when do I plant my seeds?

[Forget-me-not-lover]

Hi! I live in zone 6. I'm gonna give a vegtable garden a go this year... I picked up a mini green house seed starter from Rural King. I bought some peas, lettuce, squash and corn seeds. I'm going to pick up some tomato seeds today too. When should I start my seeds indoors? :tools

 

[lesa]

Don't start your peas indoors- they do not transplant well. They will tolerate quite a bit of cold- I would imagine you could plant them outside now. No need to start lettuce inside either. You can start your tomatoes and squash if you want- direct sow your corn, as well...What are your night time temps right now?

 

[Forget-me-not-lover]

low 30 and 40s

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

In general it usually is safe to start seeds about 4-6 weeks before the last expected frost. This varies from zone to zone so look yours up.

I agree with lesa, direct sow your peas and lettuce soon, as soon as you can work the soil. To get them going well you may want to cover the seeds with some plastic, a bottomed out milk jug or something similar to help them germinate and keep it on for a few weeks.

Start your tomatoes indoors soon using the 6 weeks before last frost rule above. You may or may not plant corn indoors depending on how long your variety takes to mature and how long your growing season is.

Carlos

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Howdy Neighbor. OK, peas plant directly into the garden, I normally plant them the last week of April- first week of May. Corn goes directly into the garden one week after the last frost. For me that is 27 May. Tomatoes need to be started indoors. There is a lot of advise already on this site for growing tomatoes so I won't repeat it. Squash you can start indoors but you will want to wait until about 4 weeks before you want to plant them outdoors.

Important things... Seedling need really good lighting to grow well. I know there is a really good thread in the greenhouse catagory about fluorescents. Any make sure your harden off your plants. To do this, place your plants outside in a shady, sheltered area to get acclimated to being outside (I put mine on my front porch). I do this just for a few hours the first day and gradually work up to leaving them outside overnight and in direct sun. My first year I did not do this and lost my entire crop. Luckily because I was jumping the gun on when to start my seedlings I was able to restart a new group and had them in the garden by June.

Good luck.

 

[wifezilla]

I am zone 4-5...sort of (Colorado is weird). I plant peas in the ground on St. Patrick's day.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I am zone 4-5...sort of (Colorado is weird). I plant peas in the ground on St. Patrick's day.

I dug out my planting guide from www.heirloomseeds.com and for peas it states to plant 3-4 weeks before the last frost. Last frost date is not the same as zone. I live 4-5 hours SE of Toledo, which is zone 5 (I think) but my last frost date is 10 days after theirs and I am zone 6. Zones relate to the lowest temp you usually experience in your area.

Pick your plants by your zone but plant by the frost table.

 

[vfem]

peas- start outside soon
lettuce- start outside soon
squash- start inside probably mid-late april
corn-start outside June