Seed Starting: Are we done yet?

Well not really! But right now (mid April to mid May) we’re in the home stretch for the most part. In my last post I talked about re-potting seedlings into bigger pots and what seeds to start at the end of march. Now I’d like to talk about the status of all those seedlings, and what should be started mid April to mid May.

The Parsley and Sage I planted in early March grew quite well, were repotted into bigger pots. Then I hardened them off and planted them in my herb barrels. Since Sage is a perrennial and Parsley can handle cooler temperatures, I was able to do this last weekend (end of April). To judge the timing, it’s generally when night temperatures are no lower than 40 degrees. If the temperatures go below 40, I’ll cover the plants with a row cover.

You might be asking what hardening off is. Hardening off means acclimating the plants to the increased wind and light levels outside. If this isn’t done, they will surely suffer and may die. To harden anything off you can:

• Place the plants in a protected location (shady spot near the house) for a day or 2; bring plants inside (a shed or garage) at night.
• Move plants into full sun during the day, and bring them inside at night (in a shed, garage, or in the house). This should continue for 1-2 weeks.

That’s all there is to it. I usually harden off not only my seedlings, but plants purchased from a nursery greenhouse, which I will eventually plant outside.

So what’s the status of the remaining seedlings?

The cilantro seedlings are doing great. I re-potted them into bigger pots (about 2-3 inches around) and they’re sitting in my south facing window with the fan. Sadly the basil was attacked by mealy bugs. Who knows where they come from? But I moved them back under the grow lights; with persistent weekly spraying of Neem, I was able to eradicate the bugs. But the seedlings did suffer, though they are still alive. I’m hoping that once they get hardened off and outside on Memorial day, that they will flourish. I’ll hedge my bets though and pick up some seedlings at the nursery or grocery store.

The peppers and eggplants are doing well. They’ve also been re-potted into 2-3 inch pots and are sitting in the south facing window with the fan. They are getting strong and should be ready by Memorial day for planting in the garden. I’m glad I planted them in mid-March because they will be a decent size by planting time.

The Blue Salvia is slow to grow and was attacked by aphids (sheesh!). So I’m hardening them off outside and hope to get at least one plant. Next year I might try growing them earlier since they were so slow to grow. Same with the Amaranthus (though it wasn’t attacked by any bugs); they’re small/leggy, but the fan keeps should help them grow stronger and I hope it will grow once outside. The Larkspur didn’t take, so I took the remaining seeds and planted them directly in the garden. Basically I put a bunch of seed over several small graded areas and covered the seeds thinly with soil. I did this in early April, and what do you know? They are growing. I love Larkspur, with it’s dainty Delphinium like purple or pink flowers. If they do well, this will be my strategy in the future!

By mid April, I started the tomatoes, marigold, cosmos and nasturtium. They are all still in their original seed trays and growing well. Once they sprouted, I moved them (except the marigold) to the window with the fan for strengthening, and they are growing beautifully. I planted a whole tray of marigold and for the first time, only those from purchased seed packets sprouted (most of the tray was seeds I collected from last year). Usually collected seeds do well. But for some reason they weren’t viable this year. So I purchased four 6 packs from the local grocery (where they are inexpensive) to supplement. Next year I’ll plant more with seeds I purchase and save a smaller section for experimenting with my own gathered seeds.

So that’s it for the status of the seed starting indoors. I plan to start zucchini, butternut, green beans, cucumber, and perhaps a small cantaloupe like melon this weekend. They’ll have 4 weeks of growth before going in the garden (hardening off after 2 weeks of course).

Outside in the garden, as I talked about in my other blog on Early Spring Gardening, I planted the peas and green onions out in the garden (after hardening of course). I then seeded more peas and lettuce (when I planted the plants, including lettuce and broccoli I purchased from the nursery). I’ll be doing this every few weeks through July for an extended season. The newly sowed seeds are now sprouting in the garden and I’ve already planted a second set of pea seeds. I’ll wait on the lettuce until the seedlings are bigger since lettuce grows slower. The cool weather crops have been under a row cover. I started with a thicker one and just switched since it’s seems to be generally getting warmer at this point (and the lighter one lets in more light).

So that’s where I’m at now that it’s the beginning of May. What’s next? As I said, starting the squash, cucumbers, and beans is next (though you can also direct seed these in the garden on or after memorial day). I’ll be starting those this weekend along with re-potting the tomato seedlings into 2-3 inch pots. Then in general, I’ll be finished with the seed starting (except for the succession seeding in the garden – peas, green beans, and lettuce). I’ll be hardening off the seedlings during May and then planting on or after Memorial day.

Hope you all find this information useful, learning from my mistakes. Please feel free to contribute learned wisdom of your own and ask questions!

Happy gardening!
Susan Macchia