Tomatoes are the easiest and first seed to meet soil. But, at the same time, I like to get the annual Green Globe artichoke, an array of lettuce and some basil started.
Except for the artichokes, this first round of seedlings will spend their lives in the greenhouse. Which is just fine with me because we will be eating fresh lettuce way before there will be anything harvestable from the garden.
This brings me to seed starting. I need to clarify one thing immediately: there will be thousands of four-packs of strong healthy seedlings at reasonable prices offered at our local nurseries at the appropriate planting time for you to choose from. You do not have to start seeds unless you really want to.
If you are using four packs from last year and did not clean them before you put them away, may I suggest that you do so now. Just put them into your kitchen sink and swish them around in a mild bleach solution. This will kill any weird bacteria or fungus or whatever that just may have found a home there.
You can use a sterile potting mix such as RediEarth or Whitney Farms potting soil that is organic. Fill your container to the top and wet thoroughly, allowing time for the water to drain.
Four packs give the seedling plenty of room to develop a nice set of roots and, if weather turns fickle (who would think?) and the seedlings need to hang out longer than you expected, they will have enough room to do so comfortably. The trend has been to use six packs, but they are just not large enough, and you end up with a root ball that is solid and dry and unhappy with a stunted plant topping it off living on commercial fertilizer.
Once you put one of these unfortunate seedlings into your garden, you just may have to wait an inordinate amount of time for it to acclimate to its new setting. And time is something that we here in the Far North do not have. Think this through.
Put two seeds to a cell and cover with a little additional soil, moisten again. Be sure to label so you know what you have where. Then cover it with plastic to retain moisture. I recycle produce bags from the market.
Place your flat immediately under supplemental lights or a very clean (inside and out) window. Once the seeds germinate, and you need to be looking every day, remove the plastic. If using lights, keep the seedlings very close but not touching the light. You can leave the lights on 24 hours.
You need a timer if the plant is flowering or producing fruit, which yours are not doing. So that saves you a step right there. Whether using lights or a window, you will need to keep turning the seedlings so that they are not reaching for the light.
The ends of florescent tubes do not have as strong a light as the middle, so you need to keep rotating the plants. If you have not changed our tubes in a few years, make this your year. Even though they look bright enough, they probably aren't.
You can use a shop fixture with one cool and one warm bulb, or go ahead and use a GroLight, there isn't much difference in cost.
I just don't know about this year's weird weather. In the past, we have had such cold Marchs that the greenhouse heater could not keep up with it. What is going to happen this March is anyone's guess. But I am planning on starting the greenhouse about the middle of March. By that time the seedlings will be ready and willing to head out there and get all of that wonderful March light.
From now to the end of the growing season, I will be starting a four pack or two of lettuce every 10 days to ensure a steady supply of lovely salad greens. Keep this in mind. I need to mark this on my calendar, or else I forget, and then I'm behind and then life takes over completely, and the whole 10-day cycle becomes nothing more that a good
intention.
If you have never started tomatoes before, be brave, they are naught but a weed and will take care of themselves. There are determinates, those that grow to a certain size (very dwarf to about 3 feet, depending on what you feed it) and produce a set number of fruit.
And there are indeterminates, those that grow forever and produce fruit until you can no longer stand having the plant around because it is taking up all the available oxygen and space and you can't stand it anymore, so you chop it down. But that scenario is a long way off.
The basil will go into individual pots. They just may get aphids, and I want you to be able to move them out of the greenhouse without disrupting a whole planting bin. Plus, they look good in containers.
If your planting beds are ready to go, be sure to scatter some lettuce, spinach and carrot seed around and see what happens. This is such a peculiar weather pattern that anything is possible.
I do know of several gardeners that plant these very seeds in the fall and get an extra early harvest in the spring. Get on it and let's eat clean homegrown vegetables as soon as possible.
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