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Old April 11th, 2011, 10:39 AM
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Seed Starting

I was thinking of getting to it today. The instructions on my tomatoes and peppers say 7-8 weeks before planting outdoors. I figure I just may have garden dug up by that time .

Anyone else start their seeds indoors? Is it too early still? What kind of stuff do you plant? Other than salad, carrots, and beans, what other veggie seeds can be direct sown in the garden? And should I start pumpkin, cantaloupe, and watermelon indoors in case our growing season is short?
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Old April 11th, 2011, 11:21 AM
shirley1011 shirley1011 is offline
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LP we started our tomatoes and peppers on the weekend. We did start a couple of melons & cucumbers but will plant most just in the garden....I don't think they make a lot of difference but it doesn't hurt...they only get a set back if we have cold weather and most of ours always mature the same time as if we planted them all outside.

Planted some flower seeds too...can't remember which ones cause I got carried away when I ordered so I only planted a few different ones...the rest I will put in a cutting row in the garden.
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Old April 11th, 2011, 11:30 AM
Chris21711 Chris21711 is offline
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I thought you would have started by now.....stop lallygagging
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Old April 11th, 2011, 11:36 AM
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Lallygagging? Sounds like someting to do after a bad meal .

I'll do the tomatoes and peppers today.

I was thinking of just planting the cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, and summer squash directly outdoors by a sunny fenceline. I don't really need a garden for those, right?

I'm gonna go stupid on the flowers this year though. I'd like to do a lot of mass plantings.
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Old April 11th, 2011, 11:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luckypenny View Post
Lallygagging? Sounds like someting to do after a bad meal .



I'll do the tomatoes and peppers today.

I was thinking of just planting the cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, and summer squash directly outdoors by a sunny fenceline. I don't really need a garden for those, right?

I know dick about gourds etc

I'm gonna go stupid on the flowers this year though. I'd like to do a lot of mass plantings.
Ya' better get on it then
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Old April 11th, 2011, 01:05 PM
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I think your timing is about right, LP. If I were going to try again, I should be starting now....but at the rate I mold-kill baby plants, I decided to just wait and direct sow. All the seeds are perennials, so even if they get a slow start, they'll catch up next year...

Are you going to start them in trays? Peat pots? Peat buttons? If you find a method that is foolproof, pls remember to tell me.
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Old April 11th, 2011, 01:39 PM
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lp...what flowers are u starting? If it's petunias they need light to germinate and they take a long time to get to flowering stage,,,some 10 to 12 weeks.
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Old April 12th, 2011, 09:00 AM
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I've already started mine (fruit, veg, herbs and flowers) indoors. My carrots and taters I'll sow directly. So much depends on your yard's micro-climate LP. I've even got a sprout in my lavender tray ~ notoriously hard to germinate apparently.
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Old April 12th, 2011, 09:04 AM
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OH my DOG,you girls are industrious I am waay to lazy,I wait until I can buy the plants.
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Old April 12th, 2011, 09:20 AM
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Hazel, I`m starting them in tray`s.

TQ, I have quite the variety of flowers ...Lady`s Smock, Buterfly weed, Gayfeather, Wild Bergamot, Alpine Lady`s Mantle, Ruby Port Columbine, Echinacea, Yellow Calendula, Feverfew, Pheasant`s Eye, Jacob`s Ladder, and Lavender.

MMM, I`ve managed to grow Lavender a few years ago but, yes, it was difficult to get started. And my plants never did quite well, they were always bent over and droopy . I`d like to try planting sweet potatoes but the ground here is all clay and slate. Do you just cut a potato in half and plant it .

Chico, started plants, whether flowers or veggies, here are way too expensive. Just a baby Hosta with 3-4 leaves at the gardening center is over 10$ . I love watching seeds sprout and grow .
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Old April 12th, 2011, 09:22 AM
shirley1011 shirley1011 is offline
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LP...if you ever get down Oshawa way again...drop by and I'll give you lots of hostas and daylillies...ours are really big and need to be hacked!
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Old April 12th, 2011, 09:30 AM
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I might take you up on that offer, Shirley, thank you . I was hoping to get up that area the first week of May but have to wait on a few thingsbefore I can confirm. What kind of Hostas do you have. I love to see them mass planted around trees too .

Btw, where is York region (Aurora). There`s a Seedy Saturday there coming up next weekend http://www.living-raw-foods.com/
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Old April 13th, 2011, 10:23 AM
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LP,I never paid $10 for a Hosta,in the beginning friends gave me Hostas that had been split and now I am doing the same,have a lot of splitting to do this spring.
Blackeyed Susans,Shasta Daisies,Hostas etc..

We only buy,Tomato-plants,some Herbs and flowers for my pots,otherwise my garden is pretty well established with Perennials and Perrenials pay for themselves in the long run.
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Old April 13th, 2011, 10:49 AM
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Well we have a greenhouse in the backyard, so we're sort of different than most. Hubby started his tomatoes about a month ago (all 500 of them) and they're about 2-3 inches up now. He also put out peppers, which so far have not done anything, and cucumbers and zucchini. We winter grow garlic outside in the garden and it's about 8" tall now but won't be ready for harvest until late summer. Most of the other veggies he plants outside the first week or so of June.

We also grew our geraniums from seed in the kitchen bay window this winter. Had about 50% luck with that. The others we had grown from seed last year wintered outside in the greenhouse and have done well.

Hubby is the farmer in our family, I'm in charge of the bee's and polination. Oh, our garden doesn't hold 500 tomatoes, we give most of them away to friends.
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Old April 13th, 2011, 02:18 PM
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I'm so glad you added that last, DD! I was picturing how big your garden would have to be to hold 500 tomatoes!

And how much canning or how many tomato hungry neighbors you'd need to deal with all the tomatoes you'd get!

I'll maybe have time to put in all of two or three plants and that'll be enough for us and MIL and probably a few for our friends down at the lake!
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Old April 13th, 2011, 04:36 PM
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Yes,that's all we have too,a couple of tomato-Plants,if we had a green-house,or I should say,room for a green-house,I am sure hubby would be out there planting a whole bunch of stuff.

I planted seeds last year,that I got from 14+,but I planted them right in the soil and they came up beautifully,it was Phlox and is now starting to come up.
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Old April 13th, 2011, 04:53 PM
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I started a bunch of stuff inside, in flats and in peat pucks or jiffy cups. Got one of everything from the dollarstore 3 /$1 seed rack haha
Also got some hybrid tumbler tomatos and am looking into getting strawberry seeds, Mm berries!
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Old April 13th, 2011, 05:10 PM
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We normally keep about 40 tomato plants for ourselves and we share amply with our friends and neighbours who are in apartments or don't have gardens when we get a large bounty. We do make some sauce, but mostly we just eats em! I bring lots of tomatoes to work too.

We've not had much success this past couple years with our eggplant for some reason, and trouble getting the red peppers to grow. Hot peppers no problem though - those we bottle up and they'll make your eyes water.

For flowers we stick mostly to the hollyhocks, roses, dahlia's and geraniums and a few other odds and ends that my neighbour sneaks over and plants in our garden beds. He means well, but we don't really care for his overcrowded style of planting and he just doesn't get it!
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Old April 14th, 2011, 11:04 AM
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Chico, I think splitting and sharing is the way to go. Do you have gardening co-op or something of the like in your area that you can give your extras to? At our old house, I used to leave extra veggie plants I didn't have room for in by the end of the driveway with a little sign saying what they were and to please take them. No one ever did . Our new town has a day every spring where they give away baby trees....I think I'm going to bring any extras I have with me in case anyone would want them there.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dog Dancer View Post
Well we have a greenhouse in the backyard, so we're sort of different than most. Hubby started his tomatoes about a month ago (all 500 of them) and they're about 2-3 inches up now.


Pictures please .

I finally got my tomato and pepper seeds planted...6 different kinds of tomatoes, some supposedly rare and endangered so it'll be interesting to see how they turn out. Today, I'll try to get some of the flower seeds planted. I have several varieties that need to be refrigerated after planting for a few weeks before putting under light. Once that's done, I'll just have to find the oomph to start digging a garden .
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