Wednesday evening I seeded all the Melons, Cucumbers & Squash. Weather permitting they will be planted out May 24th so this will give them about a 3 week head start. They were seeded in peat pots, then covered with plastic wrap and placed on the heat mat. I started the following:- Two Cucumber, Armenian (Actually in the melon family, Cucumis melo var. flexuosus)
- Four Cucumber, Double Yield
- Three Melon, Charentais Savor
- Three Melon, Petite Gris
- Three Squash, Delicata (from Skippy's Vegetable Garden)
- Three Squash, Red Kuri
- One Zucchini, Cocozelle
I checked on them Saturday morning and noticed that about 60% had germinated. Now that they are germinating I placed them out in the cold frame so they don't go leggy. They will however not be out long because next week is going to have some pretty low night time temps. Starting tomorrow night I will be bring all the warm season veggies inside until the nights are warmer.That's really all there is to update on the veggies. I was planning on having the triple mix delivered Friday for the new beds but that did not work out. Our neighbor was using the shared drive to the side so I didn't have access to get the soil out back. Not sure when it will be done now but it really needs to be soon. This weekend is being spent installing all the framing on the fence I posted about way back when. It is going well and the plan is to have all the framing in place by the end of the weekend. It will be nice to have privacy in the back yard again.
So how much of what varieties did you start? Inquiring minds what to know!
ReplyDeleteI spent the entire day planting beans - pole and bush. One would think that would not take an entire day to accomplish - only I had a 4'X24' bed to double dig first so they could be planted up in it! Yikes. I have one more big bed to go. It's a good thing I have the Costco sized bottle of Advil.
KitsapFG - I'll edit the post now with the varieties I started. That is a lot of bean planting! The pain killers will be well earned :-)
ReplyDeleteFun! Fun! I live in California so I started a lot of my plants indoors in January/February then transferred them out in April. It is really nice to have such a long growing season.
ReplyDeleteHappy growing to you!
Just started my warm season crops last week too. The courgettes, Turk's Turban squashes and achocha are peeking through already but I'm still waiting for some beans to show.
ReplyDeleteGreat action pics of the seeding. We could use you at Lee Valley in the photo department as a hand model.
ReplyDeleteJust a question, what are the advantages of the cold frame and what is a "leggy" plant?
Thanks for your time,
Becky - If I only lived in California... Happy growing to you too!
ReplyDeleteVegetable Heaven - You know summer is coming when the warm season veg are started!
MGR - I took the picture just after my manicure... kidding, ha. A cold frame is a wooden box with glass or poly windows on top. They are really good at starting cool season crops in, hardening crops off to the outdoor environment and extending your grow season in the spring, fall & winter. Basically a small unheated greenhouse. A leggy plant is one that has been growing in low light and has become stretched out and floppy. Hope this helps.
Dan, I never knew that "low" light makes your seedlings leggy. When I started my seedlings (Atlanta, GA - Zone 7b) I had them under a regular bulbs of one color temp and they got very leggy. Then I switched to a lamp that had two different color temps and the legginess stopped. You just taught me something.
ReplyDeleteMake sure when you plant them in your garden to cover the peat pot (including the very top of the pot) with soil. Otherwise water will wick up through the pot and out the top, creating a little, dry coffin.
ReplyDeleteKalena Michele - Glade I could help.
ReplyDeleteKathy - This is the first time I have used peat pots. I did plant them below the ground with the peas & broad beans, thankfully I did by the sounds of it. I am not very pleased with the peat pots, they dry out very fast if it is sunny.
Do the double yield cucumbers grow as a vine or a regular plant? New gardener here, I'm unsure as to where I should plant my seedlings. Any help would be greatly appreciated! :D
ReplyDeleteRudeNun - The double yield variety is a vine and I grow them on a trellis. That is not to say that they can't be grown on the ground though. Most cucumbers can either be grow on the ground or trellised unless they are label as a bush variety. Bush varieties will not climb. Hope this helps.
ReplyDelete