Is the cold weather changing your Seed Starting schedule?

[greenthumbomaha]

Same here, Jo. For Feb Omaha broke the all time record for snow. We had back to back 10 inch snowfalls with some prior snow still hanging around. Temps have been far below average and Sunday night will set a record low of -9F.The forecast isn't bringing much hope for near normal temps until the very end of March.

- Lisa

[bower]

The rest of Canada is expecting a warm up by mid-march... but not for us! The extra cold temperatures have made for a lot of sea ice this year, and that will keep us chilly for awhile... until the icebergs are ready to do it!

I do have some indoor greens coming on but am not getting that gardening feeling yet. I'm expecting a return of aphids to the greenhouse when it gets warm enough, so I don't want to start a bunch of their favorite stuff that will make it a paradise for them. Will try keepin em on a lean diet so I can better deal with it early on. (What a mess I made with the late season greenhouse carrots).

[wildcat62]

I'm going to delay my onion, greens & cabbage planting a few weeks later than last year.

[Tormato]

It's too early for me to be such a klutz. I started some allium seed, what I think is Egyptian Walking Onion seed (double klutz, I didn't label it last year). I went to pull the seed coat off the one germination (of 10), and uprooted it. The triple klutz is when I remembered that alliums don't need to have the seed coat removed.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Tormato

It's too early for me to be such a klutz. I started some allium seed, what I think is Egyptian Walking Onion seed (double klutz, I didn't label it last year). I went to pull the seed coat off the one germination (of 10), and uprooted it. The triple klutz is when I remembered that alliums don't need to have the seed coat removed.

I could send you scapes later this year if you wish. Or seed, if my Egyptian walkers produce any. Let me know.

[Tormato]

Do you mean EWO bulbils? I give away 1-2 gallons of them a year.



I've been trying to force plants to make seed by pinching off bulbils early, with very limited success.

[rxkeith]

looking outside does not put me in a seed starting mood. i have 6 to 7 ft of snow on the garden right now. i should be getting some onion seeds started. pepper seeds should go in within a couple weeks, and tomatoes around the first week of april. at some point it will get warmer, and the snow will start to melt. its going to take several weeks for that much snow to disappear. it always does though.

so, no the cold weather in march and april won't change my seed starting schedule by much. plant outside date will totally be dependent on the weather.



keith

[greenthumbomaha]

I like winter but i'm sick of it too, mostly because the snow is still remaining due to a shortfall of professional equipment for the area. For secondary streets the city employees private contractors who use a blade on the front of a pick up and no salt or sand treatment.The pickups get stuck themselves and leave a lot of snow behind. Wish I had researched this before I moved here but the snow removal was so efficient in the other northern cities that I have called home it wasn't on my radar.

So far, I have spinach germinated and about half potted up. I'm thinking of growing it in some sort of rigged sweater box if I can't get to the raised bed. I may hold off starting cabbage till later in the week once I hear the long range forecast. No idea when and if to start peas in cups. I seeded the first of two trays of tomatoes today, consisting of cherry and hanging basket types, dwarf project and early maturing varieties. Started to pot up some native perennials that have been in the starter seed for a while now. To keep my hands busy during the coming arctic front, flowers are going in paper towel to germinate. This was my project today:

[salix]

This is getting real old. Down to -31 C overnight. The snow is not melting, but sublimating a little due to the wind and dry air, I guess.

[PaulF]

Tomato and pepper seeds are planted right on schedule. Now we wait for the garden to clear off and the temps to raise.

[jtjmartin]

It's very wet here in Tidewater Virginia too - thank God I have raised beds. I planted some Super Sugar Snap peas out today.

Most of my tomatoes, peppers, and onions have sprouted indoors and I have my first set of 8 grafted tomatoes healing in their humidity chamber. Fingers crossed.

Jeff

[Gardeneer]

Like i said in my other post, i go by LFD, which is around April 5th. I just potted up my pepps n mater seedings. So roughly i have 4 weeks til plant out.
The next 3 nights we have forecast for freezing temps. I have some cole/cool crops out there. But i am not worried about those

[OhioKate]

I might have to make some adjustments to my usual timeline because of space issues. In previous years, I have started hardening off my onions mid to late March. That made space under the lights available for the tomatoes and peppers.

This year, with the low temps we are having, I'm not sure I'll be able to get the onions out in the garden by mid April. Things change quickly here so lets hope it starts warming up soon.

[e.thad]

Here in 7a, just outside of Philly, I'll be starting tomato seeds this upcoming weekend, the 9th of March, in my unheated garage for outdoor transplanting the last weekend in April. Temps this week are way below normal but will be good by this weekend. If I had planned to start this weekend I'd have to delay, so the warm weather will be back just in time.

I'm excited because I'll be building 4 new beds with 5 plants each. 15 of those plants will be (not sure how to say this) F3 seeds from a super-sweet orange currant from Sungold. Once I stabilize it, I plan on crossing it with some different things - what, I don't know.

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by PaulF

Tomato and pepper seeds are planted right on schedule. Now we wait for the garden to clear off and the temps to raise.

Only one plant on the trellis must mean grape not hardy kiwi?