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veggie seed question

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Hi, 

I'm gonna try growing most of my veggies this year from seed.  Lettuce, Onion, Beets, Tom. Peppers, Radish, Broccoli, Spinach and Cabbage.  I have a heating mat and a grow light and am thinking of keeping the trays in an unheated shed.  Anyone know when I should start planting the seeds?  I live in So. Ct along the shore. 

 

I'm guessing lettuce, spinach and radish should just be sown in the ground and not in trays.  

 

And on another note - who is going to try to take Steve's place this year:heart::cry:

Edited by PaulS
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Paul,

 

Great topic, I am interested as well.  In the same general area

 

Also, which companies do you prefer to get seeds from?  Been looking at Gurneys (but that is mostly b/c I get bombarded by them with emails)

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Have fun, read the descriptions and seed sites usually have good advice.  I started peppers and tomatoes this week.  Spinach, beets, lettuce, radishes you can start when ground is workable depending varieties.  I started spinach in the fall.  It should be going gang busters as soon as enough ice melts to get the row cover off. Onion seeds should be started early, like January but you can buy sets.  Probably should start broccoli and cabbage but I don’t know much about them.  Going to try Brussels sprouts but may wait to try to avoid onslaught of early bugs.   May try early and use row covers keep bugs out. 
 

My lights and mat are in the basement where it’s been kind of cold so the stand is wrapped in plastic for now. 
 

 

"I have ... put a lump of ice into an equal quantity of water ...  if a little sea salt be added to the water we shall produce a fluid sensibly colder than the ice was in the beginning, which has appeared a curious and puzzling thing to those unacquainted with the general fact."- Joseph Black

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Not too late yet. If you get a heat mat you get better germination and quicker.  Lots of stuff you can plant later in the ground too

"I have ... put a lump of ice into an equal quantity of water ...  if a little sea salt be added to the water we shall produce a fluid sensibly colder than the ice was in the beginning, which has appeared a curious and puzzling thing to those unacquainted with the general fact."- Joseph Black

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3 hours ago, PaulS said:

Hi, 

I'm gonna try growing most of my veggies this year from seed.  Lettuce, Onion, Beets, Tom. Peppers, Radish, Broccoli, Spinach and Cabbage.  I have a heating mat and a grow light and am thinking of keeping the trays in an unheated shed.  Anyone know when I should start planting the seeds?  I live in So. Ct along the shore. 

 

I'm guessing lettuce, spinach and radish should just be sown in the ground and not in trays.  

 

And on another note - who is going to try to take Steve's place this year:heart::cry:

We plant on Long Island -the North Fork, right across the LI Sound from you.

 

Lettuce.... can start now and transplant or direct seed as soon as soil is workable (or both).

Spinach.... same as lettuce but direct seeding seems to work better.

Radish..... direct seed as soon as ground can be worked

Onion.... can buy sets or started plants-both can be planted as soon as ground can be worked. Seeds are usually started in Feb. - Be sure to choose long-day varieties for your location.

Beets.... Wait until soil temp reaches 50 or roots may not bulb.  Usually we direct seed our first round mid-April here on Long Island. Transplants have also worked for us.

Peppers.... Time to get them started now, especially chili varieties as some can take quite a while to germinate.  Chili seeds really respond well to heating mats to hasten germination.

Tomatoes....  First round we will start around mid March ( about 6-8 weeks before last frost date).  They also respond well to bottom heat. We start 2 additional rounds later.

Broccoli and Cabbage.... Start transplants 4-6 weeks before last frost for an early summer harvest.  We don’t plant those crops for a spring/summer harvest as we have better luck and prefer to plant them as a fall crop.

 

Planting fewer plants in succession (every 2-4 weeks) will extend your harvests and reduce an over abundance all at once.

 

Good luck and happy growing!

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Chunks said:

Paul,

 

Great topic, I am interested as well.  In the same general area

 

Also, which companies do you prefer to get seeds from?  Been looking at Gurneys (but that is mostly b/c I get bombarded by them with emails)

Johnny’s Selected Seeds

High Mowing Organic Seeds

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.

Territorial Seed Co.

 

We have had good success with all of the above....

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Congrats on what can become quickly become a new passion.  There's lots of great things you can get from growing from seeds.  You  can pick from a much bigger selection than if you are buying plants, and I find it great wintertime therapy.  I'm not yet convinced it's money saving.  Probably so, but between what I've spent on lights, heat mats, racks, trays, etc, I know it's not a one year return on investment. Still pretty cheap entertainment.

 

  Good advice above.  A couple of thoughts

1)  A heat mat only increases the temp by 10-20 degrees. So an unheated shed may not be ideal depending on how cold it gets at night.  Some plants are bothered more by cold temps than others. I've got no shed, so it's a heated, but cool basement for me.

2)  As others said, read the seed packet labels and whatever else you can and realize that there are a lot of variables and opinions.  Sometimes seeds germinate faster than expected, sometime longer, sometimes not at all. Thankfully most vege seeds are pretty easy to grow, so don't overthink it. 

3) Most seeds are pretty cheap, so plant lots of extra.  It will make up for problems you may have with germinations, transplant, disease, whatever. I always give away more tomato plants than I grow.

4) I've had better luck with plastic pots than the peat pots.  Plastic is just easier for me to manage the water, the peat ones tend to dry out too quickly for me. Others seem to like them.  I reuse the pots each year-  A silver Sharpie is an easy way to label a black pot and the label isnt' going anywhere.  FYI, plants on heat mats can dry out fast and some soil mixes dry faster than other

5)  I've had good luck with Park Seed, Tomato Bobs and Burpee through the mail. I tried Swallowtail Garden Seeds this year as they had some specific flower i was looking for.  All have been pretty good about prompt shipping though some years I have had items get backordered. While the selection is smaller, you can usually get some pretty good  choices at the big box stores.  It really depends on whether you are trying to track down something very specific.   Heck, I've even had success with some grabbed at the dollar store on a whim.    

 

Good luck

 

 

 

 

 

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19 hours ago, MattituckMike said:

Johnny’s Selected Seeds

High Mowing Organic Seeds

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.

Territorial Seed Co.

 

We have had good success with all of the above....

 

Mike,

 

Excellent, thank you!  Look forward to making some purchases

C

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20 hours ago, Reed422 said:

This is going to be my first year growing a garden. What should i look to grow from seed and what should I buy as seedlings? I do have a grow light I could start some seedlings, not sure if it's too late for that....

As a rule, the bigger seeds like cukes, zukes and beans are very fast growing and easier to sow later in the season after frost, tiny seeds like tomatoes and peppers take way longer and need to be started indoors. For a beginner you might be happier buying starts of those in May. 

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2 hours ago, gellfex said:

As a rule, the bigger seeds like cukes, zukes and beans are very fast growing and easier to sow later in the season after frost, tiny seeds like tomatoes and peppers take way longer and need to be started indoors. For a beginner you might be happier buying starts of those in May. 

Good rule of thumb. I’ve started herbs like thyme, sage, oregano first because those suckers are tiny and very slow to get to transplant size. 

"I have ... put a lump of ice into an equal quantity of water ...  if a little sea salt be added to the water we shall produce a fluid sensibly colder than the ice was in the beginning, which has appeared a curious and puzzling thing to those unacquainted with the general fact."- Joseph Black

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Zone 6 in Northern NJ, last weekend started sprouting my tomatoes and pepper seeds on a moist paper towel in ziplocs.  Have some Early Girl Tomatoes that are already standing up in pots under the grow lights (old aquarium hood).  Others just starting to sprout now and will og in pots this weekend.  I think this is a pretty easy to follow and good calendar for the area:  

https://www.ufseeds.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-UrbanFarmer-Library/default/dw3f35f23f/images/content/Planting-Zone-6.jpg

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