Starting lettuce and onion sets
Alright, last year we had abnormally warm weather for this time of year and I already had my onions and lettuce in the ground. I feel like I need to get them in the ground again to beat the heat (lettuce). How cold can onion sets and lettuce handle? We have some good rain coming early this week which is why I want to plant now so I don't have to drag the hoses out, but we will get below freezing again this coming week and I'm sure we'll have a few more days like that the rest of this month and in April. Anyone in zone 5 planted anything outside yet?
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gixxerific
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applestar
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Mine aren't here yet -- I ordered Alisa Craig PLANTS, hoping for some big ones. They should be here late March.
My own Sweet Yellow Spanish, Red Whethersfield, and Yellow Parma seed grown onion plants are in the mid-upper 40's garage "V8 Nursery". It's been so blustery windy for the last couple of days that I haven't let them outside.
When they do go outside for good, the lights are getting re-configured (adding a new 4 tube T-8's) which should keep the temp high enough to send the bigger tomato seedlings out there, which will make room for more seedlings to be Upblocked.
I'm playing a complicated "musical chairs" game, and the music had better not end and nobody had better be left without a place to sit.
Onion sets/bulbs can be planted as soon as soil is thawed and dried enough. They'll sprout when they are ready.
You should be able to sow lettuce outside now, but expect them to take about 2 weeks to sprout. Alternatively, you can start them in a cold frame or under lights indoors and get them sprouting faster -- probably in a week to 10 days in a coldframe and 4-7 days under lights inside.
My own Sweet Yellow Spanish, Red Whethersfield, and Yellow Parma seed grown onion plants are in the mid-upper 40's garage "V8 Nursery". It's been so blustery windy for the last couple of days that I haven't let them outside.
When they do go outside for good, the lights are getting re-configured (adding a new 4 tube T-8's) which should keep the temp high enough to send the bigger tomato seedlings out there, which will make room for more seedlings to be Upblocked.
I'm playing a complicated "musical chairs" game, and the music had better not end and nobody had better be left without a place to sit.
Onion sets/bulbs can be planted as soon as soil is thawed and dried enough. They'll sprout when they are ready.
You should be able to sow lettuce outside now, but expect them to take about 2 weeks to sprout. Alternatively, you can start them in a cold frame or under lights indoors and get them sprouting faster -- probably in a week to 10 days in a coldframe and 4-7 days under lights inside.
Last edited by applestar on Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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hendi_alex
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I'm going to take my chances and experiment. Will only cost me like 5 bucks if I fail.hendi_alex wrote:If you use some kind of bed or row cover, like Reemay floating covers or bubble wrap, I think that the lettuce will do o.k. down to the mid 20's or lower. Am not sure about onions, but would expect them to tolerate lower 20's o.k.