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Transplanting : Question of the Day ;-)

jonhughes
14 years ago

Howdy Folks,

What I need is someone to give me an answer to a conundrum I find myself in....

We all know that Bell Peppers and such as those,need warmer soil than what is available currently in most of our gardens at today's date, to germinate.What is not as clear to me is why we should wait to plant them outdoors,until they are bigger and stronger. Why not germinate them indoors,then immediately,put them in the garden to grow at will. They can't possibly be any weaker than my carrot seedlings that I currently have growing in the garden,those things are little bits of nothing ,yet they survive and prosper,what am I not getting....Have you tried this and it didn't work,or do you just go with the "party line",because that is what we all do ????

I have 600 carrots transplants in this bed (they are so small and so delicate you can't see them in this pic,but when you get close you can see them all thriving ! !

{{gwi:8595}}

Comments (19)

  • sleepy33
    14 years ago

    Well, I wouldn't plant any seedlings out yet because it's still 7 weeks or so til my last frost date. Obviously, root crops are different, since the ground isn't going to freeze hard again. If I lived in a warmer zone or it were later in the season, I guess I might, but only if I were home all the time to babysit them. Smaller seedlings, in my experience, need more frequent watering outdoors and are more sensitive to drying out, wind, etc. By the time you get them to first transplant stage and harden them off, they'd be pretty big anyway. I'd just rather not go through the effort of germinating them and transplanting them, just to then throw them outside where their survival is a lot more dependent on other factors I can't control. Harder to protect the seedlings in the event of a heavy storm, etc.

  • oilpainter
    14 years ago

    The reason you keep Peppers inside is not until they are bigger and stronger, but because of the soil temperature and air temperature.

    Peppers like heat!!If your soil isn't warm they won't grow. If the nights are excessively cold they won't grow. In fact they just may give up the ghost and die.

    Carrots on the otherhand will grow in cool temperatures and cooler soil

  • digdirt2
    14 years ago

    Agree with oilpainter - it isn't the size of the plant that is relevant. If the soil is warm enough you can transplant peppers at the true leaf stage if you wanted to.

    It is the soil temp that is important. Just like tomatoes and eggplant, peppers planted too early when the soil is still too cold, will stunt. Indeed many different vegetables that are commonly referred to as heat-lovers and such, will stunt at best, root rot and die at worst, when planted in soil that is too cold.

    Sadly far too many gardeners focus on air temps and calendars when it comes to determining proper planting times. It is the soil temp that should be the focus and is the truly important data they need to be collecting. ;)

    Dave

  • jonhughes
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Fine..Fine...
    I'll toe the party line too ;-)
    I don't want to put my little babies out in the weather,if they are just going to up and die ! !

  • heirloomjunkie
    14 years ago

    Jon- first, awesome idea planting the onions inside the cinder blocks. A great space saver, and something I would have never thought of.

    And as for the seedlings, have those employees of yours build you a greenhouse! :) I am skittishly attempting bell peppers from seed this year. I may create a mini greenhouse using a fish aquarium, a mesh lid, and a heat lamp... not sure. But it will be fun to experiment.

    Do the seedlings require 80 something temps once they have sprouted too??

    Kim

  • jonhughes
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi Kim,
    From what I have read.. No .. As soon as they are germinated remove the heat and get them within an inch of a fluorescent light...This is one of my set-ups 72 Peppers and 72 Tomatoes and one lonely Sweet Potato

    {{gwi:228088}}

  • GawdinFever
    14 years ago

    They won't die (unless the frost gets to them). But I've planted peppers out too early a couple of years and they just sat and pouted till the soil really warmed up.

    As soon as that happened, they took off. This didn't seem to harm production, as I had more peppers than I could use or give away. It's just too much trouble to plant them out this early.

  • jonhughes
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Psssst... hey gawdinfever, (whispering ;-)
    Since you are stepping over the line anyway,let me ask you a couple of questions,...
    I wanted to plant them out the second they germinated,because if they got used to the artificial light,they would have to be "hardened off" first,and I wanted to skip that job.
    Plus, if I took them the second they germinated and planted them outside I wouldn't have to "pot-up" either.
    I don't care if they sit there and pout..IF... they will eventually produce a wonderful harvest...
    Given all of that...Now ...What say you ;-)

    An example would be one of my lettuce beds, I put them in a couple of weeks ago,because I needed the room for other seedlings,they are pouting too...but they will still do OK, which is all I am looking for, my soil and beds are sooo awesome ,that given half a chance they will thrive... throw me a bone man ;-)

    {{gwi:228091}}

  • keriann_lakegeneva
    14 years ago

    Again, you are comparing cold weather crops to peppers... peppers love the warmth.

    Plant a few out in your beds now and see how they do!

    Every mico-climate is different.. they might do great in a month.

    Do an experiment and jot down the high and low temps for the next month and let us know how it works out! I would love to get more plants outside and skip the hardening off/potting up process but I have lived with...

    If you start them inside they must remain inside until the last frost date (excluding a few cold weather crops and give or take a few warm/cold spells) but if they are germinated outside.. keep them ouside.

    Keriann~

  • digdirt2
    14 years ago

    Keriann is right. The only way you will ever prove it to yourself is to try it. Every spring there are posts on the forums from folks who wonder why their pepper plants died or stayed small with little production. After all, all they did was plant them the same time as their spinach and lettuce. Far more of those posts than ones who have found it to be successful and it is especially true for those who try to grow peppers up north as you are. But draw your own conclusions.

    You did ask and you got answers. Agree or not, there's usually very valid reasons underlying the "standard line" based on extensive experience and experimentation, but hey, it's your garden and your plants. ;)

    Dave

  • jonhughes
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks Dave ;-)
    Because of my unique (relatively) raised beds.
    I will try 1 of each kind and see how they fare...
    (I can hear them shivering as we speak ;-)
    They haven't germinated yet anyway so ...
    I will put the bed under black plastic for a week or so,
    then put them out there and see how it goes,I will video document the process for posterity ;-)

    {{gwi:42371}}
    (or at least I will be able to show the next person to ask if it should be done,why they shouldn't even bother ;-)

  • sleepy33
    14 years ago

    Loving all your pics; my husband is originally from Oregon (Newberg), and he'd give his right hand for us to move back there. Can't say it would be a hard sell either, it's beautiful and such a perfect environment for growing...well, everything! :)

  • jonhughes
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Amen... Preach it Sister ;-)

    {{gwi:22413}}

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    14 years ago

    Your Bobcat would be a great help around here also. Transplanting seedling carrots is a new one for me. Carrots here are a winter crop and are usually planted on site and then thinned when about 3 inches tall. Al

  • jonhughes
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi Al,
    Yeah...we just sow them in the ground also,but one of the biggest nurseries in this town wanted to try transplanting them and see how they fare,I told them I would give it a shot and report back ;-)

    Here is a link that might be useful: Transplanting Carrots

  • greenchileemily
    14 years ago

    Hey is that Roxyann in the background John?

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    14 years ago

    An interesting video, thanks. I used to live in a commercial vegetable growing area, including carrots. When I moved away 15 years ago the growers had converted most of their vegetable planting from field sowing to purchasing plugs and planting those into the field. The exception was root vegetables. The object was the elimination of the field thinning which required a lot of labor and battles with labor unions and OSHA. Al

  • tn_veggie_gardner
    14 years ago

    Yea, jon: I need you to Express Mail those red taters to me so I can make some true Irish tater salad tonight! ;-)

  • jonhughes
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    greenchileemily wrote:

    "Hey is that Roxyann in the background Jon?"

    Hi, No ...I live in Grant Pass, Roxyann is in Medford, I think people refer to that one as Mt.Baldy ???
    I just call it "that hill over there" ;-)