When to Start Seeds for a Vegetable Garden

When to Start Seeds for a Vegetable Garden

As winter begins to wind down, gardeners anxiously await the
arrival of spring and the gardening season. Even though winter
may still have a few tricks up its sleeve, vegetable gardeners
can begin to prepare for the gardening season and get a head
start on spring by starting some crops early indoors.

But if seeds are started indoors too soon, the little plants
may outgrow their indoor growing space and become too leggy.
If they're planted too late, the seedlings will not be large
enough for transplanting in the garden when planting time
comes round. For the best results and the least amount of
frustration, it's important to know the right time to plant
seeds.

Broccoli and cabbage can be started early indoors or direct
seeded. The proper time for planting seeds for broccoli or
cabbage indoors would be four to six weeks before
transplanting to the garden.

The timing for planting cauliflower seeds is similar to the
timing for broccoli. Sow the seeds in flats starting in
early March. For successive crops, continue sowing seeds
through June, and plant out the seedlings 4-5 weeks after
sowing the seeds.

Cucumbers can be started early indoors or direct seeded in
the garden. For an earlier crop, sow cucumber seeds indoors
4-5 weeks before they can be planted outdoors.

Melon plants grow best in warm weather. Melon seeds can be
sown indoors one month before they can be transplanted into
the garden. Handle seedlings carefully as they do not like
to have their roots disturbed.

Onions are often grown from tiny bulbs called sets, but
onions can also be grown from seed. Plant onion seeds
indoors in flats 6-8 weeks before they seedlings are to be
planted out. Or plant onion seeds directly in the garden as
soon as the soil can be worked. For more details on growing
onions, go to http://freeplants.com/growing-onions.htm

Peppers grow rather slowly and in most climates the plants
should be started indoors. Sow pepper seeds indoors eight
weeks before planting out the little seedlings, and do not
plant them outdoors until the soil has warmed and summer
weather has settled in.

Pumpkins and winter squash are vigorous plants that grow well
when the seeds are planted directly in the garden. If you
have a short growing season, you may start pumpkin winter
squash seeds indoors no more than 3-4 weeks before planting
out the seedlings.

Tomato plants cannot handle cool temperatures or frost, so
the seedlings must not be planted outdoors until all danger
of frost has passed and the soil has warmed to at least 70
degrees. Sow tomato seeds indoors 5-6 weeks before the
seedlings can be planted out.

For more details about starting vegetable seeds, including
spacing for the plants in the garden, go to
http://freeplants.com/garden-seeds.html