I am confused! I usually plant sets and by usually I mean twice. This year I am doing much more with a bigger garden and dream. The things I am reading say plant in March (most of them) but here in Florida it gets hotter sooner.Does this mean seeds or transplants? I have also seen many veggie plants at the stores already 4 to 8 inches high. BUT I have already planted my seeds inside germinating because they said 6-10 weeks be for going outside. This will put them in the ball park of the first week or so of March. Is this to soon? P.S. I am growing 15 different things and 3 have already popped up and it has only been 5 days. Cucumbers, Zucs, and Brocc.
Planting Dates I don't know what the best guide is but I've always gone off the farmer's almanac chart and it's worked well for me. http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates It sets the information off your location so it should be more helpful, it also tells you both the planting date and the start of germinating seeds indoors. Hope that's helpful.
The 6-10 weeks before going outside means 6-10 weeks before the average date of the last frost in your area, the average last frost in Orlando is January 31. So anytime after that you can get your seedlings in the ground, just keep an eye on the local weather forecast to see if they are expecting any freakish cold snaps coming your way. You might have troubles with the broccoli seedlings, they need to be started in late summer and grow thru the late fall, winter and very early spring. If there are already pots of them in the nurseries I would plant those instead of waiting on the seedlings this time. It best likes daytime temps in the 50-70 degree range.
Well thanks! this is my first time growing seeds all the way. Thanks for the tip on the brocc-now that you say that I do remember having problems last spring but not in the late summer! Guess that is why they say when to plant them :-? Silly me.I also have in the works 1) Tomatos--Roma,Tomatillo, and Early wonder 2)Peppers-- Roumanian Rainbow bell,Poblano L,and Anaheim TMR. (All came from TomatoGrowers.com) also jalapeno 3)Spinach 4)Zucchini 5)Yellow Squash 6)Cucumber 7)Collards 8)Broccoli 9)Cilantro 10)bush Blue Lake green beans 11)Soy beans 12) and Onion sets already in the ground Is this good and also what do you think I may have a problem with other than the Broccoli so I can get on the right track.
I live in an area that has not much spring, more summer than I can stand, but an okay fall and great winters. I put out cole crop transplants in early February and seed some more cilantro directly into the garden. It likes cool weather. I've grown cilantro all winter under that non-woven polyester row cover. It takes my zone 8 frosts just fine. I put spinach seed in the garden today. I just put some little covers over it. They are tents made from grocery store plastic bags and some scraps of wire.
oh ok Kind of like a make shift green house...How clever! Well what do you think is a good size to put my transplants in the ground. I only just worked in the soil a week and a half ago in the garden thinking of putting the little ones in the ground in early Feb. I'll try and set up picks.
When they get about four leaves, mine are 2.5 to 3" tall when they go out--a little smaller than the garden center transplants. I have better luck with spring broccoli than I do with the fall broccoli. Collards and Kale do well either season. I'm also trying kohlrabi. We'll see. I planted Brussels sprouts last spring. I had beautiful plants that we ate as greens because it got to hot out for them. Oh well.
Newgrow: Just a quick hint here on your vine crops (cukes; squashes; etc.): it's best to start them in 4 inch biodegradable peat pots that can go right IN the ground as these plants hate to have their root systems disturbed! Make SURE to trim off any excess pot "lip" on top before planting as if it's left and sticks up above ground level, it has to tendancy to allow drastic water evaporation AWAY from the seedling. Is also a good idea to break the bottom of pot a bit. As for planting dates in Florida, may I suggest going to www.farmersalmanac.com; clicking on home and garden; then clicking on planting by the moon. It'll give you a 3-month, day-by-day view, of best times to plant (NOT to plant, etc.) various crops in your area, will say "where climate is suitable". I think it'll greatly help you...
Looks like a lot of great advise already so I just wanted to add that if your last frost date is the end of January (you lucky gardener mine is the end of may) Then you can plant anything out by the begging of March and really you can plant anything out now. All your cold weather crops like broccoli (any brassicas) and lettuce, spinach, chard etc. Will do great just in the ground. If you want to get a jump on your own seedlings you can buy a few starts and plant them out right now. I would suggest trying some of the cool weather plants for a start. If you are still having cold days even though frost is past you may want to use a cold frame for your summer crops like tomatoes, summer squash etc. They will be protected and grow much faster. Cloche great for your early starts ( photo / image / picture from Farmer_Dave's Garden ) "Reap what you sow, plant what you grow"
Well guess there really isn't anything I can offer everyone has pretty well covered the bases. I usually have my cool weather stuff already out but it has been wet enough lately I haven't got the area for them tilled and now with the snow we are getting right now its going to be a lil longer as our last frost date is suppsoe to be around the 18th of Feb. As Dave said if you put things out and it gets colder cover them.
