With the cold weather we have had I'm not really sure when to start my main indoor plantings. We had been having weather about 10F degrees below normal. But things seem to be moderating. Our average temperatures for the end of March are supposed in the low 50s. If I ignore Saturday which is predicted to be in the mid 30s, we will be getting that for the next week with some higher temps and some lower temps, but about what it ought to be. So some nicer weather. My seeding plan says I start my main plantings on March 20th. I decided to start them yesterday not quite a week late. I'm still a bit worried whether it will be warm enough by mid April to plant them. But I'm hopeful.
I love soil blocks, but not everyone does. I use the 1 1/2" ones for almost everything. Today I calculated that I needed 180 blocks. That makes 2 1/2 flats of them. One flat was filled with all the baby Asian greens. Usually I don't grow so many transplants of these. I often put in some for early greens, but then I direct seed the rest as it is less work that way. This year I won't have time to direct seed as the ground won't thaw soon enough. So I'm doing this batch and I'll do another smaller batch in a couple of weeks. This batch contained choy cum, Hon Tsai Tai, mizuna, tatsoi, and bok choy.
Covered to retain moisture until they germinateThe second flat was my other brassicas - Michihili, broccoli, three types of cabbage, kale, and kohlrabi. I wanted to do three different kinds of cabbage this year to try different early cabbages. I have Early Jersey, Point One, and Golden Acre.
The last half flat has my chard, marjoram, and savory. I've never had so many flats all in there at once. Usually my onions are already outside hardening off. At the most I might have three flats going. Often just two. But with switching what I grow this year (to get rid of most legumes) and the weather issues, I needed three lights turned on. I've never ever done that before. And if things don't melt out quickly enough I might just try to do spinach inside for the first time. Usually that isn't worth it, but I really want my spinach crop. We will see.
There's always some amount of hope involveded in sowing seeds, I guess you need an extra large dose of it this spring. I hope it warms up and your garden thrives this year!
ReplyDeleteI'm having the same issue - our soil is still frozen about 1-2" down and I haven't been able to access the shed to get at the rebar I need to weigh down the plastic for the beds. I'm supposed to start some rapini this week, but I will probably hold off at least until I get the plastic on the beds. The temps haven't been horrible, but they are hovering around freezing, so it seems to be taking an extra long time for the larger slabs of ice and snow to melt.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering about your Chinese greens - I have them scheduled to plant out around our last frost date (May 10) ...do you plant yours out sooner than your last frost date?
Our last frost date is usually sometime between April 15th and May 1st. They can handle a light frost if they are well hardened off. If I think they will get a lot of frost, I'll cover them with agribon for protection.
DeleteThose lights of yours will be particularly valuable this year!
ReplyDeleteNext month will be all systems go for us,
ReplyDeleteWeather is always an issue ..... I do hope it warms up a little for you soon.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Weather is always an issue ..... I do hope it warms up a little for you soon.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
That's a nice setup you have. I have had OK luck with the larger soil blocks. I tried using 3/4" blocks for tomatoes and peppers, to conserve space on my single heat mat. The small blocks dry out quickly and tend to crumble at the corners. That turns them into soil balls, which move around. I had a lot of mystery plants that year.
ReplyDeleteThis year's weather has been crazy in Texas too. In previous years, I've had all my tomatoes and warm season plants in by the first of March, but it's almost April and I think it's finally safe for peppers. My problem is opposite of yours. If I don't get plants in early, I won't get a good crop before the 100 degree days set in. Darn, uncooperative weather!
ReplyDeleteGood luck seeding spinach indoors, it has never worked for me. In the midwest it looks like the weather will turn very nice on Monday and stay that way. But this morning it was 18F.
ReplyDeleteit must be very exciting to start all that work - the promise of delicious things to come.
ReplyDelete