“Gardeners, start your veggies - Macon Telegraph” |
| Gardeners, start your veggies - Macon Telegraph Posted: 26 Jan 2010 09:04 PM PST We can grow vegetables 12 months out of the year, but we need to wait to plant most warm season vegetables. We can plant cool season vegetables such as English peas, onion sets and plants, carrots, greens and broccoli now. Begin planting Irish potatoes in late February. See our vegetable planting chart to know when to plant your favorite vegetables: http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/C963/C963VegeChart.pdf. We do need to think about starting our transplants now. Warm season vegetables like tomato, pepper, eggplant and a few others are easier to start using transplants. Gardeners can buy transplants, but some like to grow their own. Growing our own transplants can save money and allow us to grow the varieties we want. These transplants may perform better since they are fresher. You need a growing container that is large enough, with large holes for drainage. You can buy pots or use cups, trays and other containers. With some purchased pots, we can plant the entire container. This can mean less root damage and transplant shock. Some transplants are grown in seed flats — trays that can be up to one foot deep and a foot or more across. When planting into trays, do not crowd plants. Plant more seed than you want, but pinch off unwanted plants or move extra plants so that each plant has room to grow. Do not use garden soil to grow transplants. This soil contains more diseases and other pests. Buy a sterile soil mix that drains well. Soils that remain too wet after watering can lead to poor growth and seedling death. Soils that will drain well often contain more perlite (looks like small white balls) or vermiculite (looks like a tan, puffed rock). There are even soil mixes made for starting seeds. Fill the container and then tap it gently to settle the soil. You can settle the soil with your hand, but do not compact the soil. Make a small indentation for the seeds — about 1/4- to 1/2-inch deep. Use a ruler for rows and a pencil for individual holes. Put two or three seeds per hole, cover the seed and water gently. Water well the first time and then as needed to keep the soil moist but not overly wet. Do not let the pot sit in water, since these soils act like sponges and can keep plant roots too wet. Place pots in a well-lit area with a warm temperature. Though the best growing temperature varies with the vegetable, many seeds like warm temperatures, 75 to 80 degrees, as they germinate. One warm spot to use for seed germination is the top of a fridge or freezer. Give vegetable transplants plenty of light. Most transplants probably do not have enough light, and it would be difficult to supply too much. A south facing window with direct sun may be best. If you cannot supply direct sunlight, consider using a grow light or soft white inflorescent light. However, the light needs to be very close to the transplants, about 18 inches away. Did I remember to say that transplants need lots of light? Once seeds germinate, normal inside temperatures should be adequate for growing transplants. They grow faster with warmer temperatures (70 to 80 degrees in the day and 65 to 70 degrees at night) and good light. Fertilize plants regularly with a liquid fertilizer. Expect to grow tomatoes for five to seven weeks and peppers and eggplant for six to eight weeks. For vine crops, grow them for only two to four weeks inside, since they are hard to transplant once plants get large. Time your seeding so that plants will be ready when you want them, usually in early April. Willie Chance is retired from UGA Extension in Houston County. To reach your local extension office, call (800) ASK-UGA1 from any non-cell phone. To subscribe to the central Georgia home gardening newsletter, e-mail mg@uga.edu. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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