Seedlings

You are making good headway.
I love that growlight cabinet your talented hubby made for you. Its great.
Good luck and keep posting pictures.

Those look great! Won't be long and you'll be tasting them.

I started indoor seeding 2 weeks ago. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and basil look great. I am confused as to weather I need to transfer them to larger pots now? The Tomatoes are in trays about 3.5 inch squares each. The rest are in small individual squares in a larger tray. Does anyone know the optimal size pots for these type of seedlings?

Also, I started this stuff before I had any real info and I started zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers and peas. The zucchini is now huge! Should I euthanize these and start later of do they have a chance if I pot up? My last frost date is April 14th if that helps. I am also set up to cover the SFG with clear plastic and or blankets.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks, Joe

I went to the seed store and and looked at some nursery plants. They make my seedlings look like wimps. The lettuce 4 packs looked like little heads of lettuce already?

Joe,

I had bad luck starting seeds indoors last year, but ended up with a very vigorous garden from planting seeds directly in-ground in late April. Ended up with some late crops, but they were still good. Those plants you see in the stores were grown in professional greenhouses, don't let them get you down.

I would say, plant what you can, and if you need to re-start, you still have time--or maybe plant some, and hold others back just in case. The crops you are talking about are all hot weather crops around here, and don't do well until the soil is really warmed through.

Best wishes,
Megan

jmosciaro wrote:I went to the seed store and and looked at some nursery plants. They make my seedlings look like wimps. The lettuce 4 packs looked like little heads of lettuce already?

I had bad luck last year with lettuce transplants that were too big. The lettuces bolted quickly, and I live in a very cool area, we rarely have a single day of the summer when the temperature reaches 86 degrees.

If I transplant small lettuces, or those seedlings I have grown myself, they seem to hang around for cut and come again harvesting for a long time. I even had early September planted lettuces that I was able to continue to harvest at Christmas from my semi enclosed porch.

jmosciaro wrote:I am confused as to weather I need to transfer them to larger pots now? The Tomatoes are in trays about 3.5 inch squares each. The rest are in small individual squares in a larger tray. Does anyone know the optimal size pots for these type of seedlings?

Joe, I am clearly no expert. But, I will offer my two cents. I always find tomatoes in stores in 4 inch pots. So, I figure that is the size you want to end up with before heading for the garden. I have read a lot about uppotting multiple times, but have also read that the more you disturb the root system, the more you hinder growth. Seems like a pickle to me...no pun intended.

So, I have just tried something all on my own. I have started my tomatoes in a small cup of vermiculite per Mel's new book. Once sprouted, I give them about 2 days. After two days, I move them directly into a 4 inch pot with a potting mix in it. (I imagine MM would do, too.) Either way, I just let them be from there. They seem to be doing better than anything I have started indoors before. I have 3 tomatoes going now and one pepper plant that all look really strong.

I don't know if I'm on to something or not. But, I figure I can always buy transplants if my idea bites the dust.

Thanks for your comments. I started sprouting seeds in vermiculite and I am also having good luck with that so far. My tomato plants are looking great right now. Since I started to many as it is, I am going to put a few in 4" pots. Also, I will sprout a few new ones and go straight in to the 4" pots and see which plants look the best to go in to the garden.

Last year I transplanted my tomato seedlings into 16oz plastic beer cups. Those worked quite well for several weeks before final transplant into the bed.

I needed some instant gratification so I purchased and planted 2 squares each of kale, bok choy and collards. at the same time I sowed bok choy and collards for a second crop and swiss chard seed. It's nice to see something green in the beds.


Kay

Welcome to the forum, jmosciaro. It's always great to welcome another Missourian to the forum. I'm in the opposite part of the state from you, in the Bootheel region, but our son graduated from UMKC and loved living in KC.

I've gardened all my life, and we have always direct-seeded our squash. Zucchini grows and produces very quickly from direct-seeding here. You might experiment and try some both ways and see if transplants make a lot of difference for you.

We always direct-seed lettuce, too. I tried head lettuce transplants last fall for the first time, but the late fall warm temps made them bolt before heading, anyway. In this area I'm sticking with leaf and sem-heading lettuce types.

Keep us posted on how your garden grows.

I definitely want to hear how your rampicante goes, Ander!

I am a fan of direct-seeding lettuce, also. I am going to stick with the leaf types for now, too. There's only the two of us and dh isn't ALL that keen on it, so cut'n'come again works best for us....I'd be overwhelmed with numerous heading lettuce coming ripe all at once, even in staggered plantings.

It snowed on my garden last night and this morning. I have the hoop house set up and the new transplants seem to be fine. The chard grew about a 1/4" while it was below freezing and the broccoli looks a little stronger as well. FYI I planted the chard 3 days ago, some romain and riley lettuce yesterday and some the day before. All of the lettuce was planted from seeds sprouted in vermiculite then straight in to the cold cold garden with no hardening off. It is actually growing..amazing. This is my first garden if you could not tell.