Jumping the gun?

[Meowmie]

Today I am finishing up cleaning and prepping the garden for next spring. I love starting with a garden that was well prepped before winter and I can dig into it faster.

This past year, gardening, weather wise, was highly disappointing. Normally I wait until the garden catalogs start to arrive in the mail (mid December) to start to get involved in planning the next years garden.

This year I can't wait. I have such a strong desire to get something out of the ground besides just enough to feed us that day, and to forget how bad this last season was.

I'm going to start my planning tonight. Last summer was way to short, and I'm curious.. Has anyone ever tried to grow seedlings for normal than the recommended time indoors? Is it worth it to get the extended growing season or do the plants tend to not do as well?

I'm planning to get extra lights and larger pots to put the seedlings into as they grow, along as feeding them more and I am also planning to start items inside that normally you have to wait to put in the ground by growing them in paper pots so the roots won't be disturbed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am not going to let the weather knock me down 2 years in a row. Trying to anticipate ahead of time where I might get tripped up.

 

[Chuck]

Today I am finishing up cleaning and prepping the garden for next spring. I love starting with a garden that was well prepped before winter and I can dig into it faster.

This past year, gardening, weather wise, was highly disappointing. Normally I wait until the garden catalogs start to arrive in the mail (mid December) to start to get involved in planning the next years garden.

This year I can't wait. I have such a strong desire to get something out of the ground besides just enough to feed us that day, and to forget how bad this last season was.

I'm going to start my planning tonight. Last summer was way to short, and I'm curious.. Has anyone ever tried to grow seedlings for normal than the recommended time indoors? Is it worth it to get the extended growing season or do the plants tend to not do as well?

I'm planning to get extra lights and larger pots to put the seedlings into as they grow, along as feeding them more and I am also planning to start items inside that normally you have to wait to put in the ground by growing them in paper pots so the roots won't be disturbed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am not going to let the weather knock me down 2 years in a row. Trying to anticipate ahead of time where I might get tripped up.

I always start my seedlings as early as I can because the more mature the plants are when you set them out the earlier they will start to produce and therefore you will have more to harvest. The trick is when to start. For instance tomatoes. The earliest I can set out my transplants without worrying about a late frost is April 1. I always gamble with some of the plants and plant them mid March and depending on the long range weather forecast maybe earlier. The only problem is that if I plant the seeds too soon, say mid December, they will be so big that I don't have enough room for them all inside and I have to move them in and out and that becomes a major PITA, especially when they are in quart sized pots and have 150 or so plants to cart around. So it all comes down to how much room you have and how many plants. Usually I have buds already formed when I set out the plants. It is all a matter of timing

 

[JessiFox]

I don't think that you're jumping the gun necessarily- it's understandable to want to get a good, solid start on things early...especially after a disappointing season. I agree with Chuck, I do tend to do these things as early as possible to try and get more out of it. I have less space than I did previously, though, so I do have to hold off a little for the sake of not having too much growing big indoors before I can safely move it outside- the weather has been so unpredictable the past few years, it's always a gamble about when you can safely move them outside.

 

[headfullofbees]

I take risks with planting out.
I sow a few each of lots of seeds early, knowing that I could lose the lot, but knowing that if I don't, I'll reap a huge benefit in return.

 

[gmckee1985]

No, you are definitely not jumping the gun. You are taking initiative and that's admirable. Hopefully things turn out better for your this year than they did last. It's always disappointing to have a bad season. I definitely think your planning with pay off this year, but there's no real way to tell for sure. At the end of day, a certain amount of luck in terms of weather patterns is needed. And no amount of planning can make up for that.