Planting in empty egg shells

[MariannePersia]

Hi all I'm a newbie to this forum, not to gardening
I saw on a magazine cover, seeds started in emptied out egg shells

So I have started cutting the tops of my eggs before using them and saving the shells in a egg carton, and will start some seeds this way

Off topic I also saw an article on straw bale gardens.

Back to topic any advice on this use of egg shells for starting seeds
they are larger than the cartons

I live in Ontario in a zone 4-5 so we are a long way to planting, I have an extensive english country garden with foxglove, delphiniums, phlox, rubekia, cone flowers, coral bells, peonies, peoney poppies and tons of shirley poppies and california poppies, and of course the perennial poppies, shasta daisies, pathways of hosta, blue, yellow, green, varigated
monks hood, sedum, bleeding heart (minature) maltese cross, blanket flowers, peacock orchids, mexican shell flowers (in containers)
lots of lilies oriental, (going to try Bobbex this year to keep the deer away)
have tried everything else

Yellow outhouse flowers and snow on the mountain in front of the barn, iris, vinca, cfhinese lanterns (can;t get rid of those suckers) pull them out all year long, , coreopsis and lots more I cannot remember

I also always have a healthy supply of weeds, I grow clematis,
and lots of cucumber vine, ivy , and throw in some annuals which I will try this year to start from seed.

I like lobellia, and cup and saucer vine, sometimes call canturbury bells and passion flowers growing on the gazebo.

I have no idea what seeds I will start but will try something for the veggie garden and annuals for the perennial beds.

[OROZCONLECHE]

Nice I've seen seeds started on the eggshells I guess the eggshell provides the seedling with nutrients but I just never got around it, you should post some pics and show us how it goes

[rainbowgardener]

Your garden sounds beautiful, Marianne. But I don't know about the eggshells -- they wouldn't have any drainage. It seems like all your seedlings would get rotted or damped off or something from all the moisture staying in. Or you'd have to be watering every 2nd or 3rd day VERY carefully with an eyedropper, to get just enough water in that it could all be absorbed.

I suppose you could try to put little pinholes in them without breaking them, but I don't see the point of all that. You could put holes in the bottom of the egg carton and plant in that easier...

[bellabonbon]

When would be a good time to start planting seeds if I live in Indiana? I just got some heirloom seeds and would really like to make an attempt at gardening this summer. I just need a few suggestions to get me started.

[rainbowgardener]

@ bellabon: What kind of seeds? There's a wide range of starting times depending on what kind of plants.

Generally veggies can be roughly divided into cool weather crops and warm weather crops.

Cool weather crops are brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, etc), root crops (carrots, potatoes), peas, leafy greens like spinach, lettuce, swiss chard.

You didn't say whether you are talking about planting directly in the ground or starting indoors. Most of the cool weather crops are planted directly in the ground, but I generally give my broccoli a head start indoors. The cool weather crops are planted "as soon as the ground can be worked" meaning it is unfrozen and dried out enough to be crumbly not clumpy. For me in So. Ohio that is typically around mid-March, but we are having an early spring and I am thinking about trying some now. These crops are cold hardy and will be OK even if we do (as expected) get more frosts.

Warm weather crops is basically everything else, corn, beans, peppers, tomatoes, squash, melons, etc. Most of those are planted after all danger of frost is past. But the squash and melons are the warmest of warm weather crops and are not planted until later than that when the soil has warmed up.

If you don't know what your average last frost date is, here's a place where you can find it by city or zip:

http://www.grow-your-vegetable-garden.c ... dates.html

Your seed packet will then tell you how many weeks ahead of that date to plant seeds if you are starting them indoors.