Direct Sow or Start Indoors?

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

I have the following seeds:


Lettuce
Chard
Peas
Bok Choy
Kale
Spinach
Turnip (Greens)
Broccoli
Collards


Sunflower
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Pumpkin
Carrot
Ground Cherry
Eggplant

Any ideas of what I should direct sow and what I should start inside?
I'm thinking that I should probably direct sow everything with the exception of the Tomatoes, Ground Cherry, and Maybe Eggplant and Watermelon.

Do you think this is about right?

 

[Reinbeau]

Andy, where are you located? Around here this is what I'd do:

Lettuce - some indoors, some out
Chard -outside
Peas - outside
Bok Choy - some indoors, some out
Kale - Outside
Spinach -outside
Turnip (Greens) - outside
Broccoli - inside
Collards - don't know, never grew them!


Sunflower - outdoors
Tomatoes - indoors
Watermelon - outdoors
Pumpkin - outdoors
Carrot - outdoors
Ground Cherry - indoors
Eggplant - indoors

You can direct seed everything in the first group but it's nice to get a start on it. In the second group, you really should start tomatoes and eggplants indoors, they have such a long season. I guess you should include ground cherries in that, although around here they're a weed, I planted them once and I've got them every year since (I don't mind them, I'll just never plant them again!)

 

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

I'm in Ohio, Zone 5B/6A

I also have corn, I assume that should be direct sown?

 

[digitS']

Andy, you can check the Freeze/Frost tables by clicking on Ohio and finding your nearest weather station. Average date would be 50% chance of 32F, of course.

Then you can use this info from Purdue:

Time to Seed Before Last Frost

10 weeks cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower
10 weeks head lettuce
7 weeks tomato
7 weeks eggplant
7 weeks pepper
4 weeks cucumber
4 weeks melons
4 weeks squash

I'm not in quite that much of a hurry to get any of the plants set out in my cool Spring part of the world but this all looks very reasonable to me.

Steve

 

[smom1976]

Not to hijack.. But we have looked all over town for started egg plant and it is no where ... so I had to get the seeds.. Now we are about 2 weeks past our frost date.. But on the package it says you plant feb-mar.. we are at the end of march .. BUT we are still ahead of lots of folks around the country ..

I planted the seeds in peat pots last night .. am i going to not see any egg plant?? Or just belated..

 

[setter4]

Not to hijack.. But we have looked all over town for started egg plant and it is no where ... so I had to get the seeds.. Now we are about 2 weeks past our frost date.. But on the package it says you plant feb-mar.. we are at the end of march .. BUT we are still ahead of lots of folks around the country ..

I planted the seeds in peat pots last night .. am i going to not see any egg plant?? Or just belated..

If you are past your frost date I would direct seed some too.

 

[digitS']

Eggplants really love the heat.

The Purdue guide is just a guide. I plant peppers first and then tomatoes/eggplants. But then when transplant time comes, the tomatoes go out first. Eggplants like it warm . . . I guess I already said that .

I usually won't leave a volunteer tomato in the garden. Because, it seldom has time to ripen any fruit. And, tomatoes reseed easily - I don't know about peppers & eggplants. I have a hard time imagining direct-seeding either but my growing season must just about be the opposite of Florida's .
BTW - did you know that peppers are perennials? It might be true with these others . I just know that peppers will continue to grow and produce year-after-year . . . in Southeast Asia .

Steve

 

[kellygirrl]

Yes, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers are all perennial. For LUCKY people. In the book Solviva, Any Edy claims to have like 30' tomato vines producing in her kitchen. (Read that book for a description of the house of my dreams...)

I thank goodness for my self sown cherry toms, as in bad tomato years, at least we still had lots of them, eventually.

Also, for an easier way to sow, check www.wintersown.org. Well, easier for me anyway, since I have limited room and get every problem under the florescent sun, so to speak, when I indoor sow, and I don't fare that much better w/ direct sowing for that matter either.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I have the following seeds:

Lettuce-direct
Chard-no clue
Peas-direct
Bok Choy-no clue
Kale-no clue
Spinach-direct
Turnip (Greens)-direct
Broccoli-start
Collards-no clue


Sunflower-direct
Tomatoes-start
Watermelon-either
Pumpkin-either
Carrot-direct
Ground Cherry-either
Eggplant-no clue

Any ideas of what I should direct sow and what I should start inside?
I'm thinking that I should probably direct sow everything with the exception of the Tomatoes, Ground Cherry, and Maybe Eggplant and Watermelon.

Do you think this is about right?