It is almost time for planting the spring vegetable garden and flower beds. Local garden centers and nurseries offer a wide variety of seasonal vegetable and flower plants that are ready for planting.
These are convenient and represent many of the popular varieties for our area. Sometimes, however, you may want to start your own transplants.
Perhaps you have an heirloom variety unavailable elsewhere that was passed down through the family or from friends.
You may need a large number of transplants and are looking for an economical way to start your own. You might enjoy experimenting with new or unusual plant varieties.
Transplants can give you a jump on the garden and provide an earlier harvest than if you waited for suitable weather to plant seeds directly in the soil. As a rule of thumb, allow 4-6 weeks from the time of planting the seeds to setting them out in the garden. A gardening guide is available from the Extension Service with recommended planting dates for common vegetables.
One of the biggest decisions after selecting your seed is to decide what container you will use to start your transplants. Recycled pots or multi-pack trays work nicely. You can also use egg cartons, paper cups or old food cans. The containers will need drainage holes to avoid drowning the new seedlings. Compressed peat pellets also work nicely and may be used in cases where you want to avoid disturbing the seedling’s roots when you set it out. When the seedling is ready, the whole peat pellet may be planted.
Compost and garden soil are not recommended for starting seeds, due to the potential for weeds and plant diseases. Use fresh potting soil to avoid these problems. When planting small seeds, cover them with a sprinkling of fine vermiculite (instead of the courser potting soil) so the seeds can sprout easily.
A common problem when trying to start seeds indoors is spindly, pale plants. This is caused by not having enough light. Even a sunny window may not receive light long enough each day to promote healthy seedlings. During mild weather, you might place the seed flats or pots in a lightly shaded area outdoors, but be sure they do not dry out. A misting system with an automatic timer is very handy in these instances to keep the flats watered. If you are limited to growing plants indoors due to bad weather, use artificial lights, such as fluorescent grow lights hung just above the seedlings, to avoid this spindly growth problem. A simple electronic timer from the local hardware store can turn the lights off and on as needed. Grow lights such as these may also be used for houseplants, such as African violets, to stimulate blooming.
For spring transplants, an alternative to having seed flats indoors is to place them in a greenhouse. If you don’t have one, a cold frame may be built fairly inexpensively. A cold frame is a miniature greenhouse structure, just big enough to hold a few flats or to plant some seeds in the soil within the enclosure of the cold frame.
When your transplants are 4-6 weeks old, it helps to prepare them for planting by setting them outdoors in a more sunny location. Be sure not to let them dry out during this “hardening off” phase.
Some people plant seeds so they can eat the sprouts. Seed sprouts are used in salads, stir fry and juicing recipes, for example. A partial list of seeds for edible sprouts include: mung beans, soybeans, alfalfa, clover, radish, arugula, garbanzo beans, peanuts, peas, broccoli, cress, wheat, barley and oats. Sprouting machines and devices are commonly sold or you can sprout your own seeds in a large canning jar. Wash the seeds at least daily and keep them in a dark place. They will be ready in just a few days!
Whether you grow your own transplants or sprout seeds for edible recipes, give them some tender loving care and they will reward you with blooms or food for the table.
Send me an e-mail at gardendoctor@comcast.net if you would like to submit gardening questions, comments and suggestions for future articles. I would love to see your gardening and nature scene photos and hear your success (and not so successful) stories. Let me know if you think a facebook “group” for gardening interests would be a useful resource.
