I’m curious to know what you guys sow outdoors directly in the soil. It’s my first year taking my garden to the next level, and I’ve got a lot going on that I’m unsure of.
For instance: I’ve got a bunch of different types of lettuce. Some I can directly sow into the ground & others it’s in my benefit to sow them indoors like kale?
Seems like I’ll need a lot of seed trays if I’m starting everything indoors. I know root crops don’t transplant well, but what do you plant directly in the ground?
Well, as you understand, it is easier to sow directly, and in some cases essential, but there are some things you’ll just have to start indoors if you don’t buy starts. (I’ve gone to buying starts because it lets me have variety easily). Anything that needs a substantial head start in your area and which can be readily transplanted you’ll want to start indoors. Around here that means things like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and the like. I like to buy a few lettuce, kale and spinach starts because it gets me a useable crop sooner, so you might want to start those, but they can all be planted outdoors. The mustards in general grow fast, so they can be direct-seeded, but cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts can take a long time and will benefit from starting indoors. Root crops, as you observe, need to be direct-seeded. Melons and squash like a head start here but can be direct seeded in the right areas, and beans and peas get direct seeded.
Alliums (allia?) do well from starts and can take a while, except bunching onions. The herbs can be iffy, for example, basil is difficult to start, and some simply won’t grow true from seed and need to be propagated from cuttings.
Some seeds benefit from pre-soaking (beans, for example) and some -carrots for one- from “scarifying” between sheets of sandpaper. I think chard and beets like to scratched up a little too.
I’m experimenting with direct-sowing a few feet of lettuce, spinach, chard and beets in the fall to sprout in the spring; I covered the seed with a plant after planting it. We’ll see how that goes.
A whole lot of variables come into play here. Your climate, your disease and pest pressure, how robust (or not) the thing you are planting is, and your time availability.
Almost anything can be started indoors, but is it worth it? For example, I start my sweet corn inside, but that is because I am at the edge of where you can’t usually grow corn. I also end up starting most garden things indoors and moving them out, but that is primarily done to lengthen the growing season, and because it is easier for me to tend them inside at the start. I do start some greens outdoors along with beans and beets and carrots, but that is about it. But I suspect I am on an extreme end of things/weather.
In your area, I suspect you can go directly outside for many things, unusual weather events and critter pressure aside. Although if you just have to be the first with sweet corn or something you could start it inside and move it out early with protection.
Well, my experience with sowing lettuce seeds outside has been very unfruitful in 3 growing seasons. In fact, my luck getting cabbage, chard, spinach and the like has been just as unproductive. I sow fresh seeds from the packet every year, and I just can’t get them going. I don’t know what’s going on, we have pretty good soil. Maybe I’m sowing them too deep, not enough or too much water? About the only thing I can get to grow is kale, but I’ve not become too keen to it.
So, I’m considering starting some lettuce, cabbage, and similar plants indoors this year. That will go with my tomato and pepper starts.
So far you’ve all been a big help.
Seems like a lot of people struggle with direct seeding lettuces. Are there any lettuces that I absolutely should start indoors?
What do you guys do with cucumbers?
Lettuce seed needs sunlight to germinate. It is typically planted at the surface and lightly pressed in. Often what can happen if you are watering with a hose is the water moves the seed down under the soil particles and germination rate goes down.
For that and other reasons I typically start lettuce indoors and move it out later.
Also, regardless of what you’re planting where, having the soil temp in the right range for that plant makes quite a diff. Here’s a link to a guide to germination temps:
http://www.theiowagardener.com/Soil%20Temperatures%20for%20Planting%20Seeds.html
Cukes- direct sow. Lettuces I think should all go directly in but plant them deeper than recommended. I don’t know why, but those packets are lying to you-put them in deep enough that the birds don’t find them all, that they stay moist until they can germinate and put down deeper roots, and so that temperature swings don’t heave them all out of the ground. And plant more than you need- you can move the excess success to new rows. With experience you’ll find yourself planting a foot of whatever one week and again the next, except with cut-and-come again crops like kale, which gives, and gives, and gives … until you’re “not too keen on it” indeed!
I think that too deep is less of a problem on most seeds than not deep enough, for the reasons above. Very few seeds require exposure to light to germinate.
Make sure that the temperature range is appropriate for whatever you are planting. Peas will germinate pretty cold, and need to be planted early enough that they can bear before the plants get sick and die, but beans need a soil temperature of at least 60 F, and will tolerate serious heat. Carrots like warm temps to germinate (but usually won’t rot if put in too soon, whereas beans surely will). Lettuce like cool temps- and spinach has to get done before the days lengthen, because that’s what signals them to bolt.
And so on. Have fun!
Here’s my yearly ritual.
‘Where’ I sow depends on the time of year (I grow year 'round). Eg., I can direct sow beets now but in August, it is too brutal as the pest pressure is huge and thus direct sowing of anything is futile, so I’ll sow in flats or styro and xplant out when they have some size to them.
Lettuces take xplanting in stride, so, depending on how much I want to grow, (succession planting for lettuces is wise) here’s what I do. First, I always prep a day or 2 before planting. I’ll fill some small plastic tubs with soil and soak them good. At planting time I sprinkle the lettuce seeds over the top of the wet soil. Then I use a seive and put soil in it and sprinkle a fine layer of dirt over the seeds so I can’t see any of them. Then cover with a plastic bonnet, put it where a good germination temp is found, and then don’t disturb until they are up & have true leaves. Then I fork them out to where I want them when they are the size I want. They are very forgiving. I do all the brassicas this way too.
The keys are (1) soak the soil ahead (even if planting outside), (2) sift fine layer of soil on top of the seeds to a depth equal to the seed size (3) cover to reduce evaporation (outside I’ll use sheeting to prevent baking by the sun or washout by heavy rains)
Did my onions inside this way about 3 weeks ago.
I start cukes and squash in pots inside w/heat. Line the pot with a single layer of newspaper, fill it w/soil, soak it, stick seeds in (point side up), cover, wait. Before xplanting out, soak it real good and the soil will come out held together by the wet paper. I’ve never had a problem with this method. With the cucurbits you can’t rush getting them out. The soil has to be warm ~60 deg. Sometimes I’ll cover them with a milk jug (bottom cut off) til they get acclimated.
Very smart soaking the soil beforehand.
I’m of the opinion that all cucurbits (pumpkins/winter squashes, cucumbers, zucchini, etc) are best started outside. I always plant a more of the vines than I need in a hill then thin them to the most vigorous after the first set of leaves is out. We usually plant them around Memorial Day here in IA. We also never have any problem with starting leaf lettuce (black seeded simpson is what my family has grown forever) and spinach outside. Beans are dead simple to grow from direct seed. Blue Lake have always been the, reliable and least stringy when they are big for me.
I’d start head lettuce indoors though. Here in IA it heats up too fast, and the time period between too cold and too warm (bolting) is too short to get a head of lettuce without starting the seed indoors. That might vary for you in Philly, being influenced by the ocean more and being less continental climate than us.
Some of these things are obviously personal opinion and effort based. I’m too lazy to bother trying to transplant leaf lettuces, beets, spinach, etc.
Sweet corn is direct sow here too. Half the state is covered in corn, so it does fine. But with sweet corn, the thing to know is what class the corn is in, is it SU, SE, SE+, or SH2? The variety determines when you should plant it, because some of them won’t germinate well in cold soil. This happened to me last year because we had warm weather then a cold spell. My first planting didn’t germinate well and my second planting 2 weeks later essentially caught up with the first planting.
Well everyone… I want to thank you for the help thus far! I’ve got two more questions.
When do you plant your brussels sprouts? I’m wondering when you northerners plant these in your garden. They need a good while to come to maturity and the heat in my area during the summers worries me, which makes me think I may be better off planting them sometime in July. Unlike the other Brassicas where I’d plant them in early spring.
How many days do plant starts shave off of the date to maturity? If it’s well rooted in a 3 inch pot, I’m thinking about 20 days. What do you think?
Brussles sprouts take the full growing season to produce in the northeast, from early spring to late fall. For that reason, I often forgo planting them, preferring to use the space for succession cropping. In Z5 coastal Maine, I start Brussels sprouts indoors at beginning of April with other brassicas and transplant out a month later. I’ve also done a second sowing 1.5 months behind the first. Either way, they taste best after a few light frosts
I’m not sure about purchased plant starts, but I start seed indoors and that shaves 3-4 weeks off for Brussels sprouts, even more for others such as tomatoes and eggplant.
I wonder if the same goes for me in zone 6/7. We have 150 days of growing here and hot summers. I’m not sure they’ll do well in that heat.