Nicole Johnsey Burke shares a three-question test to decide whether to keep garden plants through fall or pull them. Score how many days they've produced, how many ideal weather days remain, and how much pest damage they have. Mostly 1s means keep them; mostly 3s means pull them out.
Chapters
Here's how to know what plants to pull and what plants to keep when it comes to your fall garden. Question number 1: How long has this plant been producing in the garden? 30 days, it gets a score of 1. 45 days, it gets a score of 2. 60 days, it gets a score of 3. Question number 2: How many more days will you have ideal weather for this plant to keep producing? If you'll have 60 days, it gets a score of 1. If you have 45 days, it gets a score of 2. And if you have less than 30 days, it gets a score of 3. Question 3: How affected is this plant by pests or disease? If there's no pest or disease, then it gets a score of 1. If there's a little bit of pest or disease, it gets a score of 2, and if more than 1/3 of the plant is covered by pest or disease, it gets a score of 3. If your plant's got mostly a score of 1, then you want to leave them in the garden longer. If your plant's got mostly a score of 2, then you want to leave them in the garden at least for another month, and if your plant got mostly a score of 3, then you want to take it out of the garden