It's that time of year....mail box is dilling up with seed catalogs.
By the end of the week it will be half way through winter.


What are your garden plans for this year? Anyone starting anything indoors? Any cool, interesting or new varieties?

Also....take any special steps for your heirloom seeds?

For me it just a few tomato plants,cucumbers and acorn squash. Wife is a flower nut she already been making a list.
J

Seeds are ordered for 2 gardens, 24x28 and 30x40. I am limited to planting things with quick maturity dates due to short growing season with late and early frosts. I usually buy plants rather than fussing with anything inside. I only grow things that I can eat - no flowers or ornamentals.

I have to wait till June 1st to plant the garden and flowers. I just started a cherry orchard last fall.

I start all of my plants indoors. Good way of saving some money and able to try some different things stores don't sell. Usually start enough for mine and a buddy's garden. Last year was my first starting indoors from seed and everything turned out great.

I will have two gardens. One is about 30 by 40 and the other is 30 by 150 which I grow stuff for my son and his family and another family. I have not had good results by starting my own plants. I need to buy better equipment if I plan to do so. I will follow the fungicide applications better this year as last year in our heavy clay and heavy rain fall year I lost a lot of plants and crops. Crap to lose those in the good soil. I will mulch different as well as with a wet year the weeds were able to grow through the mulch and I could not rotor till or hoe as much. I bought a 60 inch power rotor tiller for the tractor and that thing cuts stuff up really well. I will now be able to add more OM and get it chopped up well.
I usually buy seeds in late February and yes the pile of seed catalogs is pretty thick. Always try something new and different.

Bryce

Planning on planting pomegranate (from seed), chile, maters, possibly corn.

Planted cauliflower and broccoli under grow lights today.

Everytime I've started seeds in doors I get long stringing weak plants

Your light sorce is to high. My lights adjust and I lower them just above the plant and move them up accordingly.

If you have stringy plants you can put a fan on them, lightly,to help strengthen the stalks.

I am planning on perusing a seed catalog shortly, or right before it's too late, which ever comes first .

Out garden is 20x20. Wife likes to design its layout. She wastes a lot of space.

I have all my seeds except for a variety of carrots on tape - back ordered. Down to one garden (18 x 32). I made the smaller (10 x 20) back to lawn two seasons ago. After my granddaughter asked me to grow a 'square' pumpkin I was sorry I did. I managed to grow her a square pumpkin in the bigger garden though. Will be starting some seeds - pepper and eggplant - under lights - in about three weeks. Once they'r up I'll start the tomatoes. The last will be the squash, zucchini and cucumbers - most likely out in the green house. Beans and carrots seed right in the ground. Pretty much used up the canned veggies from last year - lookin' forward to more.

I'll order seed in about a week. Hot peppers need to go in by end of February or you wait a looong time for harvest.

If you are getting long, skinny seedlings as was said above, you need to get the light closer. I built a custom set up with some industrial shelves and 4' fluorescent shop lights and couldn't be happier!

Also, I used to lose a lot of seedlings to damping off, but since I started using cinnamon (no, really!) it has all but disappeared.

If anybody is interested, I can post pic's of my set up later tonight.

Sounds like we are running a similar set up slydog. 4' wire shelves about 5 rows high and 4' lights with grow bulbs. I do all this in my basement kind of taking advantage of unused space.

Slydog, care to explain how you use cinnamon in the process. Also what kind of lights do you use, are they T12, T8, or T5.

I run a small oscillating fan on seedlings, makes the stem stronger, light is about 4-6" from the plant top

I did start some tomatoes from seed last year. I like Brandywine tomatoes; they seem to do well in my garden when it comes to blight or disease. Plus, they produce nice tomatoes.