A Few Things about Starting Seeds

Hi again!

Just a few notes about our seed-starting experience so far.

These are the seeds we chose to start indoors:
-Broccoli
-Cabbage
-Kohlrabi (purple and white)
-several kinds of basil (Thai, Bush Spicy Globe, Purple, Sweet, Genovese, and a few I can't remember right now)
-lemon balm
-dill
-oregano
-sage
-tomatoes (Stupice, Gold Medal, Cherokee Purple, and Sungold)
-sunflowers
-peppers (Poblano Ancho, Jalapeno, Mixed Chiles, Yolo Sweet, and Purple)
-cucumbers
-pumpkins
-Chives
-Onions
We started our seeds in Mid-March in 8 flats with 36 individual sections. For the soil we used a mixture of regular potting soil and peaty seed starting mixture. This worked great.

We started with a space heater underneath the table the flats were on to germinate, and once they started to sprout we placed 2 full spectrum lights about 12 inches above the flats. In the future, I would put the lights on a pulley system, and start them about 2-4 inches above the sprouts, then raise the lights as the plants got larger. Our broccoli, kohlrabi, and cabbage seedlings stretched and got way too spindly and fell over. Fortunately, we caught it before they died, and re-potted them in larger pots, and mounded the soil up around them so that only their leaves and a tiny bit of stem were above the soil line. We also placed a fan on a cupboard next to the table so that there would be a slight breeze on the sprouts. I believe this is what saved our tomato seedlings from stretching too badly, since it required them to grow sturdier stems.

The peppers we started inside under a light at the end of January, and now it is mid-April and they are about 3 inches tall and most of them are just starting to develop their second set of leaves. They were becoming root-bound, so we re-potted them last week and they are beginning to look more healthy and vigorous. In May, once it becomes warmer out, we will transplant them into our Hot House we built last year.

The cucumbers came up the largest and most vigorous of all the starts. To start transitioning them before we transplant them outdoors, I have moved their flat into the hot house for the next couple of weeks. They have been there for about 2 days and they look great.

The hot house can get up to 70 degrees during the warmest part of the day, and usually doesn't go lower than 55 or 50 degrees at night.

The pumpkins are also quite vigorous but are stretching much more than the cucumbers did. We will transplant them outside this weekend, mounding the dirt up around them.

We had the stretching problem with the sunflowers as well, but instead of re-potting them, I just went ahead and planted them in the ground outside and they are doing just fine.

The things we have already or plan to direct sow in the ground are:
-garlic
-potatoes
-spinach, romaine, and mesclun mix
-peas-pak choi
-beans
-radishes
-carrots
-squash

We got a lots of Walla Walla Sweet onions already started from a friend and from Cenex, and put those in the ground 3 weeks ago, and they look great.

I planted garlic back in November and now the stalks are a foot tall, and should be ready at the end of the summer.
I just planted the potatoes yesterday so we'll see how they do. For their bed, we just tilled up a plot in full sun about 8 feet X 8 feet and amended the ground soil with some compost from the farm/garden store. We got some Yukon Gold seed potatoes from the farm/garden store, and I saved two organic russet potatoes that had started sprouting tons of eyes. I cut the potatoes into chunks about the size of an egg and each piece had at least 2 eyes on it. I laid them out to dry for a day (or two) and then put them out in the bed in rows, then mounded dirt on top of them, rather than digging down. As they grow, we have been told we are supposed to continue to mound the dirt around the stem, and the plant will send out shoots into the mounds which will produce potatoes.

I put the peas out in early March along the fence and they have come up about 3-4 inches and look very healthy and green so far.
Also, just today I put some corn and marigold seeds in flats in the hot house. We shall see what they do.

This is such an exciting time of year because there are so many different kinds of seeds for sale, and so much to do in the garden, and you have all summer to look forward to watching everything grow! It's such a great feeling to have plenty to do outdoors after being inside for most of the winter. Can't wait to see how everything turns out!