starting my seeds indoors today (because I am going insane)

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Permalink Reply by Irene on February 22, 2009 at 10:41am

Suki,
It might be early in your area for starting hot weather things like tomatoes and cucumbers because, unless you have a really sunny indoor spot to keep the plants as they develop they will get leggy and weak, possibly not surviving until it's time to plant them out in the garden. Most seed packets tell you how many days before your area's last frost date you should start seeds indoors. It's hard to wait, I know, but plants have their own time tables. Maybe you could use your 'gardening' time now to read some good gardening books, either your own or from the library.

Best gardening wishes,

~ irene

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Permalink Reply by suki on February 22, 2009 at 10:51am

Thanks for replying Irene, I do have grow lights, I was hoping that between those and deep repotting I could keep them from getting to lanky and weak. I was thinking MAYBE and this is a big MAYBE, I could be the first one around my parts eating home grown maters.

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Permalink Reply by Snowshiva on February 22, 2009 at 10:57am

To stave off the "winter madness" I have grown beetroot, radish, lettuce, and many different salad leaves in trays. Plus I over wintered some onions and garlic in a cheap grow house. We have had a lot of snow here over the last few months and everything is still looking good, even the onions and herbs that have been out on the patio all over the cold months.

I'm also planning to grow crops that are harvested through December to February/March this year such as brussels sprouts, swede and early broccoli.

Maybe doing something similar may help you make it through this time next year???

Good luck with with the Toms and Cucumbers though, will be nice if they manage to last till harvest.

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Permalink Reply by suki on February 22, 2009 at 11:10am

so snowshiva do you mean that you have recently started the beetroot radish andlettuce seeds inddors or you starated them awhile ago? and I think if I did start them now they could be some of the first to go outside because they are cool season crops, is that right?

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Permalink Reply by Snowshiva on February 24, 2009 at 5:09pm

I do mine over the winter months, and they are ready to eat now and need some of your attention, therefore you should keep some of your sanity by keeping busy in the garden. You could start them now and with some protection I would think there would be all sorts of things you can grow early, just don't expect too much and use your common sense. Have fun :)

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Permalink Reply by Joy Williams on February 22, 2009 at 12:33pm

I understand how you feel, I hope you haven't actually planted the seeds yet, because unfortunately starting tomatoes earlier doesn't really give you tomatoes earlier. Usually, they won't produce as much fruit, because they have a lot more stresses than a plant you start a little later. I wouldn't pay too much attention to what the seed packet says though, because the people who made the packets won't know where you live, or YOUR last frost date. You have to find out when your last frost date is, I would start your tomato plants about a couple of weeks before that, as seedlings, but really it's not even "frost date" it's when your soil reaches at least 50 degrees at night. Anything lower than that and the tomatoes won't flower or fruit.

They've actually done studies (no, I don't remember where I got this info) to see which plants do better, an earlier started tomato or one that is started later, and the one that was started later got bigger and had more fruit. There are other things you can start now, though. Snow peas, brassicas, lettuces, beets, winter veggies, that you might even be able to plant soon. So don't despair!

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Permalink Reply by Tamra on February 22, 2009 at 12:51pm

It is not too early, even in Michigan, to start things that like it cold like kale, spinach and maybe even chard. I have started some of these in plastic window boxes, that I move outside any day it warms up. And kale can take temps in the 20's.

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Permalink Reply by Maya on February 22, 2009 at 3:57pm

We're about to get the tail end of your storm. If you're going nuts and you have the nurturing time, I say go for it. I've started tomatoes this early before (Maine), then repotted them deeply a couple of times, each time burying the lowest set of leaves. The last repotting was into milk jugs with the tops cut off, so there was a good 8" of soil (actually straight compost as the south side of the pile was diggable by then). This resulted in big, strong, plants with lots of fruit after planting out the first week in June. You can plant out earlier with a wall-o-water or some such. Starting them this early won't harm them or you, but will end up costing more in terms of lighting, bottom heat, and your time and counter space. Keep the lights a few inches above the seedlings, and remove any blossoms that appear before planting out.

Windowsill: chard, spinach, letttuce, radishes, hardy scallions, beets.

Hold on tight. There are a couple of months remaining before the alliums start to poke through the snow, but the days are definitely lengthening, the birds have started coming back, and I bet you can get some good noontime vitamin D in a sheltered, south-facing nook.

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Permalink Reply by Darcy P. on February 22, 2009 at 4:29pm

Well I cannot say that I can relate to the snow insanity but I have already started my seeds indoors. They were a little slower than normal but most seem to be doing well. I try to keep them in warm afternoon sunlit window sills. I've also read about "heating pads" to place your seed trays on as well. I think with lots of love you will be fine! Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Kristin W. on February 22, 2009 at 7:00pm

Believe me when I say I relate to the feeling of insanity. We are getting snow here as I type. All I can hope for is that school is not cancelled tomorrow, and school vacation week lengthened by one more day. AKKK! Anyway, I think I was one of the first to put in my order at Johnny's Seeds, and I bought A LOT. Kind of like going to the grocery store when you're really hungry. I am forcing myself not to plant my seeds too early this year - it resulted in way too many, too big, seedlings covering my table way before I could plant them outside. But I certainly can understand the need to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING, that will make us feel we are close to spring. Maybe they should just put Prozac in the water supply in the Northern half of the country. Oh, wait. I have a well...

So, what I am doing in lieu of checking myself in somewhere is planning my garden layout (last year's plan had some major kinks), trying to convince my husband that I need three more raised beds (I think I've done that), and drawing plans for a soon-to-be-built seedling growing rack/grow light thingy, so that my seedlings don't have to live on the kitchen table. All of these things seem to be keeping me occupied, and I figure building (or supervising the building) the grow light/rack will be a fun process, and by the time it's done - I can PLANT things!

Good luck with your plants and your waning sanity.

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Permalink Reply by Letti on February 22, 2009 at 9:39pm

Instead of going insane, trying wintersowing your seeds. http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/How_to_Winter_Sow.html
I am doing it for the first time this winter. I hate germinating the seeds inside, then have to go through getting them used to being outside. For this reason I plant in the ground and then cover the beds whenever we expect a freeze. I have some bird,cayanne and scotch peppers and cucumbers as my first experiment with wintersowing. Luckly I am able grow lots of cool weather crops in the ground.
Today I planted carrots, mustard greens, cilantro, lettuce, radishes, and potatoes.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Bocchino on February 23, 2009 at 11:20am

I know how you feel. I get the same way you just described and somtimes I just can't take it any longer. I think the worst for me is when the days are at their shortest. I get so touchy when the sun goes down before 6:30 and I really don't like it until it goes down after 7:30. My family calls it my Winter PMS and they are correct. Anyway I am lucky to live where I do and have short winters but I still get this way. I usually try to go buy a new house plant when I feel like this. There is nothing like having a new addition to your house plants. This usually gets me through until I can begin my gardening for the Spring.................Chris

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