotton, groundnut, jute, hemp, sugarcane, tobacco, etc.
Rabi: Originates from Arabic language where Rabi means spring. Rabi crops need relatively cool climate during the period of growth but warm climate during the germination of their seed and maturation.
Important crops: wheat, barley, gram, linseed, mustard, masoor, pea and potatoes.
Besides the kharif and rabi crops, there are certain crops which are being raised throughout the year due to artificial irrigation.
Zaid: Originates from Arabic language where Zaid means to prosper.
Zaid kharif crops are sown in Aug-Sept. Harvesting in Dec-Jan.
Important crops: rice, jowar, rapeseed, cotton, oilseeds.
Zaid rabi crops are sown in Feb-Mar. Harvesting is in Apr-May.
Important crops: watermelon, toris, cucumber, leafy and other vegetables.
PLANNING YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN
Three things you need to be aware of when planning your vegetable garden.
- Know your climate zone
- Follow the planting calendar
- Be aware of the conditions
Know your climate zone: Climate zones are generalised the fact that seasons can change quickly and may arrive early or late or not at all. We all know that we live in a high temperature zone through a long period. Hence choose the best plants for your area and the ideal sowing time.
The planting calendar: The planting calendar or sow chart below should help you in planning if you are in India.
|Month||North India||South India|
|JANUARY||Brinjal||Lettuce,Spinach, Gourds, Melons, Radish, Carrot, Onion, Tomato,Okra,Brinjal, Bean|
|FEBRUARY||Applegourd, Bittergourd, Bottle gourd, Cucumber, French Beans, Okra, Sponge, Gourd, Watermelon, Spinach||Same as January|
|MARCH||Same as February||Amaranthus, Coriander, Gourds, Beans, Melons, Spinach, Okra|
|APRIL||Capsicum||Onion, Amaranthus, Coriander, Gourds, Okra, Tomato, Chilli|
|MAY||Onion, Pepper, Brinjal||Okra, Onion, Chilli|
|JUNE||All gourds, Brinjal, Cucumber, Cauliflower (Early), Okra, Onion,Sem,Tomato,Pepper||Gourds, Solanaeceae,Almost all vegetables|
|JULY||All gourds, Cucumber, Okra, Sem, Tomato||Same as June|
|AUGUST||Carrot, Cauliflower, Radish, Tomato||Carrot, Cauliflower, Beans, Beet|
|SEPTEMBER||Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Peas, Radish, Tomato, Lettuce||Cauliflower, Cucumber, Onion,Peas,Spinach|
|OCTOBER||Beet, Brinjal, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Peas, Radish, Spinach, Turnip||Brinjal, Cabbage,Capsicum,Cucumber, Beans,Peas, Spinach, Turnip, Watermelon|
|NOVEMBER||Turnip, Tomato, Radish, Pepper, Peas, Beet||Beet, Eggplant, Cabbage, Carrot, Beans, Lettuce, Melon, Okra, Turnip|
|DECEMBER||Tomato||Lettuce, Pumpkin, Watermelon, Muskmelon, Ash gourd, Ridge gourd, Bitter gourd, Bottle gourd, Cucumber, Chilly, Cabbage,|
Be aware of the conditions: What you grow also depends on the stretch of your growing season, the amount of sunlight your garden gets and the size of your planting space. Having a lot of shade would limit the varieties you can grow where in sunny gardens will offer more alternatives. Certain gardens only get enough sun at certain times of the year. Hence be aware of the conditions and plan your garden to get access to enough sun and increase the variety of what you can grow. Remember agriculture is all about harvesting suns energy.
Our ancestors have made amazing discoveries by living along with the nature. Once such factor is the auspicious sowing during Amavasya. What we think as an auspicious factor is indeed scientific this is known as farming by moon or simply the moon calendar. Will write about this in detail in my next blog.
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