Planting Out Zucchini and Cucumber Seedlings

[kayjay]

Hi all. So I waited until around my average last frost date (mid May) to start zucchini and cucumber this year. We've had a lousy cold spring but then it basically became summer overnight.

My seedlings have their second true leaves just emerging. (Top and bottom 2, ignore the pumpkin and ginger in the middle)

The weather this week has lows between 59-65 F, daily highs 72-88 F. The soil temp is 65 F.

My question: should I plant them out now, or keep babying them inside for a bit longer? I don't want to disturb their roots if they get much bigger, but OTOH, most websites I've seen recommend planting them out when they have three true leaves. This is also how I see them being sold commercially.

TIA.

[applestar]

They look a little stunted — I Think they need to be watered more or something. Take the ginger out of that tray and add water to the tray, keep adding if they suck all the water up and the tray is dry. Keeping the potting medium and extending roots moist helps them from feeling pot bound. Make sure this mix isn’t too acid and maybe start giving them some fertilizer — I say that but what I do is water them with used coffeee grounds-soaked water and juice/milk/soda bottle rinse water (when I rinse the bottles for recycling, I add water swish and pour into the jug of water for the seedlings. Put hard boiled egg shells in the jug.... that sort of thing.

When the first true leaf is twice as big as a seedleaf and 2nd one is about these ones size is around when I think is ideal to plant out. So start hardening them off accordingly. Squashes need to go in full sun location so you need to work them up to that. If weather is already good for them to be planted, and you’re not worried about slugs, etc (they LOVE the squash seedleaves), you could plant them now and not have to worry about hardening them off as carefully because these young leaves will adapt quickly — just Protect for the first couple of days if sunny.

[imafan26]

I would start training them to go out now if the weather is good. Ginger can be grown in a pot. If it is edible ginger use a five gallon bucket and plant the ginger vertically. If you plant it horizontally it will stop growing once it hits the side of the container and does not go down. I learned this the hard way. I just haven't figured out how to plant the ginger to get it growing in the direction I want it. Commercially ginger is planted in hills. Ginger must be in nematode and virus free soil or you have to move the farm.
https://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/gr ... inger.html
https://cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gingerwilt/Ginger

[Vanisle_BC]

For what it's worth (??) here's my brief note from last year's cuke planting (these were small pickling cukes. Harvest was Aug 18 to mid-October):

'Transplants failed. Reseeded direct Jun 9, ~100% germ, kept 3. good harvest but Mildew early Oct.'

[applestar]

It’s true, it doesn’t always work. There’s a trick to it, I think. I’ve been trying various methods.

- For me pre-germinating is the 1st step.
- I’v tried spoonzip method with success, even with super overgrown seedlings that you would think would not survive considering the bit about root disturbance. (Found out keeping roots wet keeps them alive and recoverable)
- Watermelons tend to be most fragile.
- Squash and cucumbers tend to be MOST adaptable.
- Melons are still under experimentation but spoonzip worked for 50 % last year.
- This year, I’m trying cowpots (not peat or coir) as well as plastic pots (not drying them out is really the key here).

For fast maturing cukes, it’s true direct seeding works fine. It’s the late maturing squashes/pumpkins that might be most critical to get a jump on the season. Melons won’t ripen until September here unless I can get them started early ... or probably unless I use soil warming techs like black plastic mulch. Finding right variety is another key.

[Vanisle_BC]

I don't know anything about spoonzip - will have to explore. I do want to get cowpots next year. Agreed about not using coir pots - tried them 2 seasons ago and they still haven't even rotted in the compost pile!

[applestar]

Try words like Seedzip spoonzip spoon Seedzip in the forum search. I used to say “cut off plastic spoon head in tiny ziplock seed bag” or some such description, but over the years have been abbreviating and now simply say “spoonzip method”

[kayjay]

Thanks all. I did forget to water them last night when I put them to bed. I snapped that pic this morning right before watering.

They have been well hardened off. The weather was nice basically as soon as they germinated. They've been out in the elements every day.

The ginger is just an experiment. I bought some back in winter for cooking, but never did use it, and it sprouted. So I just stuck it in a pot.

[applestar]

I didn’t mean don’t grow the ginger — I Just meant don’t leave it in the same tray while keeping the cucurbit seedling roots moist all the time. I have a big tub of ginger growing — originally planted store-bought ginger — I Don’t remember for how long .. 4 years? 5 years? More? I had to break off a part of the mass and plant in separate pot when they started deforming the pot like imafan mentioned. The big tub is finally starting to wake up after dying off for the winter in the house and being put outside for the summer. Turmeric pot had started spring growth at least a month ago. They are different and I’m still learning the difference in turmeric cultivation since I only started a couple of years ago.

They do both like being outside once it’s warm enough for peppers. I start them in full shade and move them out to Part shade later.

Haha this thread dates back to 2010 and I was already growing that ginger....

Subject: Good thing I'm growing Ginger in a container this year
Thu Sep 23, 2010

This looks promising. I'm growing some to add to tea blends for winter, but I just came across this article:
Better than Advil? Try Ginger for Sore Muscle Relief
https://www.rodale.com/sore-muscle-relief?page=0%2C0

[jal_ut]

"My question: should I plant them out now, or keep babying them inside for a bit longer? "

Plant them out now!

[rainbowgardener]

Cucurbits (squash, melons, etc) grow so fast that there's little advantage to starting them indoors. Just plant the seeds in the ground once the soil has warmed up. And we are probably a little more conservative than we need to be about that. If I were planting squash, I wouldn't have done it until the past couple weeks. But I have squash that volunteered themselves that are already huge and flowering.