![]() ![]() If you live in a cool clime and want early tomatoes, start two weeks sooner and be prepared to protect the young plants with hot caps and cloches their first couple of weeks outdoors. I urge my fellow Northerners to also be climactic cowards and start their seeds about 6 weeks before their last average frost date. I personally start getting everything ready around the Ides of March, and make sure my seeds are all sown by April 1st for planting in the ground around June 1st (as opposed to my 'last average frost date' of May 15th). So rushing the season can be a big, bad mistake. And most of the plants we grow in our summer gardens- tomatoes, peppers, melons, beans, etc.-are tropical, and don't enjoy nighttime temps that dip below the 50s. Your local county extension service can provide your local date, and the dates are pretty easy to find online.īut 'averages' don't mean much when cold air sweeps down from Canada to say hello to your newly planted tomatoes a week after 'the book' says they shouldn't. ![]() The common advice is to begin two months before your area's "last average frost date" that's the date, on average, when temps will stay above freezing. That's a week for the seeds to germinate, six weeks to grow strong stocky starts, and a week to harden them off before planting. Basically, you want to allow about two months from the time you start the seeds indoors to the day you plant them outside. Mike: When do you start indoor seedlings for spring planting outdoors?Ī. (The things that say, "Don't eat me!") And keep the jars in the room that best meets the '100 rule' not in your always-damp garden storage area. In the future, store excess seed in sealed glass jars to which you've added a few of those little moisture-absorbing desiccating pouches that come with vitamins and shoes. If they don't, or if less than a third wake up, get fresh seed. Let them sit out in the warmest room of your house and check them at day five and every day thereafter. Mark the type of seeds on the front, but don't seal the bag. Place some sample seeds inside moist paper towels and slide the towels into a plastic bag. If they're several years old, the packs were opened and/or the seeds were stored in less than ideal conditions, subject them to a germination test. Seeds that are only a year old, or slightly older but whose packets are still unopened, generally germinate nicely. (Or use it to test the room your seeds have been stored in thus far.)Īnd there are dates on your packages, Don! They should be stamped "Packed for 2006", or 2007, or whatever year the seeds were sold at retail. Get one of those multi-purpose thermometer and hydrometer sets and find the best room in your house for long-term storage. The ideal situation, says the USDA, is a room where the temperature and relative humidity add up to less than 100. Most flower and vegetable seeds will stay viable for at least a few years if they're stored at a low enough humidity and temperature. Are seeds from last year still good? There are no expiration dates on the packages….Ī. ![]()
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