by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
As winter begins to wind down and slowly draws to a close, in many places, gardeners anxiously await the arrival of spring and the gardening season.
Even though we are headed for spring, and the days are getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere, winter may still have a few tricks up its sleeve.
Therefore vegetable gardeners can begin to prepare for the gardening season and get a head start on spring by starting some crops early indoors.
But if seeds are started indoors too soon, the little plants may outgrow their indoor growing space and become too leggy. This makes them not to have enough strength to grow on later.
If they're planted too late, the seedlings will not be large enough for transplanting in the garden when planting time comes round.
For the best results and the least amount of frustration, it's important to know the right time to plant seeds.
Broccoli and cabbage can be started early indoors or direct seeded. The proper time for planting seeds for broccoli or cabbage indoors would be four to six weeks before transplanting to the garden.
The timing for planting cauliflower seeds is similar to the timing for broccoli. Sow the seeds in flats starting in early March. For successive crops, continue sowing seeds through June, and plant out the seedlings 4-5 weeks after sowing the seeds.
Cucumbers can be started early indoors or direct seeded in the garden. For an earlier crop, sow cucumber seeds indoors 4-5 weeks before they can be planted outdoors.
Melon plants grow best in warm weather. Melon seeds can be sown indoors one month before they can be transplanted into the garden. Handle seedlings carefully as they do not like to have their roots disturbed.
Onions are often grown from tiny bulbs called sets, but onions can also be grown from seed. Plant onion seeds indoors in flats 6-8 weeks before they seedlings are to be planted out. Or plant onion seeds directly in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked.
Peppers grow rather slowly and in most climates the plants should be started indoors. Sow pepper seeds indoors eight weeks before planting out the little seedlings, and do not plant them outdoors until the soil has warmed and summer weather has settled in.
Pumpkins and winter squash are vigorous plants that grow well when the seeds are planted directly in the garden. If you have a short growing season, you may start pumpkin winter squash seeds indoors no more than 3-4 weeks before planting out the seedlings.
Tomato plants cannot handle cool temperatures or frost, so the seedlings must not be planted outdoors until all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Sow tomato seeds indoors 5-6 weeks before the seedlings can be planted out.
Depending, obviously, where you happen to live, and I am talking here only about the Northern Hemisphere, the times as to when you can safely put a lot of those seedlings or plugs, for I always suggest you grow the seedlings on to plug stage, into the ground, whether into the soil directly, into raised beds or planters.
Vegetables need not be grown in the soil directly only. Even a small backyard can produce food for the home and family and container grown vegetables can be as good as those grown in the soil, sometime better even as fewer pests get to them.
© 2010
