Started my 2018 tomatoes and other stuff today

[GoDawgs]

Today I started my tomato seeds, two days into the rising moon in Cancer. The Almanac says the 19th-21st are "favorable for planting crops bearing yield above the ground." Do I believe in planting by moon phase and sign? I'm still not sure but results have been good enough over the last two years I've been doing it that I'm kind of scared not to! Is anyone else "growing by the moon"?

Anyway, eleven tomatoes were started. They're all going to eventually be in 15 gallon buckets and sitting on pallets again except for two that will be planted directly in the main garden for the first time in about four years. I want to see if whatever was causing the wilt has gone. And I'm consulting my past garden maps to make sure they'll be in an area of the garden that hasn't seen a tomato in a long time.

1 Better Boy
1 Black Vernissage (a freebie; never heard of this one)
2 Celebrity (one for a bucket, one to plant in the garden)
1 Creole Original (1st timer; supposed to have good heat and humidity tolerance)
2 Early Girl Bush (one for a bucket, one to plant in the garden)
1 Golden Girl (my sister Pickles likes them)
1 Homestead (1st timer; supposed to have good heat and humidity tolerance)
1 Juliet
1 Warrior (2nd timer; a freebie last year that did well)

Then I started six ground cherries to be planted out and about the property to test how hardy they are on their own. Three were 'Pineapple' (seed bought and grown last year) and three were 'Aunt Mary's' from seed I collected summer '16.

The carrots popped up today!. They were sown March 5th so it took two weeks which is about normal according to my records. But it always seems to take soooo long for carrots after being used to seeing cabbages and kale pop up in 3 days that I almost give up hope.

Tomorrow sister Pickles is going to start sowing some 'Toy Choi' pac choi in two very old and unused kitty litter boxes that she drilled drainage holes in. A fun experiment. They'll grow on the porch tables for stir fry use. She'll start four plants every ten days to stagger them. That will be four sowings ten days apart, rinse and repeat as each gets harvested. That's so we don't get tired of them.

One Toy Choi will be sown in a 1 gallon pot and not harvested. I *think* we might have enough cold weather left to trigger flowering later for seed collection as what I have is 2015 seed and I want to renew the stock. But I'm not sure.

Spring's almost here!

[Nan_PA_6b]

That's great, GoDawgs! I'll be starting tomato seeds in a few days. When is your last frost date, the time to plant tomato plants out in your area? Here it's May 15.

Nan

[Gardeneer]

Good luck.
I plant things with not paying any attention to moon
I go by my own feeling. So in that regard any day is just as good as any other day.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

That's great, GoDawgs! I'll be starting tomato seeds in a few days. When is your last frost date, the time to plant tomato plants out in your area? Here it's May 15.

Nan

Last frost here usually occurs sometime in the 3rd or 4th week of March according to the local U of GA weather mini-station near here. My tomato plants are usually transplanted out around the third week in April and I can bet my bottom dollar I'll have to cover them one more time before May 1!

This year the plan is for setting plants out to harden off four weeks from seeding. Ten days of hardening and out to the garden they go, weather permitting. Holding them any longer results in them getting a bit too tall for my liking.