Almost time!

Jetstar · December 28, 2019

As the new year approaches I'll need to get things ready for starting my pepper & tomato seeds, potting mix and lights. I'm thinking starting my pepper seeds by the 1st week of Feb. that should allow them time to fill out a bit before I put them in my grow bags outdoors. I was very happy with my Jimmy Nardello & North Star peppers. I'll again go with Jet Star & Better Boy for my slicer variety and Sweet 100 & Tiny Tim for salad tomatoes. Gotta plant some cukes and I may even try some acorn squash this year. And can anyone tell me what kale seeds they would try in a 5gal grow bag? Could you give me an idea of how many kale plants to plant per grow bag? Thanks for any advice when it comes to kale, never tried doing kale in a grow bag.

Father'sDaughter · December 28, 2019

Middle of January is when I start things off with onion and shallot seeds. It'll be here before I know it! Middle of February I start eggplant, peppers and hardy/woody herbs. March is tomato, lettuce, leafy herbs and kale. The beans, cucumbers and zucchini all get direct seeded.

Kale plants grow quite tall and need lots of room. I've always grown it in ground with at least one foot spacing. I'd say one plant per five gallon bag. The two main types are Tuscan/Dinosour and curly leaf varieties. For cooking and salads I prefer the Tuscans varieties. I grow the curly leaf types (Siberian) for my husband who adds kale to his breakfast shakes.

GoDawgs · December 28, 2019

There are also non-frilly types of kale. I prefer those because when aphids attack there aren't all the nooks and crannies to hide in as there are with the frilly kales. I grow one called Premier whose leaves are rather flat. It has taken temps down to the upper 20's without problem but probably wouldn't take as much cold as Siberian. Premier isn't a tall kale like the Tuscan but is more wide.

edweather · December 29, 2019

Jan 1 is my start date. Dusting off my seed starting supplies today.

roper2008 · December 30, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Middle of January is when I start things off with onion and shallot seeds. It'll be here before I know it! Middle of February I start eggplant, peppers and hardy/woody herbs. March is tomato, lettuce, leafy herbs and kale. The beans, cucumbers and zucchini all get direct seeded.

Kale plants grow quite tall and need lots of room. I've always grown it in ground with at least one foot spacing. I'd say one plant per five gallon bag. The two main types are Tuscan/Dinosour and curly leaf varieties. For cooking and salads I prefer the Tuscans varieties. I grow the curly leaf types (Siberian) for my husband who adds kale to his breakfast shakes.

Maybe I should start my onion seed a few weeks before you. I've never started any indoors before. I bought Tropeana Lunga to try.

Father'sDaughter · December 30, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by roper2008

Maybe I should start my onion seed a few weeks before you. I've never started any indoors before. I bought Tropeana Lunga to try.

My goal is to get them large enough by the time they go out that the don't "get lost." And giving them regular haircuts makes for nice and stocky seedling instead of thin and spindly ones. Once they've started to flop over they get their first haircut, and from there I keep them trimmed down to about 2-3 inches until they get planted out.

roper2008 · December 31, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

My goal is to get them large enough by the time they go out that the don't "get lost." And giving them regular haircuts makes for nice and stocky seedling instead of thin and spindly ones. Once they've started to flop over they get their first haircut, and from there I keep them trimmed down to about 2-3 inches until they get planted out.

Thanks for the tip.

Father'sDaughter · December 31, 2019

You're welcome. I hope they do well for you. I've grown both the long and round Tropea onions and they grew very well for me. The only downside is that they are not storage onions so have a plan for using them as they mature.

Last year I grew Ailsa Craig and Walla Walla specifically for use in tomato and onion salads. They are also not storage onions so I left them in the ground and only pulled them as I needed them which worked well. The ones left at the end of the season were all pulled and turned into sweet onion jam.

December 28, 2019	#1
Jetstar Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: N.E. Wisconsin Posts: 308	Almost time! As the new year approaches I'll need to get things ready for starting my pepper & tomato seeds, potting mix and lights. I'm thinking starting my pepper seeds by the 1st week of Feb. that should allow them time to fill out a bit before I put them in my grow bags outdoors. I was very happy with my Jimmy Nardello & North Star peppers. I'll again go with Jet Star & Better Boy for my slicer variety and Sweet 100 & Tiny Tim for salad tomatoes. Gotta plant some cukes and I may even try some acorn squash this year. And can anyone tell me what kale seeds they would try in a 5gal grow bag? Could you give me an idea of how many kale plants to plant per grow bag? Thanks for any advice when it comes to kale, never tried doing kale in a grow bag.

December 29, 2019	#4
edweather Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Southeast GA, USDA 9a, HZ9, Sunset Z28 Posts: 396	Jan 1 is my start date. Dusting off my seed starting supplies today. __________________ You'll be surprised what you'll never have to do, if you put it off long enough.

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December 28, 2019	#2
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	Middle of January is when I start things off with onion and shallot seeds. It'll be here before I know it! Middle of February I start eggplant, peppers and hardy/woody herbs. March is tomato, lettuce, leafy herbs and kale. The beans, cucumbers and zucchini all get direct seeded. Kale plants grow quite tall and need lots of room. I've always grown it in ground with at least one foot spacing. I'd say one plant per five gallon bag. The two main types are Tuscan/Dinosour and curly leaf varieties. For cooking and salads I prefer the Tuscans varieties. I grow the curly leaf types (Siberian) for my husband who adds kale to his breakfast shakes.

December 28, 2019	#3
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	There are also non-frilly types of kale. I prefer those because when aphids attack there aren't all the nooks and crannies to hide in as there are with the frilly kales. I grow one called Premier whose leaves are rather flat. It has taken temps down to the upper 20's without problem but probably wouldn't take as much cold as Siberian. Premier isn't a tall kale like the Tuscan but is more wide.

December 31, 2019	#8
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	You're welcome. I hope they do well for you. I've grown both the long and round Tropea onions and they grew very well for me. The only downside is that they are not storage onions so have a plan for using them as they mature. Last year I grew Ailsa Craig and Walla Walla specifically for use in tomato and onion salads. They are also not storage onions so I left them in the ground and only pulled them as I needed them which worked well. The ones left at the end of the season were all pulled and turned into sweet onion jam.