My first gardening attempt *fingers crossed*

[Middleman777]

I just planted my first seeds to start my first garden. I decided to plant Cayenne, Spinach, Flax, and Cosmos (flowers for the wife). I will be planting more seeds (herbs and veggies) later but I'm trying to keep it simple for now. I hope I have a green thumb

[rainbowgardener]

Are you growing indoors or out?

San Fernando is a more forgiving climate, but it's still hard for me to imagine conditions that make it workable to be planting spinach and pepper seeds at the same time, unless you are growing the spinach outdoors and the peppers indoors.

Spinach is a cool weather crop, frost hardy, but hates hot weather, tends to bolt and go to seed as soon as it gets hot. You could direct seed it in the ground outdoors now. No reason to grow it indoors, it will do better outside.

Peppers are tender perennials, like hot weather, will die if frost nipped and generally do not like cold. It looks like your nights (I looked up San Fernando, don't know if that's where you are exactly, but probably close) are being pretty consistently in the 40's right now. That's definitely too cold for the peppers. So you should be starting your pepper seeds indoors, under lights, with bottom heat so the soil is at about 75 degrees. But it looks like even in San Fernando, it won't really be warm enough to put the peppers outside until April. That's a long time to grow them indoors and they will, if all goes well, be very big by then. Do you have room for big plants under your lights? Otherwise, it might be a little early to be starting them. If you are actually in LA, it's a little bit warmer, but not enough to change what I said very much.

[PunkRotten]

Yeah wrong time to be starting Cayenne.

[Middleman777]

I know I have no idea what I'm doing lol. I have so much to learn.

[PunkRotten]

Do some cool weather crops. Things like Radishes, Carrots, Beets, Green Onions, Leeks, Lettuce, Cilantro, Parsley, Kale, and Chard.

[Middleman777]

Do some cool weather crops. Things like Radishes, Carrots, Beets, Green Onions, Leeks, Lettuce, Cilantro, Parsley, Kale, and Chard.

Thank you for the advice, do you know of some other options as well or a link that shows them?

[rainbowgardener]

Here's a planting guide for zones 9 - 10 which I believe should include you (I think San Fernando is zone 10a) :

https://www.thevegetablegarden.info/resources/planting-schedules/zones-9-10-planting-schedule

it shows which are warm season crops and which are cool season and gives you a general idea of when you should be planting things.

[Middleman777]

So my Cosmos already started sprouting, in only 4 days! Thanks again y'all for your help.

[rainbowgardener]

You never did say whether you are starting all these seeds indoors or out.

The cosmos is pretty cold tolerant. Most varieties (except the chocolate cosmos) are not frost tolerant, but since you don't usually have any frosts there, it should be ok to be growing it outside.

I'm really not quite sure what the plant will do, being started at this time of year, though. It is usually a summer into fall blooming annual, planted in spring. Being planted now will it bloom in late winter, early spring? Maybe someone else knows the answer to that, otherwise you can just keep us updated with what happens.

But whatever happens, it is always exciting to see your seeds start sprouting and growing! I still get excited about it after 20+ years of starting things from seeds!

[Middleman777]

You never did say whether you are starting all these seeds indoors or out.

The cosmos is pretty cold tolerant. Most varieties (except the chocolate cosmos) are not frost tolerant, but since you don't usually have any frosts there, it should be ok to be growing it outside.

I'm really not quite sure what the plant will do, being started at this time of year, though. It is usually a summer into fall blooming annual, planted in spring. Being planted now will it bloom in late winter, early spring? Maybe someone else knows the answer to that, otherwise you can just keep us updated with what happens.

But whatever happens, it is always exciting to see your seeds start sprouting and growing! I still get excited about it after 20+ years of starting things from seeds!

Sorry RG and forgot to tell you. I have a set of seeds that I take outside at 10 in the morning and bring in at 5pm for the night. And another set that stays in a window seal in my kitchen.

[rainbowgardener]

Why are you doing the in and out? Sounds hard on you and hard on the plants. Then the plants are in cool ish days and warm ish nights which is the opposite of what they are adapted to. And they never get hardened off to outdoors.

You listed: Cayenne, Spinach, Flax, and Cosmos'

Of those the only one that would need to stay in all the time is the pepper.

All the rest are cold hardy (spinach and flax are frost tolerant, cosmos tolerates temps down close to frost as long as it doesn't freeze). I don't think you have freezes where you are, so I would just leave them out all the time and let them get used to outdoors. And leave the cayenne on the window sill until it outgrows it. Once the cayenne gets big enough to be up-potted it should have supplemental light, window sill is probably not enough.

[Middleman777]

Thank you RG, I heeded your advice.

[rockhound]

Cayenne pepper plants are perrenials so they will do fine inside in a pot. Then in summer if you want, you can set them out in the ground. You didn't say how many you are growing. I usually have a pepper of some kind in the house all winter, then put it out in April for a quicker harvest. This year it's Pequin. I think I have a pic somewhere's....
ETA pic
[img]https://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o182/Rockguy46/CIMG1063.jpg[/img]

[Middleman777]

So, I have a bunch of seedlings coming in nicely. I'll post some pictures inna bit. And to my surprise, I have 4 Cayennes that came up. Thanks again for the help!