Direct Seeding Versus Starting Indoors

Hi All:

Are there any rules of thumb or guidelines to follow when trying to decide whether to direct seed outdoors versus starting seeds indoors? I realize that you can get a head start with certain crops such as tomatoes and peppers by starting them indoors. But are there crops that do much better if started outside. It seems my collards, kale, mustards and turnips do better when started outside. Actually it seems like most of my cool weather crops did better when I dorect seeded.

My seed starting adventures with Tomatoes and peppers have always been a disaster, so I'd like concentrate my efforts on those crops that will do well from a nice start indoors than on crops that will do well if I just put it in the ground.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Brennan

I have direct seeded tomatoes, cole crops, and melons/watermelons, but those 3 are better off in my area with transplants. ...peppers too.

It has been traditional to transplant tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower. All of these can be bareroot transplanted which is the way we used to do it. Just about anything can be transplanted using plugs or peat cups. This does not disturb the root systems. I am still living in the forties so I don't use the modern methods and stick to trnasplanting the traditional bare root vegetables. While I direct sow collards as a fall crop, I still end up transplanting 2/3 of them to get the correct spacing.

Farmerdill:

Can you explain what you mean bareroot transplanting?

Thanks

Bare root, Planted the seedlings in hot beds or cold frames, just yanked them out of the ground when ready to transplant. Roots will barely have any dirt clinging to them. You sometimes still find the bareroot plants at feed and seed stores sold in 50 plant bunches. Most plants don't do well when the roots are disturbed, but starting in plugs alleviated that problem to the point that many vegetables today are planted in plugs. Allows more precise spacing of plants.

Up north here I bare root transplant Broccoli and Kohlrabi. Started in 4" x 6" flats, a couple dozen seed, separate easily after 5 - 6 weeks and hardly notice the disruption.
Because of limited 'sunny window' space I start everything in flats. I transplant seedlings to small pots or cells shortly after going out to the cold frame.
Andy P

I start almost everything from seed in flats either under lights or outside. Exceptions being beans and squash here. Cuts down on "weeding" the garden and I can leave areas under deept mulch until ready to plant.

I start tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, endive, lettuce, swiss chard, Asian greens, & various herbs inside. Sometimes I even start some snap beans inside as well just to mark the beds where I'm direct-sowing them & to get a bit of a head start.

Direct seed all my root veggies (beets, carrots, turnips), & also direct seed more lettuce, swiss chard, kale, & Asian greens along with the transplants of them I seeded inside. I use the early starts to help mark where I've seeded & also to experiment with possibly getting a few early veggies depending on the weather we're having at the time.