majorcatfish
Garden Master
this is just my humble opinion about starting seeds...
going to use my hardness zone for example, which is 7a they say the last day of frost is april 15th....
according to everything i have read you should start your long term seeds<tomatoes, peppers,eggplant.etc> 6-8 weeks before april 15th for spring planting...so start your seeds 1st of march or february 15th...<using this years calendar>...
well thats all good if we lived in a perfect world...lets face it mother nature does not follow what someone wrote down in a book, april is a strange month, over the years have seen heatwaves/snow/hail/straight line winds/ endless rain..etc
of course you should take a week to harden them off before planting....there has been a couple years that have had to keep them in the greenhouse for 2 weeks longer than planned and they started to produce and they start getting root bound and leggie
let's face it you really want your soil to be at least 65* at night to plant the long term children, and still once planted they really take their time to do anything....but once in late april or early may they really start taking off....
so by starting them around the 2nd week in march you have a healthier plant and your soil is going to be warmer.... and the funny thing is they will still produce/ripen at the same time,if you start them 8 weeks or 6 weeks before LDF...
just wait a extra week or two to start your seeds if you can......
now with that said.........this is depending on where you live...
weather you are growing indeterminate or determinate types of veggies start your main seeds at the appropriate time, and then start more seeds a month later or so, for a late season crop... some plants will produce 2-4 good pickings then peter out to little things. if you start a second round of seeds later on, you still have a late season crop once the other's are done.. the reason you are not overwhelmed with canning everything at once and you have a longer season to sell your produce....
thats my 2 cent worth.....
going to use my hardness zone for example, which is 7a they say the last day of frost is april 15th....
according to everything i have read you should start your long term seeds<tomatoes, peppers,eggplant.etc> 6-8 weeks before april 15th for spring planting...so start your seeds 1st of march or february 15th...<using this years calendar>...
well thats all good if we lived in a perfect world...lets face it mother nature does not follow what someone wrote down in a book, april is a strange month, over the years have seen heatwaves/snow/hail/straight line winds/ endless rain..etc
of course you should take a week to harden them off before planting....there has been a couple years that have had to keep them in the greenhouse for 2 weeks longer than planned and they started to produce and they start getting root bound and leggie
let's face it you really want your soil to be at least 65* at night to plant the long term children, and still once planted they really take their time to do anything....but once in late april or early may they really start taking off....
so by starting them around the 2nd week in march you have a healthier plant and your soil is going to be warmer.... and the funny thing is they will still produce/ripen at the same time,if you start them 8 weeks or 6 weeks before LDF...
just wait a extra week or two to start your seeds if you can......
now with that said.........this is depending on where you live...
weather you are growing indeterminate or determinate types of veggies start your main seeds at the appropriate time, and then start more seeds a month later or so, for a late season crop... some plants will produce 2-4 good pickings then peter out to little things. if you start a second round of seeds later on, you still have a late season crop once the other's are done.. the reason you are not overwhelmed with canning everything at once and you have a longer season to sell your produce....
thats my 2 cent worth.....
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