23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
With temps in the 30s it sounds too early to transplant them outside though if you construct a low tunnel then you might be okay. Low tunnels are really easy to make out of rebar, pvc, and builders plastic.
Maybe you want to hedge your bet some and leave some inside and put some out with protection.
You might want to ask the Florida gardeners over on the Florida Gardening forum for advice on when they can go out. From what I have read over there your normal plant out date would be end of February but this year's weather there may delay that into March.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Gardening
markwv
I did not care too much for the Mrs Amerson but I only grew it one year and it could do well in your area. I got my seed from Sand Hill. Does not keep as well as a maxima.
My favorite so far is Canada Crookneck for a moschata and Sibley for a maxima but maximas are harder to grow here in the midwest. I only got three last year before the SVB got them. The others that set did not mature.
Our other favorite is Dickenson, a Moschata that I believe Libby used for their pumpkin. That is what we use it for; pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread, etc. Seed from Sand Hill. There is also a hybrid called Buckskin but I only see it from NE Seed. I usually try one or two new varieties each year so might try Sunshine this year and maybe Bucksin, but we really like the Dickenson.
I am really getting spring fever as this has been a cold snowy winter. Monday will be -20 and more snow tomorrow. Lp prices have skyrocketed.
DKH2
Looks similar to sweat meat but that is a maxima and your pumpkin-acorn squash would be c pepo more than likely. I had a cross with my Sibley last year so must isolate or hand pollinate.
I have grown this variety twice. It is a very good summer variety. The taste is quite good. It is somewhat resistant to Squash Vine Borers and it produces fairly well for the size. I have a blog post about my experience below.
Here is a link that might be useful: Rounde De Nice
Dear Vic,
I think that price is really high. 5-10 cents per seed for a small packet is acceptable. Some hybrid seed sometimes goes for a lot more, but what is the use if you can only grow the plant once? There are some good open-pollinated varieties still left out there.
The company which produces territorial seeds web application has a version for the ipad... check out growveg.com I have been using spreadsheets for a few years and this year I started the free trial with territorial seeds and boy is it easy.... and I will say I am pretty proficient with spreadsheets and I still found it nice to use the app.
My friend uses gardentracker which is also available for the ipad/iphone crowd.
(I am a android junkie so I am waiting for these guys to come out with a android version.)
Thanks for all of the thoughtful posts. I am sure Blue Jade is a good one for me; it even looks blue at the milk stage apparently, and gets darken when its cooked. I will probably get that for an OP heirloom selection, and choose another from the local seed rack based on maturity time.
I was wondering, if I want the corn to have a chewier texture and be a little less sweet, could I just choose an SE type and leave it on the stalk a little bit longer than normal? Or do they suddenly loose all of their sweetness overnight?
It is not a sudden transition from sugar to starch as you would see in older varieties. Silver Queen (normal sugary) would go past the milk stage faster than a good SE variety. I admit I don't really need the SE characteristic because we watch the ears like coons, can't wait to eat them. However, the sugar level of Luscious comes out at a balanced level after the corn has been blanched and frozen.
Do you have a picture?
Things like my kale & spinach sometimes seem to have been planted not deeply enough so the base of the plant ends up a little ways up the seedling's stem - they fall over then grow up from the base and seem fine after they get a little bigger. A picture of your plants might help.
I've heard this is because of insufficient light / wind, but they get at least 7 hours of light a day and with the draft from the window, there's almost always a little breeze. Any tips? Is it because it's a low winter light?
Yes. There is simply no way windows can provide sufficient light for seedlings this time of year. It isn't enough hours, enough intensity, nor enough of a full spectrum. Even greenhouses use supplemental lighting this time of year.
This is a common question over on the Growing from Seed forum and there is a FAQ there about it.
Dave
You say that you're concerned for space. Here's some things I grow in my garden that take up little space (so far):
Sunflowers: My 4 yr. old niece Jocie was SO EXCITED to go outside and dig holes to plant her favorite flower, sunflower. She learned about them in school and knew I had space to grow them. I dug up the grass with the shovel, but using a small trowel she dug holes to plant the seeds. To see her face when she came back to my house was priceless--the sunflower grew to be taller than her, and had not one seed to give back to her but thousands. I highly recommend sunflowers because you can plant a single row, and they mainly take up vertical space! You can grow them against the house, against a sunny fence, or just grow one for the heck of it.
Green Bean (bush or vining): Jocie also helped me plant the beans. Like someone said earlier, bean seeds are large enough that they instill some sort of mystery in children, it seems. Whenever she'd visit my house, it became her 'chore' to pick the green beans from the bean bushes. They grew low enough to the ground that she had an easy time hunting for the beans, and I was able to interplant some catnip and rosemary which made the experience a bit more sensory. We didn't realize why we weren't getting a green bean crop until we noticed that she was eating every last bean she'd pick! The plants grow low to the ground, and didn't bush out more than maybe 2'x2'. I've read about making bean teepee with trailing beans, and including a small door so that children her age can walk into the teepee to pick the dangling beans. This would be LOADS of fun for a child, but would take up considerable amounts of space.
Stevia: If you can get your hands on it, and if you can provide it a moist, not-too-hot place, stevia is a winner. I grew a lot of herbs in my garden, and one of Jocie's favorite things was to rub the leaves and guess which plant was which based on the odor. Stevia, on the other hand, is a leaf you'd have to taste to identify. This was a good learning experience for her (some plants are safe to eat, others must be identified by smelling/etc first). The leaves do not have a particular odor, but taste of sugar cubes. The bush grows as big as you'll let it grow (it did well when clipped, ripped, eaten, etc) and it is a FAVORITE with Jocie, and probably all kids. What kid wouldn't love a sugary treat in the garden?!
Yes thank you ZachS, very scientific, interesting info!!
Appreciate it.
No problem. Although I do have to correct myself (this is pretty common theme in my life....)
I was doing some research the other day on some other biology stuff and I came across in one of my other books a much better description of a eudicot then the one I had before. It seems I have forgotten more things then I ever actually knew...
Eudicots (meaning "true dicots") does indeed refer to plants which have three openings on the pollen grains (monocots have only one) but there are several other traits that differentiate the two. The number of "seed leaves", or cotyledons, and their structure (the fact I didn't remember THAT when its in the darn name is really embarrassing), Eudicots have two cotyledons, monocots have only one sheath-like cleoptile from which the flag leaf emerges. The cleoptile also serves to protect the seedling as it pushes through the surface. In eudicots, this function is preformed by way of hypocotyl, gently pulling the seedling through the dirt. The root structure is also different as monocots generally lack the tap root of eudicots. Leaf structures and vascular tissues are also different.
So, not that any of that is important or really relates to the post, I just wanted to correct my previous mistake.