Saturday, May 8, 2010

From Cool to Warm

seedling shelf
My indoor seed-starting is slowing winding down. It's been over 3 months since the first seeds were sown and I've had my fair share of successes (notably tomatoes and brassicas) and failures (artichokes and lettuce). Hopefully, I will learn from my mistakes next year. The cool weather crops are long gone from the shelves and what's left are your typical warm season veggies (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers/chilies, melons, summer squash and cucumbers).

warm season plants 1
I had 100% germination from my Sugar Baby watermelon seeds. From what I've heard, it can be difficult to achieve a full-sized watermelon from a home garden here in New England. Since most of my garden is part shade, I'm not that optimistic about my chances. I'm also growing Charantais melons this year, an heirloom variety I've heard so many wonderful things about. Hopefully it will grow well for me as I'm very excited to taste it.

My Sweet Delight honey dew melon seeds did not germinate well at all. After a failed first attempt, I was finally able to coax 2 seeds to sprout. (Also pictured here are zinnias and nasturtiums.)

warm season plants 3
My bush beans (left) also did not germinate well, only 8 out of an entire packet of seeds. The zucchini (middle) are beginning to form their first true leaves. (Also pictured: more broccoli, cauliflower and morning glories.)

warm season plants 2
Finally, my Spacemaster cukes are coming along well. I have 4 total along with 1 long Asian variety. In my opinion, there's nothing more refreshing than a freshly picked cucumber from the garden. I think I'll sow a few more seeds to make sure we have an over abundance this summer. (Also pictured: Calabash gourd - an edible Asian variety.)

17 comments:

  1. You have such variety I am so envious! I know I am just starting this year but I can't wait until I have a large garden with everything I could possibly want to plant! Your seedlings look great!
    ~Mel

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  2. Every year, it seems that one crop or another gives me fits with seed starting. This year it was the Early Butternut squash (complete seed failure). I had one round of lettuces that was pretty bad as well. I think we have to have a certain number of failures to keep us humble.

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  3. Let me warn you....I planted Spacemaster cucumbers last year. I planted mine in three containers, one was a 5-gallon bucket, the other two were smaller wastebasket size. There were 2 plants in each container, and I harvested 102 pounds of cucumbers before I got sick of them and ripped them all out. Just sayin'

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  4. Thomas, your plants look great...it is difficult to get watermelon or any melon for that matter to do well here either. Our growing season is too short. Last year we had a couple of good Sugar baby watermelons and a few good canteloupe but nothing to get excited about. I decided not to grow any this year due to the limited space I have.

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  5. Thomas, I have had good luck with hot season plants, like watermelon, by planting them in a patch of black plastic. The black plastic covers the ground and soaks up the sun's heat transfering it to the roots of the plants. The platic helps to hold down the weeds as well.

    Susan
    susan-chicdaisy.blogspot.com

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  6. Hi, down here in NZ where melons can be marginal we have some heirloom watermelons which are suited for cooler, short season growing e.g. sweet siberian, od'ham yellow meated, i have grown sugar baby as well, but above grow better for me so am going to stick with them - don't know if are available for you though. I also do what Susan suggests with black plastic, put heaps of animal manure in planting holes, and run drip irrigation lines under the black plastic. Growing your own melons is very satisfying!

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  7. Don't worry too much about those beans, sometimes they just don't like being babied. I usually plant those straight in the ground and get the best results. I planted Sugar Baby too this year, my first attempt at growing melons, although I am really afraid of the pests they may bring. You did a great job for your first year starting from seed! Next year will be a great success I am sure! My first year I think I "overthought" things too much and the following year I relaxed a bit and just let things happen and it worked great. You have already gotten around the bend of the learning curve so next year will be even better! I can't offer any advice on that artichoke, I'm in the same boat :(

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  8. I got one golf ball sized melon last year because I didn't get enough sun. The cantaloupe were small, but still good, however. Germination was poor there this year for me, too. I'm thinking of planting more seeds directly once it's warmed up a bit more.

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  9. Your plants look wonderful! Great job for your first year growing from seed! I direct sow my cucumbers, beans and greens. Maybe next year I will start some inside.

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  10. Ignore Granny ;> she has no shade in her garden. It is usually sunny there and she gets heat. No really cucumbers do produce well even here, but I never even come close to her harvests. I suppose it is up to the weather, but we haven't had good luck with that for the last couple of years. And speaking of cucumbers. I have to go get mine started.

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  11. My cukes sprouted in record time this year, lol....still waiting for the melons to show themselves. All that greens looks so luscious Thomas.

    It is odd how sometimes a packet just won't germinate isn't it? Peppers were my problem children this year, and last year I had no trouble with them at all- go figure!

    I am off to dig all the row cover back out after deciding it was done for the season last week. I think just about bed will be tucked in here for the next few nights.

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  12. Whoa! Nice!
    I've almost given up on seed starting. I guess I've got to wait for the temperatures to cool down which would be at least a month from now :(

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  13. The only watermelon I've had luck with up here is Crimson Sweet. That being said, I am planting Sugar Baby this year since a friend had good luck with them. There can never be enough cucumbers in my house, so more is always better.

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  14. I’ve almost forgot how it is having seedlings indoors. They all look great.
    So far I didn’t have success in growing melons, so I’m still thinking should I try this year. I hate wasting all that garden space for nothing.

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  15. Your plants look far better than mine! I didn't have lights so I had to use the sunlight from a south-facing window. They grew, but were leggy. I will be trying lights next year!

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  16. Your seedlings look fantastic!

    I had problems with starting bush beans inside. Maybe they'll do better outside :)

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  17. Charantais are the melons I'm growing this season, so I'm excited to compare our results. I really hope they do well with your short season.

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