1. Egg plant - plant the same time as your tomatoes, or 2 weeks earlier. Maybe in the next 2 weeks or so. I usually plant tomatoes around St. Paddy's Day.

2. Pepper Corno di Toro - I start peppers the middle of February.

3. Sweet Basil - basil doesn't always transplant well, so I just sow the seeds in the ground in May.

I generally start peppers towards the end of February but am holding off this year until this weekend. Corno di Toro is a C. annuum and they generally germinate and grow faster than other species so can be started later. Also if they are going in the ground I would start them later than if you are planting them in a container, peppers like warmer soil and air temps then tomatoes and should be planted ouy later.

Tomatoes I generally start the beginning of April, here on the Front Range they cant really be transplanted until the end of May without significant protective measures. Eggplant would probably be fine to start around the same time, but like peppers are unabashed heat lovers and would benefit from waiting to transplant.

Obviously from what you can see, the conflicting information continues!

I have Candy Lily seeds started already, not doing any vegetables as I usually snap up what I need at the spring swap! Doing TONS of Candy Lily seed though, the first batch has 4 up already! Hopefully there will be many more since there were probably 25 or so seeds in that container. 2nd container out of the fridge and on the heat mat as of yesterday and the third batch is cooling. I plan to bring lots of it to the swap but won't know what colors they'll be for a year or 2.

Whenever you decide to start seeds, grow your seedlings, just remember to take your time hardening off the plants.

Good reminder, lizbest. I'll make sure to start a few extra tomatoes and whatever else for the swap.

Yes, please!!!

I don’t plan to start my tomatoes and eggplants till the
very end of March or first week of April.
I’ll be planting them in the ground close to the end of May, so that
gives them a good 6 weeks to get going before they go in the ground.

I don’t do peppers, so don’t have a suggestion for them!

I’ve never had a problem transplanting basil, Tomatoz. I start that in pots too. I start all my seeds in 2” pots and usually
up-plant them to 3” before they go into the ground, and even when I’ve pulled
the basil seedlings apart, giving them virtually bare roots when transplanting
them, I haven’t had a problem—as long as I don’t keep them too wet after
transplanting when they’re small. And
transplanting into the ground I don’t “disturb” the roots at all, and have
never had a problem with that either.
I’m surprised you have—I’ve always considered basil to be one of the
“easiest” things to start!

Jerry, when you start them be sure you have either a window
with direct sun or else artificial light that you can keep very close to the
seedlings—fluorescent works well and doesn’t burn the foliage. Also, plan to have a fan on them for several
hours every day to help strengthen the stems as they grow—the same as if they
were getting natural wind outside. If
you don’t do that the stems will get real wimpy and will have trouble
supporting themselves as they grow. And
“turn” the plants so they’re getting “wind” from different directions. When I start mine, after they get the first
set of true leaves, I carry them outside every day it’s warm enough, so they
get accustomed to both the direct sun and the “natural wind” outside and learn
early on how to fend for themselves—but I also use a fan inside on days when
they can’t go outside.

I just made up my list of which tomatoes I’m gonna grow this
year today! Progress!

Have fun, Jerry!

Skybird

P.S. Liz, I’d like to
order a pink one! ;-D

P.P.S. Yeah, I know
you don’t know which will be which color!!!
They “should” start blooming the second year.

Thanks for the timing info. In short, I'm still within the range of possible dates. I am waiting on a grow light , but put just few pepper seeds in one of the cheepo plastic seed starting domes with a heat mat just to try things out.

Skybird - I can only compare the transplanted basil that one of the community gardeners plants. He planted 6 regular basil, they grew to about 6-8", started producing seeds about a month from transplant, then died.

I sow lemon, lime, and cinnamon basil in the ground as soon as the tomatoes are all planted. I've had no problem with any of them, save the seed some time in September after using the leaves for lots of dishes and yummy chicken.

The big box Bonnie sweet basil plants we used last year were prolific after transplant. Maybe your fellow gardener had bad luck.

I want a pink as well, Skybird! And a purple! And spotted.....hopefully I'll get a good assortment of colors, got seeds from 2 different places to raise the probabilities of a good variety. I check the container sprouting every day, I'm up to 5 tiny sprouts now! When I'm done I'll have sown somewhere just north of 100 seeds, hoping to get at least 50% germination rate.

I agree with Jerry, Tomatoz! Maybe the person you know just had bad luck for some reason. I do constantly keep mine pinched back every time they start blooming to keep them growing and producing more leaves--and to keep them "bushy" since I mostly just grow them as ornamentals, but even when they go to flower while I'm out trippin' I've never had one actually die. Could the person with the "bad luck" possibly have way over watered them!?! I can't imagine why else they might have just died!

I plant mine here and there mostly among the perennials, and I think I'd have a problem trying to direct sow them and then remembering where the seeds were--and then not overwatering them when they first germinate--or else forgetting to water them at all. But I very much believe in: If it's workin' for ya, keep on keepin' on, so, glad direct sowing works for you! (My neighbor on one side let a couple I gave her go to seed late in the season a couple years ago, and the next year she had a huge patch of the stuff coming up! She makes pesto, so that sure worked for her!)

Liz! If they ALL germinate, what are ya gonna do with 'em??? Also, I want to let you know that the two new Iris I got from you at the swap are getting new growth, so I know for sure they both made it! Can't wait to see the colors this summer--if I get at least one flower on each of them! Otherwise I guess I'll be waiting another year! But they're each developing "several" new shoots, so I'm hoping for this year!

Skybird

My basil goes to seed every year. I like the flowers and the insects they attract and I have never noticed the deterioration of flavor that some people mention. So I let them do their thing. But they happily grow and thrive all the way until frost.

I have always transplanted basil, too. I have tried direct sowing it but never had any luck. I start them around the same time as tomatoes or a little later.

Using soil blocks. I have peppers and eggplants with cilantro in a flat on heat right now. Already started cole crops lettuce some spinach and daikon radish and beets in the heated greenhouse.

The daikon is not happy in soil blocks lol.

I'm glad you're seeing growth on the iris, Skybird! I'm afraid to ask about Joker.....And if all of the Candy Lily seed germinates I'll plant a bunch then pot up the rest and EVERYONE will have to take some home from the spring swap! I'm up to 8 little bitty, cute sprouts now, looks like fairy iris at this point!

Ok,

One more question. I'm glad I ran the test first. A planted a few pepper seeds in growing plugs in the domed seed starter on Sunday. I took one out and opened it up. The seeds were intact, but looked a little swollen. That seems OK after just 4 days.

The potential problem is that it looks like some slight mold is forming on the top surface of the plugs. I have had it quite moist in there to the point that the dome is covered with droplets. I opened it up a bit this AM and it now has droplets on about 10-15% of the clear plastic. I intend to toss the plugs after a few more days testing and then wash out the tray with bleach before planting for real.

Finally, the question is how moist should the starter dome be and is some mold to be expected?

Hi Jerry,

I'm sure you're going to get all sorts of different recommendations here, but this is how I do it! I don't use peat plugs or peat pots for anything anymore. When I did I couldn't grow anything--everything was always either WAY too wet or too dry, usually too wet! Last year I got a couple tomato starts from a friend (with a hort degree!) who had started them in 3" peat pots and they were totally wimpy and sad looking. I immediately tore the peat off and replanted them in 3" plastic pots in a good quality (mostly Canadian peat) store-bought potting mix and they took off and started to grow and look good in a couple days! Many years ago I gave away the remaining peat pots and plugs I still had!

I also don't use any sort of a dome. When I start my seeds I just put them in small 2" plastic pots with the "good quality" potting mix, then I saturate the soil completely (bottom water), and usually the seeds are up before they need more water--and as soon as they germinate you need to start letting the soil dry some already or they could "damp off" on you, a/k/a, very suddenly FALL OVER and die! If the surface of the soil does start to dry too much before they germinate I re-wet just the surface with water in a hand spray bottle. That way I can control the moisture to be sure I'm not getting it "too" wet. If it's very warm where they are when I'm germinating them I do sometimes very lightly lay a piece of clear plastic over the top of the pots to prevent too much evaporation--but never use anything that completely prevents evaporation.

So that's what I'd recommend--but, hey guys, bring on all the other recommendations!

Skybird

I'll throw my two cents in.

Jerry, I always get a little mold/mildew (white, cottony looking stuff) on my growing medium at times during the seedling stage. It doesn't matter what I do - it always shows up to some degree. I never worry about it and have never had any issues with it affecting my plants. I just scratch it into the surface mix and call it a day. With that said, it is very important not to over water. I always water from the bottom, never the top. I'm not sure what kind of setup you have - you say "plugs", but I don't know what that means. Jiffy peat pellets? Something else? Are you able to post some photos?

I start all my seedlings in plastic 6-cell packs like the kind you buy petunias in at HD - they have holes in the bottom which are perfect for bottom watering. I just wait for the surface soil to dry out and the packs to feel lightweight (the difference in weight between moist and dry medium becomes more obvious the more you practice), then set the packs into a tray of water for 5 minutes or so until the surface soil has turned dark with moisture again. Then I pop them back under my lights and check on them daily. If you are using pellets, you should be able to do the same thing - pop them in a tray of water just long enough to moisten them completely, then put them back under the lights. Don't worry too much about mold/mildew, but be mindful of excess water. You might have some failures - it's all trial and error. Don't give up and just start over if you have to. :) You'll get an idea of what your seedlings need pretty quickly once you get going. There is still plenty of time.

I'll try and post some photos in the next few days of my grow setup. It's a bit elaborate, but I also grow a lot of starts under my lights. I have already started my peppers, a few herbs, some micro tomatoes (that are producing fruit already) and some Asian cabbage. I have learned my lesson about starting my big tomato plants too early - I will start those toward the end of the first week of April. I have started them in mid-late March the past 3 seasons and the seedlings just get way too tall. I'd rather start with younger, stockier plants than tall and lanky ones. I usually start around 75 plants, though, and that may be the problem - some varieties grow faster than others and inevitably compete for light as they grow.

Lettuces, some additional Asian greens, beets, radishes, etc. all get direct-sown outdoors in March. I'll direct sow squash, beans and melon in mid-May.

Gary Pilarchik (<--- click that link) has an outstanding Youtube channel dedicated to gardening. He has more information on starting and caring for seedlings than you could ever hope for. Do yourself a favor and check out his channel. If he doesn't answer your questions about seed starting, few people will be able to. :)

Have fun!!

I use bottom heat for starting things like peppers and tomatoes because the basement I start my seeds in is pretty cold. In order to keep the starter cells warm, I cover with either a dome or, more often, one of the hair net looking food cover thingys. I don;t cover because I'm concerned about seeds drying out. However, if you leave it uncovered, you lose a lot of the heat to evaporative cooling (the same process that allows our sweat to cool our bodies) and so it's really not doing anything.

So, in the warm, humid environment I've created water condenses on the covers, that's nothing to be concerned about, and molds and mildews start to show up. Many are harmless, but some are not and could cause damp off. I typically vent these tiny greenhouses every once in a while by removing the cover for a few hours and as SOON as even a single sprout has broken through the dirt, the covers are gone permanently. Usually, the rest of the little plant babies that are going to germinate have and are right behind that first one over the course of a week or so. So the covers are much more a hazard than a help at that point.

The dirt is going to stay plenty wet for such teeny tiny little guys for a while after they sprout so I definitely don't water right away. I have had seedlings that I forgot about go completely dry, to the point that you you would swear they were dead, totally wilted, come back to life after watering. Now, that is NOT a suggestion, but it illustrates the fact that underwatering is much less of a problem than overwatering.

100% agree with Zach, especially the second paragraph about the covers - once a seedling pops through the surface, remove any heat-trapping domes or covers. Your seedlings will surely suffer otherwise. I put them immediately under my lights, typically no more than 2-3", once the first sign of life appears. Within a few days most of the rest of the seeds will start poking through in abundance.

A quick update. Lights are now in place. I bought one $40 T5 2' x 2 bulb fixture and re-purposed 2 of my shop lights and changed those to 6500K bulbs. The height is adjustable by moving the open chain link up the chains hung from the ceiling. the chains are a leftovers from lights previously installed over the years. All 3 lights are on a timer set now for 16 hours on 8 hours off.

I opened up one of the plugs and the pepper seed is growing after 7 days - this was without lights. My order from Baker rare seeds is supposed to show up later this week so I will be planting for real then. Thanks for the help.

Pics below of my setup with and without lights and my height adjustment system (sideways).

Looking good Jerry! I just got my peppers started this past Saturday, and now Im getting anxious for them to sprout. However we are going to be in Alamosa Friday and Saturday... Right when they will probably start popping up....

The letter carrier arrived with the last 2 seed orders today while we gone.

Where were we at that moment? At the garden center, buying seed ...

Ha! I'm here on RMG to review what I said a couple of months ago about new-to-me tomato varieties I would like to try in 2017! The source would be Tomatofest, in the Bay Area. I've looked at half a dozen seed outfits since these 2 orders were stuck at the PO over Sunday ... restraining myself. Will go back to see what I thought would be fun earlier and not give in to anything frivolous ... just yet.

Steve

Lookin' good, Jerry! From what I can see you should easily be able to get 6 trays under that set up - plenty of room for lots of seedlings!

Here are a few not-so-great photos of my set-up.

It's been a work in progress for a couple of years, but I think I finally have it. I have 4 4'x2' shelving units lined up, 3 of them with 2 4' lights and one with 2 2' lights. I purchased the lights about 3 years ago at a MUCH lower price than they are now. It's a shame to see they've gone up so much because they were less than $40 when I bought them in mid-2014. I like them because they're height adjustable to about 30" and they're portable. The portability plays a huge role because I can take the lights upstairs and put them on my larger dining table during the hardening-off week instead of lugging 12-15 trays from the yard to the basement (what a PAIN!). Like you, Jerry, I have mine on timers for 16 hours - 6:00am to 10:00pm.

This will be season 3 of starting all of my seedlings under the lights. So far, things are going well.

Peppers started January 01, 2017. I topped them February 26, 2017.

Micro tomatoes (Hahms Gelbe) are now bearing fruit. Also started January 01, 2017:

Basil started January 14, 2017:

Soloist Chinese cabbage started January 14, 2017. I have 3 of these plants and should have mature heads in about two weeks from now. I will be direct-sowing additional seeds outside this coming weekend.

Another round of micro tomatoes (Tiny Tim and Red Robin), as well as a few extra peppers, that were started sometime in mid-February. They grow very quickly once they establish.

The only things left to begin indoors will be the larger tomato varieties (probably around the end of the first week of April) and perhaps some kale or chard. Otherwise, I'd rather have less to harden off, so most other things I plan to grow can be direct-sown outdoors in the coming weeks.

Good ..

.Heavens!

That's wonderful!

Steve

Thanks folks. At 7 days on Sunday, I had the beginning of germination on 4 of teh 6 cells. I had put two seeds in each.

As of today, all cells have growth. At least one has two. I cut these cells of the sheet and moved them out of the dome. These were sample pepper seeds from a $1.50 seed pack from Home Depot. I now have planted my seeds from Baker Creek and Seeds From Italy in the dome.

Real quick Jerry (in the middle of making supper) you should take thise cells off the heat mat, once they sprout they don't need the extra warmth and it can promite legginess.

Hi Zach, I'm way ahead of you. Just after posting I googled when to remove the mat. Those seedlings are now behind the dome on a box 2-3" below the light.

Jerry

Two week update on test pepper seeds. 11 of the 12 seeds germinated and seem to be doing OK.

During today's daylight hours: Here we go!

And now, the pepper seedlings have a life of their own. I become their slave with no choice but to try to cater to their every need, with a few more seedlings and a few more needs showing up, everyday!

Steve

Looks like seed starting is starting to take off. So far I have onions, leeks and peppers. Peppers just starting coming up yesterday after about 8 days. Think I want to start another tray of peppers. Also growing basil indoors which is mostly an experiment that might need to be at least partially terminated due to space considerations.

Have already transplanted the parsley and rosemary outdoors in a cold frame and
direct sown various others stuff in cold frames. Have lettuce that
survived the winter outside cold frames.

It looks like you maxed out that light alright. I plan to start my basil plants from seed - I'm guessing I should plant the seeds about April 1 or so.?

Jerry, if you're starting them indoors, I'd shoot for around 3/19. (This is the part where I wish I'd kept better records last year, because I don't actually remember when I started them indoors last year.)

Jerry, that's the top shelf. I have four more levels. I'm also looking around for a platform that I can hang the metal halide lamp above. It's an insanely bright light and keeps the temperature in the basement significantly warmer. April 1 is good for starting basil from seed or I sometimes direct sow in late May.

Man everyone has gone gangbusters with starting seeds! Awsome. I only have the peppers yet and they have just started to pop up at the end of last week. I'm getting sort of spotty results, a couple varieties I may have to start more of.

I'm pretty far behind everyone else on mine... just started my peppers and a few early herbs last night.

On the plus side, my first ever germination tests are starting to produce little seedlings, including the chervil seeds I saved last year. Huzzah!

Fourteen varieties -- tomato seed, idaho! Uh, er ... tally ho!

There will be several more varieties started later but these are a must have group. Actually, there are other must haves.

It was fun imagining all the plants beginning to ripen fruit in the garden, again. The fact that I don't have a single new variety didn't even occur to me. It might be quite enuf to just be welcoming back what I've enjoyed before. Tried & True. Yeah, I like that! (I can't believe that I'll have the least number of varieties in this century! And, I'm good with that?!!)

Steve

More pepper seed will go in the mix, this morning. Germination has been going okay but it is absolutely obvious how the age of seed is effecting that. The oldest seed is the slowest - simple as that.

It's a little tedious to hear about a seed set aside during the Byzantine era growing into a mighty plant that amazes an entire museum of archaeological herbalogists. I think most of these stories are cut from the whole cloth ...

Sure, old seed can germinate but helpful conditions must be maintained and one really shouldn't put everything together (like I do ;o) where the seedlings that sprouted 2 weeks earlier, out-competes the weak sisters! I've gotten into serious trouble with this in the past but not really this time. Frugality/frugality, don't ya know? Jalapeno and King of the North seedlings should show up but I have fresh seed for both and don't see this as too late. The other 8 varieties are doing fine!

Really, it was just like newest seen first to germinate, oldest shows (or, didn't show) last. Now! Let's see something in the eggplant box!

I'm a little late with the celeriac sowing and would have bought some seed potatoes at the garden center yesterday if'n I had not decided that it's really, still too early this year for "chitting" them in a warm kitchen. Shoot. With a major meltdown going on here, I'll be lucky to be able to even step out in my gardens this month ... without being followed around by a sucking sound from my boots!

Steve

where it's raining again! and the last snow in my yard (from November!) will likely disappear, today!

Coming right along! This weather is cuckoo.

I just started more pepper seeds this morning, Steve. Joe E. Parker (New Mexico) had terrible germination, of course they were 70% off from Johnny's and the packet said germ. test was like 60% or something... Explains the sale and the results lol. So I bought a new pack at the garden center when I went to get the little black individual pots for most of the rest of the peppers that got separated and up potted today. I still have some coming up in the cell packs, like the bhuts that just emerged from the soil, so those will get new homes probably next weekend.

I wanted to grow potatoes this year, but since Im going so hot and heavy with the peppers, I just don't have the space. Its sure hard to beat some freshly dug spuds, at least on par with fresh off the vine tomatoes.

I did spread some native grass seed in a new landscape bed I put in last year along with prairie sunflower. It has been so dry I covered them with one of those germination blankets.

These showed up for the first day of Spring!

Sungold tomatoes for a sunny morning ... and, a long season of harvest, I'm hoping!

Steve

Send me over one or two pf those Sungolds please

Box #2. I think every seed may have sprouted!

(You may be able to see that I like the Yellow Jelly Bean tomatoes ;o)

Steve