Seed starting has begun...

[Macky]

Lavender Lady. If I want them to flower in our short season, I gotta start early!


I initially just set out to do a germination test with a few of the Red Robin cherry tomato seeds that I saved last fall. Yeah, right. Everybody knows I can't toss poor, defenseless sprouts. So, here they stand – all 17 of them. This variety grows into a super small dwarf plant, so... maybe we might get some little toms indoors?


I posed pics of my test batch of Joi Choi seeds in the mini soil blocks on my other thread.

This weekend I'll be starting onions and leeks.

What have YOU started for this season?

[Garland]

Wow, nice start!

I haven't even begun to think about it. I guess I should be getting some things ready. I have a place to start them indoors. Probably will start in March.

[backtobasicsmum]

I really don't love gardening (okay, to say I dislike it might be a better term ), especially with the no good watering situation where we live. But you are always so enthusiastic with your gardening, it makes me wish just a tiny bit that I loved it too. I can't wait to see how your garden grows this year.

[3boysforme]

Every year I attempt and every year they all die at seedling stage. I am just going to live vicariously through you this year

I might actually attempt some herbs that are hard to kill.........I will probably kill those too.

[Macky]

Karisa, I grew up in an apartment (age 5 to 18) with a neat freak mother, moved to an apartment when I left home, then got married and moved to a miniature apartment. Then we bought eight acres. I think I'm trying to make up for not getting my hands dirty as a child.

Heather, if it's any consolation, I'm a serial killer of cacti.

[itzj]

So impressed with all of your seedlings. Some year, when I don't have littles around, I'll try it again. And then you'll have to help me pick out all the right stuff. I'm too tired to even bother this year so I'm direct seeding and having the Mennonite nursery do the rest. I just wish they would do an Italian paste other than La Roma because it just doesn't perform well. The amish paste did pretty good last year though. I wish they would do a San Marzano.

[Macky]

Is it something you can request, Jenny? Some smaller greenhouses might do that. I bought San Marzano seeds for the first time this year. Then I found out that San Marzano is an all-encompassing term kinda like Roma. ( Of course, a person always finds these things out AFTER one buys the thing.) Apparently there are different varieties under the San Marzano name and if your packet doesn't specify which, you don't know what you're getting (same with Roma seeds). I grew Anna Russian a couple of times and the plants themselves were lovely, but I just ran out of season for them. One I'd really like to grow is Black Krim, but again, I'd have to dedicate myself to some more serious season extending measures and I just don't have the time for that with the kids so young still. I barely have time to do what we do do. We're in a stage right now where as long as the plants are bigger than the weeds, we're doing good. At least some veggies are fine with a little competition. Not all, though.

I started some broccoli and coles to put out under a cold frame probably in the beginning of March, some herbs b/c they are so slow, and some tomatoes. I put them out in cold frames, in a couple of waves starting in April. The waves are so that if frost gets one batch, I can put some more out. At least, that's the plan last year after buying a few $5/gallon replacement tomatoes! But, I had fruit in June, and it was a TERRIBLE gardening year here last year, so most people who didn't fool around with all the early-planting/cold frames/replanting/etc didn't get any until September. Or at all.

I also started some onions in November or so, so they'd be fatter by early spring, but they all died. I didn't think onions were that complicated!

I'm going to do another big seed-starting batch in the middle of this month.

[Macky]

Sonata, when is the traditional planting out date for your area? November would be pretty early for onions here even. I started mine in January last year and got really good size. I'm going to try mid-Feb. this year instead because it was a challenge to keep the onion seedlings indoors for so long (I can't move them out to even cold frames for a while yet; it's -30ish today). Yeah, I had no idea onions were complicated until I learned about long-day and short-day and day-neutral varieties. I was for quite a while trying to wrap my brain around it all. That the length of day triggers bulbing regardless of the size of the plant is just facinating.

Oh, and I forgot to post pics of my rosemary seedlings. Jeepers, do they ever grow slowly! I can't seem to get good germination rates with rosemary. Once they sprout, I have no trouble growing them on, but getting them sprouted I find really difficult. Does anyone know a trick for rosemary in particular?

[Garland]

You've inspired me with your seedlings. Your thread keeps reminding me that Spring is coming! I look forward to getting my seeds planted soon. It's still too early in my area, but I can start gathering the supplies!

Well, the onions were planted inside. Actually, I have a bed of onions outside, too, but they should be spring/early summer sweet onions, and these were (supposed to be) later storage onions. I guess I'm going to have to re-plant!

Here, winter temps are rainy, with light freezes, so we can do actual winter gardening. So in the fall I plant out cole crops, onions, and garlic, and keep harvesting chard all winter. I could be growing lettuce or spinach under a cold frame, but haven't bothered yet. March would probably be a good time for planting out the spring versions of those cool-weather crops. May 15 is our official planting-out date for warm-weather crops, but although it rarely frosts after then, it often doesn't really warm up until the middle of June.

It's an unusual gardening climate. Way too much rain in the winter/spring (usually the biggest obstacle to planting out isn't the cold, but the soggy soil), and none in the summer; not too cold in the winter, but not quite warm enough in the summer. So there's lots of opportunity (like coles in the spring, fall, AND winter) but lots of chances for failure (like if they don't grow fast enough they just bolt in the summer!).

My parents garden in Alaska, so that's what I grew up on, so I imagine maybe that's a little like what you have!

[Naked Camper]

I'm zone 5 and starting seeds inside this week. Well, my tomato, peppers and flowers.
I'm not starting too early am I? I just want established plants in May, not seedlings like I has last year. Same thing with flowers

It depends on how big you can keep your plants outside. With tomatoes especially, if you don't up-pot them, they just don't grow. So if you can keep up-potting them to gallons, then you'll have nice big plants by the time you plant them out, and if it's warm, you might even have tomatoes a month later. But I always forget how much bigger and more space the plants take up when I plant the baby seeds!

[Naked Camper]

I was planning on up-potting them along the way

[Macky]

Originally Posted by Naked Camper

I'm zone 5 and starting seeds inside this week. Well, my tomato, peppers and flowers.
I'm not starting too early am I? I just want established plants in May, not seedlings like I has last year. Same thing with flowers

Tomatoes – Like Sonata said, as long as you've got the materials and space to pot on your plants when they need it, you can start this early. The ideal size to plant out in spring, though, is between established plant and seedling. Bedding plants are not seedlings. Early toms can be started indoors 6 weeks before you plan to plant them out. Long-season toms can be started 8 weeks before. This all assumes you have a proper light source for them. A window isn't enough; keep tomatoes indoors that long with only a window practically guarantees leggy plants.

Peppers – Yes, start them now! I started my hots in January. Bells grow faster, so they don't need to be started as early, but usually still earlier than tomatoes.

Flowers – Depends on the flower; read your seed packet for timing.