I'm itching to get started. When to start plants indoors.

[bryce d]

So there is six inches of snow on the garden, hardly been above freezing for a month. And all I can think about is what to plant next year. I spent all last summer and fall making my garden three times bigger. The tractor is running well (been using it to push snow).

So when does a person start to, start plants indoors?

[DoubleDogFarm]

This is how many gardeners answer this question.

Count back from your average frost date. ( about April 15th for me)

8 weeks for tomatoes
10-12 weeks for peppers
10-12 weeks for storage onions

etc etc..............

Eric

[rainbowgardener]

Eric gave you a good answer.

If you don't know your average last frost date, you can look it up. Your seed packets will generally tell you how many weeks ahead of time to plant your seeds.

It does depend on what you are planting. Cold weather crops like broccoli get started a lot earlier than warm weather ones like tomatoes and peppers. I have the same average last frost date as Eric and I start my broccoli indoors in mid Jan. Peppers by the end of Jan, beginning of Feb and tomatoes some time after Valentines day.

If you haven't started seeds before, it may help you avoid some disappointment if you read the seed starting basics thread in the Seed Starting section. You will need a little bit of basic equipment, mainly lights and a heat mat.

[jal_ut]

"So when does a person start to, start plants indoors?"

If you want my answer to that question? Don't! Some do, but I don't.

[bryce d]

Very curious to know why you don,t start seeds.

[jal_ut]

Bryce, my experience tells me that most things started from seed directly in the garden at the proper time will do just fine. Two exceptions in my garden: Tomatoes and Peppers. These need a little longer season than I have.

So, why don't I start indoors? One, my wife is alergic to too many things. Two, its a pain in the behind to tie up a window with table trays etc for six weeks, not to mention the dripping on the carpet etc. Three, why spend the time with that when a couple bucks in May will get all the starts I need? Rather go fishing.

Now if one has a dedicated greenhouse that may be a different matter? At one place I lived I had that and it was fun to garden in a green house.

[DoubleDogFarm]

One, my wife is alergic to too many things

and yet you still have carpeting. I find that interesting.

Eric

[Meatburner]

Very curious to know why you don,t start seeds.

That surprises me as well. jal_ut, I figured you did start seeds indoors in your climate. Shows ya how little I know.

[bryce d]

So when are we going fishing?

[Gary350]

I don't plant seeds indoors either. I plant seeds in the soil when weather is right. A 6 pack of plants is usually only $1.50 unless you live in Arizona they are $3.50 to $5 per plant. It is hard to believe people pay those outrageous prices. I buy some of my seeds on Ebay or Farmers Co-op if the price is right other wise I get my seeds at the grocery store. I save seeds from every thing I eat. If I don't eat it I don't grow it.

[imafan26]

I don't plant seeds indoors only outdoors year round. This time of year though, pepper, eggplant and the warm season veggies will either not sprout or die from dampening off. It might work better with a heat mat, but that really is too much trouble. The seeds will germinate better if I just wait for soil to warm up.

I have super chili peppers I started in November that are only 4 inches high in a 4 inch pot. Normally if it was warmer the plants would be a lot bigger by now.

[rainbowgardener]

But notice that gardening in Hawaii is very different from gardening in Utah. If I lived in Hawaii, I would probably get rid of my indoor seed starting equipment too.

[Ohio Tiller]

I did not see a mention of potatoes! When to start for me is just as soon as I can break ground. Last year I had them in the ground mid march and had the best production ever.

[rainbowgardener]

The original question was about when to start seeds indoors. Potatoes wouldn't be started indoors. I do start potatoes outdoors about a month ahead of my average last frost date, which makes it about mid-March for me too.

[applestar]

everyone is eager to get growing!

I'm picturing a racing event, first race participants poised and ready at the starting line; next racers milling around stretching, loosening up, itching to go; and the later racers in the locker room double-checking equipment.

[Ohio Tiller]

The original question was about when to start seeds indoors. Potatoes wouldn't be started indoors. I do start potatoes outdoors about a month ahead of my average last frost date, which makes it about mid-March for me too.

Yeah but then it branched off into everything else!

[littlelizzy123]

I start some seeds indoors because I do not have a long growing season here in high plains desert mountain Colorado, with a very cool spring, a hot and dry summer (usually with water restrictions, hooray for mulch and drip lines!), and a (usually) long warm fall. Then, BAM! Winter! I don't usually have that long cool fall that some veggies need to mature, and my spring is so cold, I can't start things directly in the garden like the seed package wants me to. Some seeds go directly into the garden though, my peas, beans, lettuce, corn, carrots, turnips, cucumber, potatoes, spinach, zucchini, and mache. I start my broccoli, celery, chard, leeks, onion, peppers, squash, tomatoes and watermelon indoors.

I would pay strict attention to your seed packets. I once thought to myself, broccoli always takes 6-7 weeks indoors. But the broccoli I had bought was a super quick grower and only needed a few weeks inside, per the packet directions (that I did not read). I ended up with long, leggy, overgrown plants that were not happy when I put them outside. Lesson learned.

But I myself love indoor seed starting. My hubs built me a beautiful seed starting rack, complete with 4ft ballasts he reclaimed from a job site he was working on. The building owner was going to throw them away! A mix of cool and warm white light, and I have my own little jungle in there! Remember how you used to run out and look at your seeds every day to see if they've sprouted? I love it! And I get to do it every day in my own house, earlier! I have to use a lot of tricks to make things ripen before the frosts come. I have to warm up parts of my garden with clear plastic, start seeds indoors, use row covers, a cold frame made from old windows that my hubby found for me, etc. But I like it and find it to be worth the effort. I also really like the varieties I get to try when I start my own seeds, rather than the 2 tomato varieties I can find in the garden stores around here.

[DoubleDogFarm]

The original question was about when to start seeds indoors. Potatoes wouldn't be started indoors. I do start potatoes outdoors about a month ahead of my average last frost date, which makes it about mid-March for me too.

True potato seed late Jan - early Feb.

Eric

[Cola82]

Just chiming in to ask when we would start beans? Around the same time as tomatoes? Later?

[rainbowgardener]

Beans are rarely started indoors, because they are very quick growing and don't need a long season, so there would be little advantage to it. If you were going to start them indoors, it would be later than tomatoes, because they need the soil warmer and grow so fast. If I were going to do it, I would probably do it like I do squash, no more than a week ahead of my average last frost date, maybe on the date. But really, I wouldn't do it, just plant them directly in the ground. Beans do need to soak overnight before planting.

[applestar]

You could probably sow fava beans outside soon... But I suppose you weren't asking about them.

[Cola82]

Cool, thank you. The ground won't be ready for another month or two, and I did see on the packet last night that it didn't recommend starting indoors so I didn't put any in my cells. But I actually trust you two more than a seed packet. ;p