Tonight I planted broccoli, cabbage, eggplant and radicchio. Varieties are here.
I'm experimenting with different seed cell sizes. I put the eggplants in larger cells (I sowed 2 seeds per cell and will thin to 1 per cell) as they need to grow 'til the soil warms and will be pretty large before planting out. The cabbage goes out sooner (the middle of April, but only if I can get at the garden through the snow!), so I put them in smaller cells. In the past, I've planted 4 or more broccoli seedlings in single larger cells, but want to see if they do better if I don't rip the roots apart to separate plants at transplant time.
Note added: see comments. I accidentally planted the broccoli 2 weeks too soon. Oops.
5 comments:
I've been on the fence about starting my broccoli. It is 10 weeks to average last frost date this coming week. But last year - being a bit behind on things - I started them first week of April (a whole month later); and they were a fair size when I transplanted late May - and I harvested first week of July. I don't want it to be *too* mature before setting out...
Yes, it is too early. ##**$%# I made a mistake. Its 9 weeks til my last frost now. I should be waiting til 7 weeks. Ooops. At 9 weeks I should be planting cabbage, endive, escarole, kale, leek, parsley and thyme.
I'll have to transplant the broccoli to bigger pots probably, before setting them out. Extra work, but I'll get a nice early crop.
And I have been working on a calendar app that tells me when to plant. I should have had the app open next to me as I planted.
The app is coming along great. It will go out to beta-testers within the next day or two. Then will be released for sale at the Apple store by Friday, March 6. Only $1.99
BTW, broccoli are very cold hardy and can be transplanted out in the garden 2 weeks before your last frost.
I see that you have planted eggplants already. I thought that eggplant is heat loving vegetable. Is this a bit early to start seeding eggplant?
I have always planted them at 9 weeks before my last frost. They grow fairly slowly. The recommendation from Johnny's are to plant 8-10 weeks before planting out and to plant out 2-3 weeks after last frost, so sow seeds 5-8 before last frost. I suppose I'm pushing the date, but I've done this for years. It's worked out for me, likely helped as last frost dates have been creeping earlier.
Nevertheless, I think its a good idea to push this date back a week in our new calendar app. Thanks.
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