Seeds & Seedlings Feb. 19; snow date Feb. 26, 2011.
Presenter: Tom Roberts, Snakeroot Organic Farm, Snakeroot Road, Pittsfield 04967, email: tom@snakeroot.net
Remember: EVERY VEGETABLE HAS ITS OWN REQUIREMENTS, for temperature, water, sun, fertility, days to maturity, picking window, edible part, ability to transplant. Potato farmer who decided to grow chickens.
Starting seeds – Direct Seeding vs. Transplanting: Not every vegetable likes being transplanted and some simply shouldn’t be. Scheduling of different veggies & herbs, planting depth, seed size, double transplanting.
Advantages of transplanting: Earlier harvest, crop is ahead of weeds, instant garden, allows delay of garden preparation, buys you garden time for succession cropping, no thinning in garden.
Disadvantages of transplanting: Need containers, potting soil, warm sunny place to grow, slower and more work than direct seeding.
Timing is everything. Timing of transplant starting is most common mistake. Too early or too late. Every veg is different. Using transplants to gain time.
Non-seedy “seeds”. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion sets, garlic, shallots.
Plants, not seeds. Rhubarb, asparagus, horseradish, most perennials. Take several years to produce.
Potting soil. Should be different than regular garden soil which has poor nutrient balance for seedlings, likely to be weedy, poor water holding properties compared to potting soil. Peat moss & synthetic fertilizer based (sterile) or compost based (alive).
Seedling containers. Recycled plastic containers, peat pots, tomato trays, or pro tray cell flats.
Starting vs Growing Temperature. 75-85° for germinating, then 60-70° for growing.
Problems. Damping off (soil too wet), leggy (=too tall: too warm, not enough sun), no or low germination (old seed, abused seed, too deep, dried out, too cold, variety differences, just wait).
Growing your own vs buying seedlings. If you don’t have enough warm & sunny area, buying some or all of your seedlings may be your best bet. Grow lights. Buying long transplant-growing-time plants.
Hardening off. Easing the seedlings into the garden slowly to reduce transplant shock. Think of it as transplanting in two steps. Tenderness to cold varies with vegetable.
Transplanting. Never break up the rootball if you can help it. Exception: onion family. How to tell when they are ready to be planted into the garden: look at the roots, not the tops.
Direct Seeding Planting. Remember your garden map? Placing the seeds. Depth. Succession plantings related to days to maturity and overall garden productivity. Thinning.
Cold frames. Old storm windows or plastic sheet over a box on or in the ground. Opening on sunny days and closing at night, especially early in the season, are critical.
Hoop houses. Inexpensive low greenhouses that can make your garden think it’s in Maryland. Season extension, winter production.
Greenhouses. Gardening fun all year round, as well as a better place to start your seedlings than the kitchen window.
Row covers. Slitted poly with hoops or white floating row covers with or without hoops. Pest barriers and temperature moderation.
