Transplanting cukes, melons, squash

Kassaundra

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I am about to transplant my seedlings from the group seedling bed to individual pots before going into the garden can I plant the seedling deep covering the stem, like you would a tomato plant?
 

lesa

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I wouldn't. Why are you not putting them in the garden? It must be time in zone 7?? If I were you, I would get them hardened off, over the next few days, and directly plant them...JMO
 

Kassaundra

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B/c I am hopelessly behind, and we just got 8.5 inches of rain in 3 days and more coming and I didn't think I could put them directly out as very young seedlings.
 

digitS'

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Most folks do not start cukes, melons, and squash indoors.

I do but, along with sunflowers, they are the only plants that I sow to individual cells.

They grow a root system quickly, need transplanting early and require careful handling. Shucks, that's about all I know . . .

Steve
 

silkiechicken

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I start zucchini and jpn squash in cups about 3 weeks early. One seed per cup. I have to do this because I take everything home to my parents to grow and they won't know weed from plant if I don't start it, have it have leaves, and mark it with a cup. My mom weeded out all the younger peas one year because she thought they were weeds between the older peas that were 4 inches tall vs 2 inches tall....

When I re-pot or plant, I just burry them up to their cotyledons while making sure those seed leaves don't get burried under dirt. They tend to stretch a bit when grown inside under lights. I've not had an issue with doing it this way for the past few years.

In our zone 7, I don't put out seedlings till mid may. I harden them off as soon as their seed leaves are half dollar sized.
 

dickiebird

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I also start all of the above inside, in fact we are having lots of rain also, so most of my day was spent transplanting to larger containers. When I transplant I bury the plant just like I do a tomato, except for cukes!!!

I also start sweet corn in containers, I probably have 50 or so starts about 15" tall in greenhouse right now.

Last week we had a day with a bright spot appear and as an experiment I planted about 10 stalks of corn just to see if this would work. I was affraid of the wind knocking them over or that they just wouldn't thrive. I looked at them today and they look fine, even with the awful winds we have had over the weekend.

THANX RICH
 

Rozzie

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It's staying cold late here for us. I did plant some things outside a week ago, but I'm not seeing germination on the squash family crops yet. (I did dig up one bean seed and it was germinating.)

If I don't see germination in a few days, I'm starting some squash and cucumbers inside to get a jump on the season. It can make a big difference in getting longer day crops to maturity.

DO NOT, however, let them get rootbound, even a tiny bit. Squash family crops do not do well if they are even slightly confined.
 
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