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'REAL' GARDENERS SEE FLOWERS OUT THEIR WINDOW YEAR-ROUND
I heard Freddie the Gardener (Saturday, 8-10 a.m., KSTP Radio) say that he can actually look out his window in January and see a yard-full of beautiful flowers.
This idea of thinking about - or imaging - your garden year-round is a gift all gardeners can develop. It's why Minnesota's winters are less traumatic for gardeners than they are for non-gardeners. What we gardeners are doing, in other words, is thinking about and forming mental pictures of our gardens every day of the year.
I got a lift the week after Christmas when at least a half dozen seed catalogs arrived in the mail. The following week I was busy figuring out exactly what seeds to order from each, and now it is just a few days until my winter seed-starting gardening season begins. Hey, it's not really winter, right? Over the years, I've tried starting many different types of flowers and vegetables from seed and growing them under lights from January to spring transplant time. Many of the lessons I've learned have to do with what not to do.
Perhaps the biggest mistake indoor gardeners make is planting seeds either too early or too late. The trick is to time your seed starting so the transplants are at the optimum stage of maturity for setting in the ground in late May.
Some seeds, like cosmos, zinnias, sweet corn and potatoes, don't need to be planted indoors at all. Others, like begonias, should be started in January. Most seed packages indicate the time to plant to achieve this optimum transplant size. I'll start my first seeds this week - begonia seeds ordered from Burpee's. In February, I'll plant impatiens, petunias and geraniums.
Many vegetables and larger annual flowers don't need to be started until March, April or early May. One year I made the mistake of planting marigolds too early. I soon had many large plants that took up way to much light space and were leggy and unsightly at transplant time.
One of the biggest challenges to starting seeds is to match the number of plants you start to the light space you have available. Our late-winter days produce too few hours of light to depend on natural light, so fluorescent lights are essential.
Plants need 16-18 hours of light per day. I use four hanging shop lights with double 4 ft. bulbs. This looks like a lot of space right now but it will quickly prove inadequate once plants start filling out.
One idea that has worked for me when ordering seeds from a catalog is to select from varieties that have earned "All America Selection" status in previous years. AAS varieties have been chosen by a panel of gardening experts for all-around performance. Some of my favorites are 'Tango' impatiens, 'Purple Wave' and 'Chiffon Morn' petunia and 'Lady in Red' and 'Strata' salvia.
Several other tips will have a big influence on how well your seed-starting project fares. Use a sterile commercial soil mixture labeled for starting seeds. Make sure soil mixture is moist before adding seeds and then cover containers with cellophane or plastic until seeds sprout. I like to germinate seeds upstairs in a south window where the temperature is warmer, and then move seedlings to the basement lights to grow at a temperature of about 65ƒF.
Seedlings should be watered from below by placing containers in a pan of water. Remove containers when moisture shows on the surface, and repeat watering only when you can feel by lifting containers that most of the moisture has been taken up by the plants. Once plants are growing, it's better to err on the dry side, as containers that are kept too moist are susceptible to disease and mold growth.
If you haven't tried starting your summer garden from seed in late winter, I recommend you give it a try this year. Even if your first attempt is a disaster, you can still visit the garden center in May and buy all the plants you need at the perfect stage for transplanting. Your advantage over other gardeners will be that you won't even have noticed it was still winter back in January and February!
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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