Days to Maturity

The maturity of a vegetable determines when it will begin producing; for a flower, it determines when it will start flowering, so it’s always an important factor in planning a vegetable garden or designing a flower garden.. But when I’ve tried to put them into practice, they have always confused me: do they mean ‘days from transplant’, ‘days from germination’, or ‘days from sowing’. So I decided to do a little research…

The most helpful explanation came from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply (www.groworganic.com). They explained it this way: “If sown directly, it’s days from germination; otherwise, it’s days from planting out.” Voila! Finally some clarity.

The next misunderstanding that I had was that by the “maturity date” I’d have a ripe fruit or vegetable to eat. Not so. When the plant is mature, it is capable of fruiting or flowering. The actual formation of a flower depends upon environmental factors. So if the environment is perfect, then by the maturity date you should have flowers budding and hopefully getting pollinated!