when to start vege seeds?

can any one help me? i am looking for a site that might tell me when to start vege seeds ,the temps they need to germinate etc. any help would be appriciated.i live in zone 7 hickory if that helps anyone.thanks for helping
moretz

i got my sheet from our ag extention office in town. you might try a google search for your state i'm sure you will find something.

Local farm supply and seed houses often have planting charts that tell you when to plant in your area.

Also, UC-Davis has a spring seed starting schedule chart. Unfortunately, I don't have the addy, but if you search for UC-Davis I'm sure you'll find it.

What it does is tell you how many weeks before last expected frost to start seed and when to transplant. It's a great aid.

farmgirl21,
what do you put in the search to make sure i get the right thing?what is the sheet called? thanks so much for your help




Brook,
UC-Davis is in california right? well i live in north carolina so i dont know if that would help me because i think they are a different zone then me right? but thanks ok?

moretz

This is a pretty basic rundown: http://www.almanac.com/garden/garden.seedsbestsown.html

Do you know when your last frost date is? If not, you can look it up here: http://davesgarden.com/zone/

I'd guess you're not too far from the same timeframe we use here (we're right on the cusp of 7a/6b, depending on the winter weather - our average last frost date ranges from 4/1 to 4/15, depending on who you talk to.) I'll start my peppers and eggplants in about a week, which will give them 8-10 weeks to grow before last frost. Tomatoes will be sown toward the end of February, since they don't need quite as much headstart as the peppers. Lettuce will be started about the same time as tomatoes, and I'll do successive plantings every 10 days or so for several weeks.

moritz: It doesn't matter what zone you are in, because it's a fill-in-the-blanks sort of thing.

The headings are crop, safe setting out dates (relative to frost free date), setting-out date*, weeks to transplant, when to start indoors*, and helpful hints.

The two columns marked (*) are blank. You fill them in based on your frost free date.

One example: cucumber. Safe setting out is listed as 2weeks after frost free date and weeks to transplant is 2-3.

So, let's say your frost free date is May 1. You can set seeds indoors in the second to third week in April, or direct sow May 15.

The file is called Spring Seed Starting Schedule. There is also a separate Fall Planting Schedule that works in a similar manner.

go_vols, thanks for the link it was very helpfull and you did great thanks so much thanks for helping



Brook, wanted to lyk that i found it!!!!! thanks so much for helping me.wow what info was there thanks i booked marked it for futere referances lol thanks again
moretz

moretz,

Would you mind posting it here? I didn't bookmark it because I thought the web site would download when I printed out the chart. Only it didn't.

Thanks

ok here you go enjoy everyone!!!! and thanks for all your help
moretz



http://vric.ucdavis.edu/selectnewtopic.garden.htm

Thanks, moretz.

Ain't that a dilly of a web site!

The book Square Foot Gardening by Mel
bartholomew has a whole chapter devoted to this.
I started some broccolli and cabbage and parsley about two weeks ago

skyeblu,
you wouldnt post it would you?


Brook,
yes very good site enjoy!!!!!!

A great source of information is the catalog for Johnny's Selected Seeds. This seems to have all kinds of great information and they are very helpful if you call them (even if it is not their seeds you are growing.

Kathy_T,
thanks so much for the site all the info i can get is helpfull thanks again
moretz

I have a partially related question - how does zone relate to last frost date? those zones are good for knowing what I can plant here, but they didn't say piddle about when frost ends here...

help! I'm searching for springtime! :)
-Jennifer

Of and by themselves, Jennifer, they don't. In fact, I've always been of the opinion that the USDA Zones are about the second most useless piece of gardening information we have.

So then how might I know when frost ends where I live??

USDA zones don't have anything to do with first/last frost date, but with minimum winter temperatures. My reference was to the person's relative proximity to me. I disagree that zones are useless. For those of us who are growing perennials and shrubs in the Eastern half of the U.S., they are still a good general guideline for plant selection.

To answer your question, your local extension office (or perhaps state's website) will have first/last frost dates for your area, based on historical data.

NOAA has quite a bit of information on each state and region; it takes some clicking to find it.

Most local nursuries will tell you the average date of the last frost. Also, several years ago Wyatt-Quarels Seed Company in Garner, NC was giving away a vegetable planting guide for North Carolina. Its just a single sheet of paper, but has all veggies grown in NC and when to plant seeds/and or plants, as well as how far apart, how deep, etc. I use it constantly.

My experience with first and last frost dates are that they can vary lots. My last frost date is supposedly May 15th, but we've had years that it didn't frost at all in May. We've also had years where we've had frost in June. I've learned that I need to watch the temperatures closely in spring and fall and have the blankets and stakes handy for quick covering. I also keep the sprinklers set up so I can blast the plants with water before the sun hits them if we do get a light frost and I didn't get things covered. I do use the last frost date as a general guideline, but it isn't always accurate.

Joan

puddlegum,
could you send me a copy of yours? i will be more then glad to pay you if you like plmk and thanks
moretz