Broccoli-when to put in garden
In zone 5 and if some of you read my comments previously you will know that I got my seeds later than I wanted, well for things like Broccoli and Cauliflower. Question is some of my broccoli is up by only about 2 inches tall, but they really need to be in my garden in the next couple of weeks (according to zone 5 planting schedules). How do you know when plants are big enough to harden off? I know mine aren't yet, but just trying to figure out if I'm going to have time to get these in the garden by middle of April at least.
Winter hardiness zones aren't a very good indication of growing season dates, John. An example for their "unwieldiness" might be that a garden near Vancouver, BC; a garden near Phoenix, Arizona; and a garden in Louisiana may ALL have the same the same winter cold and the same hardiness zone. You can be sure that they wouldn't have all the same planting dates.
It would probably be best to time your planting dates around your last expected frost.
If you know your last frost date, Johnny's Seed makes it easy: [url=https://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-PDGSeedStart.aspx]Seed-starting Date Calculator[/url]. Just enter your last expected frost date (include year), at the top of the page.
It is all based on the "sow 2-weeks before" or "sow 2-weeks after" or "start seeds indoors 6-weeks . . ." information that is probably on your seed packets.
As far as hardening-off: some folks do it fairly quickly, increasing the number of hours outdoors each day for about a week. I don't do that - it takes me about 2 weeks and the plants start off in the most protected location in my backyard. It depends mostly on the weather.
Steve
It would probably be best to time your planting dates around your last expected frost.
If you know your last frost date, Johnny's Seed makes it easy: [url=https://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-PDGSeedStart.aspx]Seed-starting Date Calculator[/url]. Just enter your last expected frost date (include year), at the top of the page.
It is all based on the "sow 2-weeks before" or "sow 2-weeks after" or "start seeds indoors 6-weeks . . ." information that is probably on your seed packets.
As far as hardening-off: some folks do it fairly quickly, increasing the number of hours outdoors each day for about a week. I don't do that - it takes me about 2 weeks and the plants start off in the most protected location in my backyard. It depends mostly on the weather.
Steve
Thank you so according to that maybe I'm not too far behind. Now when it says number of weeks to start indoors for planting out (say 4-6 weeks on cauliflower). So is the 4th week the week to start hardening off to put out in the 5th or 6th week or can you start hardening off at 3 weeks indoors and then put them outside during the 4th or 5th week in their 4-6 week scenario. Then again does it mean the plant stays indoors 4-6 weeks and you harden off during the 7th week?digitS' wrote:Winter hardiness zones aren't a very good indication of growing season dates, John. An example for their "unwieldiness" might be that a garden near Vancouver, BC; a garden near Phoenix, Arizona; and a garden in Louisiana may ALL have the same the same winter cold and the same hardiness zone. You can be sure that they wouldn't have all the same planting dates.
It would probably be best to time your planting dates around your last expected frost.
If you know your last frost date, Johnny's Seed makes it easy: [url=https://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-PDGSeedStart.aspx]Seed-starting Date Calculator[/url]. Just enter your last expected frost date (include year), at the top of the page.
It is all based on the "sow 2-weeks before" or "sow 2-weeks after" or "start seeds indoors 6-weeks . . ." information that is probably on your seed packets.
As far as hardening-off: some folks do it fairly quickly, increasing the number of hours outdoors each day for about a week. I don't do that - it takes me about 2 weeks and the plants start off in the most protected location in my backyard. It depends mostly on the weather.
Steve
Of course, it depends on weather but I'd just start hardening them off beginning about 2 weeks before their set-out date.
If they haven't made any growth indoors or if the weather is too cool once they are in the garden - they can have problems altho' broccoli can certainly handly quite cool conditions (don't know much about cauliflower).
If the conditions and forecasts look good, and they've had some time in hardening off, even tiny plants can go into the open garden and do well. They can also benefit from the hardening off period and continue making some growth.
If they are becoming root-bound in their containers, you may feel a need to rush them out there but broccoli can develop a good root system even after being root bound. You may want to "tease" a few roots out of the root ball when they go in the garden soil so there will be little chance of them just being tied in a knot thru the season.
I bet I've had 8-week old broccoli transplants that I've set out. I'd also bet that I've had 4 week old broccoli. The plants always make good growth for me once they are in the garden. Sometimes, hot weather does come on too soon but I dodge that bullet by choosing varieties that are better suited for my climate.
Steve
If they haven't made any growth indoors or if the weather is too cool once they are in the garden - they can have problems altho' broccoli can certainly handly quite cool conditions (don't know much about cauliflower).
If the conditions and forecasts look good, and they've had some time in hardening off, even tiny plants can go into the open garden and do well. They can also benefit from the hardening off period and continue making some growth.
If they are becoming root-bound in their containers, you may feel a need to rush them out there but broccoli can develop a good root system even after being root bound. You may want to "tease" a few roots out of the root ball when they go in the garden soil so there will be little chance of them just being tied in a knot thru the season.
I bet I've had 8-week old broccoli transplants that I've set out. I'd also bet that I've had 4 week old broccoli. The plants always make good growth for me once they are in the garden. Sometimes, hot weather does come on too soon but I dodge that bullet by choosing varieties that are better suited for my climate.
Steve