xray_a
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Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:43 pm
Location: Western MA

Starting my seeds, hope that will encourage spring to come!

The BF (boyfriend) bought me a couple of the Jiffy plant starters with the round peat discs on Monday while I was lusting over the seed selection at Agway. I'm not really a fan of the peat discs but I didn't want to be rude and it's only 2 trays of 12 each.

So today I planted some of my Roma tomato seeds and a few Candy onions. Last year, I tried onions using sets I found at Home Depot, but I had no luck at all with them. Maybe it was too late in the season or maybe they were the wrong day length, who knows? If the seeds don't take, then I will probably end up ordering some sets online. I'm heading out to the garden center a little later to pick up some seed starting mix and maybe some more seeds! I plan to start my broccoli and cabbage tonight, and maybe some cauliflower and peppers.

I am starting these a little early, since the 50% frost date for my area isn't until May 10. But I just couldn't help myself. And I've been rummaging through my recycling bins to find containers I can re-purpose as seed pots. So far, I've gotten a few yogurt containers, some toilet paper rolls and a Kleenex box that I cut the top off of and used to make dividers.

This weekend I will be setting up my wire shelves and shop lights, hopefully I will have some seedlings by then!

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

Not too early to start broccoli, cauliflower, peppers! The broccoli and cauliflower are cold hardy, tolerate frosts, but don't do well once it gets hot. I have broccoli plants I am hardening off now, will be planting out in a week or so (but my last frost date is earlier than yours). They can get planted out in the garden about a month before the last frost date.

The peppers don't tolerate cold and frost but they are slower to germinate and grow. I start my pepper seeds indoors 10 -12 weeks ahead of the last frost date, to give them time to have well started plants by the time I can plant them.

Father's Daughter
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Location: MA-NH Border

I started my onion seeds about four weeks ago and they're doing quite well. About two weeks ago I started the hot peppers and they are just beginning to form their first set of leaves. Last week I started some wild fennel, bulb fennel, brocolli oregano, eggplant, and sweet peppers, and some are just started to break through the soil. They all seem to be pretty happy hanging out in the basement with our pellet stove (75 degrees), but I'm beginning to get concerned that I might have started some things too early since we're still looking at three plus feet of snow on the ground!

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rainbowgardener
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Father's Daughter wrote:I started my onion seeds about four weeks ago and they're doing quite well. About two weeks ago I started the hot peppers and they are just beginning to form their first set of leaves. Last week I started some wild fennel, bulb fennel, brocolli oregano, eggplant, and sweet peppers, and some are just started to break through the soil. They all seem to be pretty happy hanging out in the basement with our pellet stove (75 degrees), but I'm beginning to get concerned that I might have started some things too early since we're still looking at three plus feet of snow on the ground!
Out of that list, I think only the eggplant is too early. Onions take forever and are cold hardy, the broccoli and oregano are cold hardy (in my zone 6 climate, oregano stays in the ground all winter). All the rest is slow enough growing that it will be fine until it goes out. But the eggplant needs the warmest soil of any of them, before it can go out and it grows faster. It will be very challenging to keep going indoors long enough until can go outside. I think the rest will be fine.

You started all those plants from seeds and didn't do any tomatoes? :?

Father's Daughter
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Location: MA-NH Border

rainbowgardener wrote: You started all those plants from seeds and didn't do any tomatoes? :?
Thanks for the reassurance. This is my first year with a real garden, so I'm learning as I go.

As for the tomatoes, they are what started this whole garden thing! I had a few plants last year and found myself wishing I had planted more. So don't worry, I have five Italian varieties that I'll be starting within the next week. :D

I guess I should probably think about starting some new eggpplant seeds too. What do you think--mid-month? Or later?

xray_a
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Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:43 pm
Location: Western MA

well so far, I've got 50 Roma tomato plants started, 22 Candy onion, 12 broccoli and 12 cauliflower. I ran out of room in the trays that I have!

I don't really like my current set up for the grow lights. I found a plastic shelf at Home Depot for $10 and was so excited that I bought it without really looking at it. Turns out the shelves are solid plastic, so there's really no where to anchor the lights. And the shelves aren't big enough to accommodate my plastic flats. I have a wire shelf that is 6 ft high, 35 inches wide and 18 inches deep just hanging out in the back of my car. I bought it a few weeks ago in a organizational frenzy and it's too heavy for me to carry in by myself. So I think this weekend, I will badger the BF to help me get it inside. Then I can hang my lights off of those shelves and use the plastic shelf for storage instead.

Father's Daughter, just curious, where on the MA/NH border do you live? We might be neighbors!

Angela

Father's Daughter
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Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:00 pm
Location: MA-NH Border

I was lucky, I already had a couple of heavy duty chrome wire shelf units in the basement near the pellet stove, so all I had to do was clean off some shelves and add shop lights.

Fifty tomatoes! I'm still trying to figure out if I can squeeze 18 in. I currently have two 4x24 beds, and most of one is already half taken up by my garlic. If this year goes well, I'll probably enlarge things next year, but not as big as your set up.

And I'm actually in the Nashoba Valley area, but we spend a lot of time wandering the twisty back roads of Western MA and Southwester NH during motorcycle season. It's beautiful out there!

Here's to a warm weekend and lots of snow melting!

xray_a
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Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:43 pm
Location: Western MA

amen to that! I used to live in Leominster, so I guess I used to be your neighbor! haha

I won't be planting all 50 of those tomato plants. I will probably keep 10 or so for myself. My church has a farmer's market starting in the spring so I hope to sell my extra plants there and hopefully some extra produce through the summer.



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