Here’s why variety, the spice is life, will also help with a healthy vegetable garden

With so many warm-season crops going into the ground this time of year, gardeners must consider many factors when selecting specific vegetable varieties. If you want plants resistant to pests and diseases, plants that can handle our Kansas City environment, or plants that develop quickly, it’s important to focus on variety in the vegetable garden.

It is no secret that the Kansas City area can be warm and humid during the heart of the growing season. Unfortunately, you will likely face several issues in your vegetable garden with this heat and humidity. But here’s the good news: Variety can be a key component in mitigating these problems.

Thus, if your garden in years past has had issues with blight, blossom end rot, powdery mildew, aphids, caterpillars, heat stress, drought stress or other problems, simply planting a desirable variety that is resistant to these issues can be your solution.

Variety selection can also be put to use for more obvious reasons. Plant form and growth habit — as well as crop size, shape, color and flavor — are important considerations for variety selection. Whether a crop will be eaten raw, cooked or preserved should also influence selection, as some varieties are better suited for specific usages over others.

Then, there is the matter of when the crop will develop and how much it will produce. Some varieties of plants produce numerous pounds of crops, while others produce handfuls. Some varieties will develop within a month, whereas others can take nearly an entire growing season. Some will have a continuing harvest throughout the growing season, whereas others will have a specific harvest window.

How do you go about acquiring the information about which varieties are best for you? It’s going to take a bit of research.

A first good stopping point would be your local Extension office’s publications on the subject for the crop in question. These resources are tailored to your specific area, so they’re a great starting point. Another possible stop: The Extension publications of neighboring states that share a similar environment.

As always, local considerations such as soil pH, temperature and water availability should be considered first when choosing the type of plant. This local knowledge is key to successful gardening. Then, exploring the long list of other reasons for variety selection, you can begin selectively narrowing your selection to the perfect crop.

Only a select number of crop varieties may be available locally in a pre-grown state, so consider ordering seeds to get the varieties you most want. It’s nearing late May, so is there time to grow from seed?

It depends. Crops like cucumber, pumpkin, watermelon and cantaloupe prefer being sown in the ground over transplanted. Others — like tomato, pepper and eggplant — may be best started indoors from seed next spring.

Anthony Reardon is a horticulture agent with Kansas State University Research and Extension. Need help? Contact the Johnson County Extension gardening hotline at 913-715-7050 or email garden.help@jocogov.org.