nope, you can plant them as is
1 Like
Thanks
So you can count of cilantro coming back each year? How does that work? Just donāt harvest any the first year?
As long as we let it bolt it seems to come back on it own. Like the cat nip. We let it grow amongst the strawberries. Seems to grow up thru the mulch just fine. Or more like volunteer tomatoes.
1 Like
Do you know if parsley comes back easily as well?
I donāt have any now.
But I did it a lot in the past. It seemed to regrow like carrots. What I mean it grows a crazy tap root like dandelions or thin carrots. Top dies, then grows back.
I believe seattle area is 8b so I donāt know if cilantro or parsley would fare as well in a colder longer winter.
It definitely sprouts (cilantro) early like the kale. Before the volunteer tomatoes.
Parsley is a biennial, itās second year it will form seed and the foliage isnāt as good for culinary use (usable, but not as good).
2 Likes
Was trying to figure out if they are good at self seeding.
For parsley, only if you let them grow a second year to flower and produce seeds, even though that second year you may not want to eat them. Same as carrots in that respect, though carrots also tend to cross with local queen annes lace to make unpleasant seedlings in my experience, I donāt think parsley has a similar problem.
We got a bit of hail and heavy sleet in last nightās thunderstorm, but my patch of volunteer cilantro is still powering through it. Still needs thinning, maybe one of these days.
Looks like a few volunteer arugula seedlings, too. Thatās another one that self-seeds well. At least the perennial/wild rocket type.
2 Likes
I started Chayote squash this week indoor to beat short growing season in Chicago. I planted the hairy ones. Itās supposed to start flowering early so I can harvest some before it starts to frost in the fall.
I started 4 more trays of tomato seed over the last few days. I will start another tray of peppers and at least 3 more trays of tomatoes in the next 2 weeks. Many of these will be to grow fresh seed as well as for plants to sell. My seed stock averages 5 years old which is borderline for tomatoes. I prefer to grow tomato plants from seed that is 3 years old or less.
3 Likes
My final seed order came yesterday, so today Iāve started three more tomatoes in the greenhouse.
One that Iām most excited to try is the āFlorida Wild Everglades,ā which was found naturalized in the FL everglades but has performed very well in PNW testing:
Iām also trying out the āPuerto Cortesā tomato this year, to see how it compares to the cherry tomato that came with my house as a self-seeding patch.
And my most adventurous seed pack this year, the Wildling Panamorous mix, which Iām hoping will produce some interesting tomatoes in a new raised bed Iāll be adding in the middle of the front lawn:
My old reliable Pink Boar already has a head start on the other tomatoes:
1 Like
This video covers US seed companies pretty well Iād say. He mentions some bulk seed sources.
I requested about 100 different wild tomato lines from TGRC 12 years ago and grew them to see what was interesting. A few were unusual. LA2533 has ph3, a gene that is very effective against late blight. Another that I found the next year I named Lycopimp. It has the most lycopene Iāve ever seen in a tomato. Since the species is Solanum Pimpinellifolium, I called it Lycopimp. LA2175 is a S. Habrochaites line that was nearly immune to all diseases in my garden.
I am growing half a dozen highly disease resistant tomatoes this year including Big Beef Improved, Amelia, Lorelei, Mountaineer Pride, and others. I hope to make crosses with a few of them to bring better disease resistance into some open pollinated tomatoes.
5 Likes
Super hot peppers are up. Iāll start my hot and mild peppers next weekend and probably my tomatoes for grafting then as well.
Onions, leeks and shallots coming along.
I had a bunch of varieties of lettuce, but the seeds were pretty old (4-5 years), so only a few varieties showed any life. Iāll need to reseed some fresher seeds to fill in the gaps.
Brassicas on the other hand are overdue for some thinning. Given our warm weather, I wish I started these a few weeks earlier.
6 Likes
I received my last 2 orders of tomato seed today and have put most of them in cell trays. I now have 85 varieties of peppers from sweet to mild to hot to super hot. I also have 365 varieties of tomatoes started with every color and size and shape imaginableā¦ and some you canāt!
I have onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, chinese cabbage, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, lettuce, pepper, and tomatoes in cell trays growing and getting ready to go outdoors. The brassicas will be planted in about 2 weeks.
3 Likes
Can anyone give me some advice on seed starting (zone 7a, outside Philly)? Historically, I have always had a veggie garden, but I would often buy transplants from local stores.
This year, I plan to plant more plants from seeds (veggies, herbs, and flowers). But I have limited indoor space near a good window, so wanted to know what I NEED to start indoors, versus what I can start outdoors, and when to start either. A few questions:
-
For tomatos, is around now (late February) a good time to start seeds indoors? Most of the packets say 6-8 weeks before transplant, which would be around mid-march for me. But I see many here in similar zones are starting seeds now.
-
What veggie seeds can I direct sow outside? I have some cool weather seeds: greens (kale, mustard greens, chard), sugar snap peas, parsley, and pansey seeds. Can I direct-sow any of these outside now? Or should I sow indoors? Or direct sow, but later?
-
I purchased a bunch of flower seeds (zinnia, sunflower, snapdragon). I also have some squashes (various moschatas) and green-beans. Usually, I would direct sow these in May. Is it worth starting these indoors any earlier? Or not worth the hassle?
-
I purchased som biodegradable seed-starting bags. Does anyone here have any experience with these or similar? Would these be good for starting my tomatoes in (or any other plants that need to be started indoors)?
Thanks so much for any advice, I appreciate it!
Started this row of leaf lettuce late January during a warmer than usual week in my hot bed. It is doing well.
I started a row of spinach early Janā¦ and we are eating it now.
3 Likes
dpps, Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and tomatillos are best started about the 7th of March for your area.
Potatoes, English Peas, Turnip Greens, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots, Mustard, and Parsley can be sowed outdoors in about 3 weeks.
Most of my beans are direct planted though I usually start a few beans in cell trays because I have control of germination conditions. This allows me to grow older seed that have been in my freezer up to 10 years. Other than that, I sometimes start sweet corn in cell trays so I can have the earliest maturing sweet corn in the area. This is only 2 or 3 weeks before I would normally plant corn outdoors.
I generally donāt recommend using biodegradable pots, bags, or containers for seedlings due to problems with roots spreading through the wall of the container. Either the roots get through and grow where you donāt want them or they have problems getting through which you very much donāt want. In this case, I would say use them with discretion meaning to watch closely to see if problems develop.
3 Likes
@Fusion_power ā I do that with Okraā¦
Plant seed direct in garden bedā¦ but I have also learned toā¦ at the same time start a few in cell/planter potsā¦ especially with my earliest planting of Okraā¦ if it turns off wetter and cooler than expected some will usually die. Good to have a few in pots that I can replace them with easily if needed and not to have bare spots in my planting.
Okra can take 100 degrees and dry groundā¦ but if it is a little to wet and coolā¦ itās wimpy.
1 Like