When to start seeds?

[Wannabe]

Looks like winter will NEVER end here in northern Illinois, but...........

I can't remember when I used to start seeds. I think in May I usually planted out in the raised beds. Is anybody else starting seeds indoors this year?

 

[patandchickens]

Figure out when you want to plant them out (based on your av'g last frost and so forth and so on), then count back the appropriate number of weeks for each kind of seed. For instance tomatoes you'd usually start 5-6 wks before setting out.

For most things it's better to err on the side of starting too late than too early, unless you have somewhere good to store too-big-too-early plants that is well protected from excessive cold and gets HUGE amounts of light and good ventilation. IME most plants do better if put in the ground a little small or a little late than they do when held under poor growing conditions whilst overgrown because they got big before the weather allowed planting out.

I'm starting spinach and some speculative early lettuce this week, and also just a few tomatoes for my wall-o-waters. (I can put tomatoes out in wall-o-waters in mid April if I am careful but not put them in "normally" til the very beginning of June, we are in a frost pocket and our last frost is usually in the first few days of June)

Pat

 

[ORChick]

I found this nifty calendar a couple of years ago, and use it as a guide. For things it doesn't cover I do as Pat has suggested.

http://bioarray.us/Skippy's planting calendar.html

 

[HEChicken]

Oh no, I get a 404 error - page not found - for that link and I was so looking forward to seeing what was on it. Could you double check the link for us?

 

[savingdogs]

This has been such a crazy year weather wise, I'm going to start a little late. We are having a heavy snowstorm today, we got six inches of snow.
I've never seen that happen here in February before and they are predicting record cold over the next 24 hours.
I don't want to waste my seed getting an "early start" like I did some other years and then not have anything to show for my work.

 

[i_am2bz]

I've already seeded my carrots, spinach, & lettuce in my raised beds, but I'm in zone 7b. I planted broccoli indoors, the sprouts are about 2" tall now. I tried tomatoes & peppers but nothing germinated!

 

[Wifezilla]

I am starting stuff now, BUT I have indoor lights. 100w equivalent cfls will prevent starts from getting leggy. A fan will help prevent dampening off. If you have extra light and a fan, you can start as early as Feb 1. Last year I started tomatoes in January!

 

[savingdogs]

What exactly do you do with the fan? Sorry I'm more of a landscaper than a veggie gardener so I'm a little slow....

 

[ORChick]

Funny ... I just copied and pasted; it should have worked. Well, another try:

http://bioarray.us/Skippy's planting calendar.html

ETA: No, this is isn't working either, though the page is still there - I can get to it directly from my favorites. I'll see if I can't find another way.

2nd edit: Try this, its the main page for the blog. On the right, under Skippy's planting tools, is a link to the calendar -

http://carletongarden.blogspot.com/

 

[Wifezilla]

Just put it near the plants so there is air circulation and a bit of a breeze on the seedlings. This also makes the stems stronger.