Advice on my grow list

[tnkrer]

I am late to obtaining seeds, but I think I am not too late for planting in MA. Right? When should I start planting indoors?

I have decided that I have space for 6 tomato plants, 3 pepper plants and 6 cucumber plants. (also lots of lettuce and chard, some basil and mint)

I have black cherry seeds from last year. (This is my first year of preserving seeds, so I will know soon enough if that worked).

Tomatoes:

black cherry - have it
prudens purple
tasmanian chocolate (heard great things about this)
an early tomato to be named later - any dwarf tomatoes early? how about dwarf sweet sue?
sunsugar - kids loved this
sungold - I am sure they will love this

Cucumbers
pickling cuke from a local nursery - no idea of the name of the variety. have seeds
Diva
poona kheera

peppers
red, yellow and orange - one of each, still need to find out varieties. I don't want anything hot. My last attempt at growing peppers was a bust. So I want to get varieties that are known to produce.


If I can buy all the seeds I need from one vendor that would be great! I don't have enough varieties of seeds to trade with anybody. (Also don't know for sure that the seeds I preserved will work )

Thanks for any suggestions, arguments for or against any of these varieties, Hope to have a better season this year than last. (It wasn't bad, but life intervened and I lost a lot of crop due to not being able to attend to the garden)

[kath]

Sorry that I'm not much help with your grow list other than to say that it sounds like a good variety of dependable cultivars. But I did want to reassure you that you still have PLENTY of time- some folks in my area which is well south of you don't sow tomato seed until April 1st. Peppers can be started a couple of weeks earlier and depending on your zone, you might want to consider trying to start them any time in March after you get your seeds.

kath

[efisakov]

For the cucumber variety I would recommend Suyo Japanese long. I have grown them for few years: long (12-18 inches) crispy and do not get bitter. Amazon Chocolate is great tomato variety, usually 75 days. Can't help with Sweet Sue, will be growing that one for the first time myself.
I agree with Kath, you have more than enough time to start your seeds.
I start tomatoes seed 6 to 10 weeks before planting out, cucumbers need half of that time, peppers are more finicky so give them more time than tomatoes.
good luck

[PaulF]

My advise is grow whatever the durn heck you want. If it turns out badly, plant some other varieties next year; there are thousands to choose from. Most of all, have fun.

[Worth1]

I dont have any suggestions on what you have they seem ok to me.

I have looked around for you and cant find a single source for them.
It seems as though one is always missing.
you might go to the wanted section and say.
I dont have a thing to trade I have found everything but this and that.
I would be glad to send an SSE to anyone who would be kind enough to send me a few seeds.

We have some real good folks here and I bet you will get a reply.

Sorry I dont have anything on your list not one thing.

Worth

[FarmerShawn]

I, too, think you've got plenty of time. I just wanted to suggest you take some of your black cherry seed, moisten a paper towel, and wrap the seeds in the damp paper towel, put the whole shebang into a sandwich bag, and leave in a safe, warmish place out of the sun. Then you can see in 3-7 days if your seeds are any good, because they will sprout if they are. If not, you know you need to not rely on them.
Not sure if the cucumber seeds you have are some you saved from your cukes; if they are, and any other cucurbits were grown anywhere nearby, you might not get what you expect from the seeds - they cross-pollinate easily.
Have a great gardening year!
PS - check out Fedco for a large selection and good prices and service. Just Google it.

[Father'sDaughter]

Seed racks are showing up in the stores, so you may be able to find some locally. You have plenty of time for tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. I start tomatoes around St. Patty's day and cucumbers even later than that. I would work on hunting down whatever you decide on for pepper seeds and getting them started ASAP.

[luigiwu]

Hey, you guys from up north in MA, you really think its almost too late to start pepper? Coz I'm down here in NY and does that mean I am WAAAAY behind then?? EEP!

[Riceloft]

Originally Posted by tnkrer

I am late to obtaining seeds, but I think I am not too late for planting in MA. Right? When should I start planting indoors?


tasmanian chocolate (heard great things about this)
an early tomato to be named later - any dwarf tomatoes early? how about dwarf sweet sue?

I won't sow seeds indoors here in zone 6a until mid-late March. I could even get away with starting in early April.

Tasmanian Chocolate was a heavy producer for me last year and flavor was quite good. Sweet Sue was actually the latest tomato in my garden, but once it got going, it too was a very heavy producer. From two Sweet Sue plants I probably got between 30-40 good sized tomatoes. If you want an early dwarf, consider Arctic Rose, Iditarod Red or Yukon Quest.

[marc_groleau]

I'm 1 mile from the Southern MA border. I start my seeds around April 5-8.That includes peppers.
If you start before April you'll regret it. I wouldn't plant in the garden any earlier than May 15. I usually plant on Memorial day weekend.

[Worth1]

Cucumbers hate cold weather dont even bother starting them in containers just plant the seeds in the ground when the weather is warm and stays warm night and day.

You can but cucumbers do not like to be transplanted.

Just my opinion and I have tried it both ways.

Worth

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by marc_groleau

I'm mile from the Southern MA border. I start my seeds around April 5-8.That includes peppers.
If you start before April you'll regret it. I wouldn't plant in the garden any earlier than May 15. I usually plant on Memorial day weekend.

Marc makes a good point -- it could be too early, depending on your situation. I learned from experience to start earlier because since we eliminated our whole house pellet stove in the basement, my growing environment is a bit on the chilly side. Where it used to be a fairly constant 72F the first year I started seeds, it now hovers around 60F. The plants (especially peppers) grow very, very slowly in the cooler environment with only fluorescent light. If I don't give them a good head start, I end up with much smaller plants going out in late May.

I also aim for Memorial Day weekend for planting out, but sometimes I've put the tomatoes out the week before, and the peppers out the week after--all depending on what the weather patterns have been like.

[dpurdy]

tnkrer,
I would suggest that you decide on a date for planting and start your tomato seeds about 8 weeks prior to that date. I usually start my cucumbers about 2 weeks later because they grow quickly and produce before the tomatoes. I try to harvest tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce at the same time. Leafy vegetables, like lettuces, I plant the seed at the same time as I transplant the tomatoes and cucumbers. Lettuce usually only takes about 50 days to mature.

Peppers can be a little more difficult to start and grow than other vegetables. In your situation, I would just purchase a few pepper plants and plant them at the same time as you plant your tomatoes. I would suggest California Wonder or Big Dipper peppers. These two varieties are fairly easy to grow and produce decent amounts of fruit. If you need pepper seeds to grow, I'd be more than happy to send you some of the California Wonder & Big Dipper pepper seeds. Just PM me with your address and I'll ship them off to you. Also, if your looking for cucumber seeds, I have many varieties that you can choose from.

Growing in your zone you should have plenty of time to start your seeds and plant. I believe that your last frost date is somewhere around the middle or end of May. There's still plenty of time to organize and get your garden ready for Spring planting. I hope that you have a much better growing season this year.
dpurdy

[FarmerShawn]

The exception to Worth's advise that cukes don't like being transplanted is if you use soil blocks. I find I can start them (and squash and pumpkins and watermelon) at least two weeks before plant out, and from the soil blocks (properly hardened off) they seem to suffer no setback, but get a great head start. In fact, the only crops I have not had luck with using soil blocks are, logically enough, carrots and other long root crops. But even beets do wonderfully started from blocks. I think blocks work better in transplanting because when setting them out the roots are completely undisturbed - you just set the block in a hole and press them in, and the air-pruned roots are poised at the edge and ready to take off.

[luigiwu]

I'm learning about soil blocks and perhaps you guys can explain this to me. Soil blocks are made from compacting soil into tight blocks, I mean that's how they maintain their shape instead of failing apart, correct? well, everything else about germination seems to imply that the soil should be "fluffy" and "loose" - the two are sort of at opposites, no?