Much Ado About Beets or It's Fall Planting Time

I noticed in Johnny's Seed catalog last week that they have little graphs for each vegetable variety that show what soil temperatures are best for germinating seeds. I have never seen them before. I do not know if they are new or I am just unobservant.

This is extremely useful information, especially this time of year when seeds for fall crops need to be sown and it is still hotter than the hinges of hell. Take beets. In the past i have sown beets in the ground in mid to late September. I rarely got beets until the following spring because they ran out of warm growing days before the roots formed. Well, Johnny's little graph tells me that they germinate best when the soil temperature is 86º. That is quite warm. I went out a little earlier with my instant read meat thermometer and did some research. Of course i have no idea how accurate my thermometer is so take this with a grain of salt (whatever that is supposed to mean). Bare soil in the sun was about 87º. Soil under wheat straw mulch in the sun was about 82º. Soil under the lima bean trellis where the sun never shines directly was about 77º. Clearly there are differences depending on the environmental conditions. So the conclusion is that I need to plant my beets this week! The seed package says they will be ready in 55 days so i should have beets by mid to late October. Yiippeee! I had planned on planting carrots this week but carrots ideal soil germination temperature is 77º so i will wait a while before planting them.

Today i planted several different brassicas in flats. Broccoli, collards, mustard, kale, napa cabbage. Self-seeded mustard came up in the garden several weeks ago so I know it will germinate fine. According to Johnny's graph, and my personal experience, broccoli likes cooler soil. Collards, napa cabbage and kale like it hot. I set up some shade cloth to provide some shade for the flats. They will germinate in 3 days then i will remove the shade cloth and watch them grow.

2 weeks ago i seeded arugula in the ground. It is up and growing well in a bed partially shaded by other tall plants. Komatsuna 'Summerfest' i seeded last week and it is up and doing well. Tokyo Bekana greens and Tokyo market turnips that is sowed on Sunday germinated last evening. That was quick.

Apparently there is a worldwide shortage of Hakurei Turnip seeds. I cannot find a source now. Johnny's rep told me it would be late this year before they would have any. If anyone knows of a source for it please share with me.
Thanks.

Seeding Starting at The Funny Farm

Today I began starting seeds indoors for planting out after the last frost. Our average last frost is at the end of March however we have had frost as late as the middle of April many times in the last 10 years. I am in no hurry to get my tomatoes, peppers, and other warm season vegetables in the ground so I schedule my indoor seeding to have tomatoes ready by April 15, peppers at the end of May and eggplants in the middle of May after the first onslaught of flea beetles has subsided. All of these plants need warm soil to grow in so there is no reason to take a chance in my opinion.

My Seed Starting Method
I start all my seeds in a mix of 75% Funny Farm Gourmet Worm Castings (more about how I produce that in the next post) and 25% local granite sand. The sand helps with drainage, adds micronutrients and is cheap. A ton costs $35.00. I plant all of the above in 112 plug trays because I can germinate lots of plants in a small space. When the roots fill the plugs i transplant them into 2 1/4 pots to grow out to the size i want to plant in the beds.

I have a 4' grow light set up in the basement (it stays about 60º) over a bed of granite sand through which in have a heat cable run. When I originally set this up i skimped on the cable so the sand bed only gets up to about 65º. Between it and the heat from the grow lights, which are positioned about 8" above the flats the soil warms up to 70º, ideal for tomato seed germination. I can grow out 9 flats of plants with this set up. After they have been transplanted into the larger pots and have a day or 2 to settle in i move them to the unheated greenhouse to grow out to transplanting size.

Peppers and eggplant need a soil temperature closer 80º for good quick germination, about 7 days. I built a box under which i place a reflector with a 100 watt light bulb. I put the plug flat of peppers on top and keep the light on until the seeds germinate. After germination i move the tray with the rest under the grow light. I could have bought a heat mat but i had all the materials on hand to build the heat box so that is what i did. It's a permaculture thing.
Plant List for Today
Tomatoes- Amana Orange, Big Beef, Tomato Berry, Yellow Cherry, Eva Purple Ball, Jersey Giant
Peppers- Habanero, Early Jalapeno, Corno di Toro, Snapper Bell
Eggplant- Brazilian Oval Orange, Ping Tung Long Purple
Okra- Burgundy, Burmese
Other plants- Flat leaf Italian parsley, Bachelor Buttons Frosted Queen Mix, Fennel Zefa Fino

Spring is coming Y'all!

Some Like it Hot!

Peppers need warm soil to stimulate seed germination. 80º is the recommended temperature. Last year i sowed them in an unheated greenhouse in March. It took 2 months for them to germinate and the germination was spotty at best. This season i wanted to do it right. First i bought some heating cable and built a box, filled it with damp sand and buried the cable. Between the heat from the cable and the heat from the grow light above, the soil temperature got up to 70º. Worked for tomatoes and zinnias but not good enough for peppers i thought. I was looking around the basement and spied a sun lamp left by the previous owner. (they left us all sorts of useful stuff). I got the idea to build a box to put the sun lamp in heat to the top of the box. I put a plug tray seeded with pepper seeds on top of the box and sure enough the soil heated up to 78º. Close enough i figure. The seeds have been on top of the box for 2 days.
I'll let you know when they germinate.