💧WaterIrrigate at ground level providing 1-1.5 inches per week. Exhibits higher heat and drought tolerance than Cucurbita pepo.
🗺️Zone3a-11b
📏Height1-2 feet (30-60 cm)
Ideal pH6 – 6.8
Cabbage, Head Cabbage, Red Cabbage, Savoy Cabbage
Brassica oleracea
Brassicaceae
LCEasy
☀️SunFull Sun, Partial Sun
💧WaterApply 1 inch of water weekly; maintain consistent moisture to prevent mature heads from splitting.
🗺️Zone2a-11b
📏Height1-1.5 feet (30-45 cm)
Ideal pH6.2 – 7.2
Cantaloupe, Muskmelon, Rockmelon, Sweet Melon
Cucumis melo
Cucurbitaceae
LCModerate
☀️SunFull Sun
💧WaterProvide 1-2 inches of deep watering per week at soil level. Avoid overhead irrigation to prevent fungal leaf spot. Reduce watering slightly prior to harvest to maximize sugar concentration.
🗺️Zone4a - 11b (Grown as Annual)
📏Height1-1.5 feet
Ideal pH6 – 6.8
Cardoon, Artichoke Thistle, Wild Cardoon
Cynara cardunculus
Asteraceae
LCEasy
☀️SunFull Sun
💧WaterDeep, infrequent watering during establishment; highly drought tolerant once taproot is anchored.
🗺️Zone7a-10b
📏Height4-6 feet (120-180 cm)
Ideal pH6.5 – 8.5
Carrot, Garden Carrot
Daucus carota
Apiaceae
NEEasy
☀️SunFull Sun, Partial Sun
💧WaterProvide consistent moisture, about 1 inch per week. Avoid soggy soil because waterlogging can cause root rot and cavity spot.
💧WaterShallow root systems require consistent moisture (1 inch per week). Apply a 2-3 inch layer of pine bark mulch to conserve moisture and regulate root temperature; never let roots dry out completely or sit in waterlogged soil.
🗺️Zone4a - 8b
📏Height6-10 feet
Ideal pH4.5 – 5.5
Faassen's Catmint, Ornamental Catmint
Nepeta × faassenii
Lamiaceae
NEEasy
☀️SunFull Sun, Partial Sun
💧WaterLow. Very drought-tolerant once established; avoid overwatering.
🗺️Zone3a-8b
📏Height1.5-3 feet (45-90 cm)
Ideal pH6 – 7.8
Broadleaf Cattail, Common Cattail, Bulrush, Reedmace
Typha latifolia
Typhaceae
LCEasy
☀️SunFull Sun, Partial Sun
💧WaterNeeds saturated soil or standing water 5-50 cm deep.
🗺️Zone2a-11b
📏Height5-10 feet (150-300 cm)
Ideal pH5.5 – 7.5
Cauliflower, Heading Broccoli
Brassica oleracea
Brassicaceae
LCDifficult
☀️SunFull Sun, Partial Sun
💧WaterDemands uniform moisture of 1.5 inches weekly; temperature and moisture stress cause premature buttoning (tiny unmarketable heads).
💧WaterDemands consistently moist soil throughout the season; never allow root zone to dry out completely, as drought leads to hollow or fibrous roots.
🗺️Zone4a-9b
📏Height1-2 feet (30-60 cm)
Ideal pH6 – 7
Celery, Pascal Celery, Stalk Celery
Apium graveolens
Apiaceae
LCDifficult
☀️SunFull Sun, Partial Sun
💧WaterDemands steady, heavy watering (1.5 to 2 inches weekly); never allow soil to dry out as drought triggers tough, hollow, bitter stalks.
🗺️Zone2a-11b
📏Height1.5-2 feet (45-60 cm)
Ideal pH6 – 7
Century Plant, American Aloe, Maguey
Agave americana
Asparagaceae
LCEasy⚠️ Mildly Toxic
☀️SunFull Sun
💧WaterExtremely drought-tolerant. Natural rainfall is sufficient; supplement once monthly during intense summer drought.
🗺️Zone8a-11b
📏Height5-6 feet (flowering stalk up to 30 feet)
Ideal pH6.5 – 8.5
Beans: Soil pH, Planting Depth and Spacing (Green, Bush, Fava)
The three bean records in this database, green bean, bush bean and fava (broad bean), all sit in the same narrow soil window: pH 6.0 to 7.0, well-drained, and neither waterlogged nor droughted through pod fill. That window is not a preference, it is a biological constraint. Rhizobium nodules (the reason a bean feeds itself) stop fixing atmospheric nitrogen below about pH 6.0, and fava shows aluminium and manganese toxicity on acid ground before the common beans do. Lime to 6.0-6.5 if a test comes back under 6.0, then re-test: the correction takes months, not weeks.
Depth. Sow bean seed at about three times its own thickness and no deeper: 1 to 1.5 inches for green and bush bean, 1 to 2 inches for the larger fava seed. Sowing shallow is the safer error. Common bean will not germinate in soil still below 60°F (16°C) (seed sits and rots instead of swelling) while fava is the opposite and goes in four to six weeks before the last frost, which is why it also works as an autumn sowing. Neither wants a presoak: hydrate the bed, not the seed.
Spacing. Bush types are determinate and stop growing on their own, so 3 to 4 inches within the row and 18 to 24 inches between rows gives a canopy that closes without crowding; thinned stands dry out and crack their pods. Fava is taller and stiffer, so it takes 4 to 6 inches in the row with 24 inches between rows, and it benefits from a stake on exposed ground. Pole types are a different question: they need the trellis before the seed goes in.
After sowing. About an inch of water a week, held evenly through flowering and pod set: a dry week at first bloom drops the flower set, and a waterlogged week at harvest splits the pods. Inoculate seed if the bed has not grown a legume in the last four years, keep fresh manure out of the hole (it delays nodulation) and feed phosphorus and potash from a soil test rather than by habit. Full sun for all three. For the pH side of that, start from the soil pH by crop reference table and work out the rate with the lime requirement calculator.
