I may have started too early

I bought a seed kit and planted my seeds that should take about 10 days to germinate. Well 3 days later I have tomato, squash, onions, zinnia, & cosmos. I bought some jiffy pots to transplant today. What kind of pots would you suggest since we have about 3 months until Spring?

Oh dear! You did start a bit early. How are you growing them? Under light?

Onions are pretty winter hardy and you can probably harden those off then plant them out in about 6 to 8 wks..really depends on varity and growing condition.

You'll have to hold those tomatoes somehow until at latest the end of March. Once they get too big in whatever you have them in now,you can re-pot into 16 oz.styrofoam cups,planting them up to the very bottom of the crown. If you have to plant them out before your last frost date(probably the same as mine...4/15)best to cover them w/ 1 gal. milk jugs until weather as settled.
Sorry to say,in my opinion...zinna,cosmos and squash,you planted them way to early and you should just toss them..but that just me. I don't start zinnas until late March-early April since they sprout quickly and can be set out within a week or two of sprouting...same with the squash.Cosmos I direct sew.



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Well I have to agree with BigRed. Don't transplant into jiffy pots if you have 3 months yet to go -- you will have a soggy bottom that will drop out. I often use the plastic cups. I heat a screwdriver over my gas stove and then push it through about 8 cups at a time from the bottom. This is quick and the cups are cheaper than garden pots. Good luck!

I am growing these plants in an upstairs loft where the temperature is a constant 70. I am not planning on planting these until April. I was thinking why pay for these plants when you can grow them yourself. I just didn't think it through about the jiffy pots. I have had good luck with my gardening so I just thought I would give it a try.

I start most plants about 8 weeks before I want to set them out into the garden. Peppers get a longer start, 10 or 12 weeks, and seem to do fine in deep 2 inch pots (4 inch if I have the space). Some flowers need a longer head start, but not zinnias or cosmos -- I usually direct sow those, or give then a 2-4 week head start inside if I'm really impatient.

I've started tomatoes really early in the past and set out huge plants, but frankly the smaller, younger plants I've put out in recent years have done better in my garden.

You're going to need big pots for those, definitely... you may end up putting the tomatoes into quart containers, or even gallons, although it'll help that you can plant out in April (I have to wait until May!).

:-)

Great thread, I'm going to start some veggies and flowers and it helps.

What is wrong with starting seeds early? (This isn't meant to be a contradiction, just a general question)
Wouldn't it help the plant get their roots stronger?

What's wrong is that they get stressed from having insufficient light and no room to stretch out. Then when you put them out finally, they never really recover from their difficult childhood. That is why a smaller plant put out later will often do better than a larger plant put out earlier.

I wish I may have ordered to early. I'm still waiting for my veggie seeds to get here.

LOL...difficult childhood!

You could keep the tomatoes going by taking cuttings and potting them up. Read that some people have keep a cultivar they liked going all winter that way.

So there is a real postive to what seems to be a mistake. You could double (or more) the number of tomato plants you have by April. If the mother plant gets too big, toss her and plant the babies.

You might ask in the Tomato forum for more information.

This message was edited Jan 19, 2008 5:43 AM