Seed Planting - Peppers and Onions
Onions
I planted a lot of seeds this weekend. First, I planted a flat of onions. There are 5 varieties and I planted about 30 seeds from each. These will be grown indoors for a few weeks to get a head start. Then they will be transplanted into the garden.
The varieties that I planted are
A. Carentan leek
B. Yellow cippolini onion
C. Yellow of Parma onion
D. He shi ko bunching onion
E. Tropeana lunga onion
Peppers
I also planted several varieties of peppers. We had some issues with germination last year so I planted a lot of seeds this time. The peppers will stay indoors until mid May, when our weather starts getting warm enough.
I planted the following vareties.
A. 8x early jalapeno
B. 4x California wonder bell pepper
C. 8x unknown sweet pepper. The name was ripped off the seed packet.
D. 8x Marconi Rosso sweet pepper
E. 4x Black Hungarian hot pepper
F. 4x Hungarian hot wax pepper
Soil blocks
For most of our seed planting, we use soil blocks. I really like starting seeds in soil blocks. They are easy to transplant and don't require a bunch of plastic trays. Plus, they are easy to make. You just take the soil blocker and press it into moist soil a few times, until it is full. Then, you squeeze the handle and the blocks fall out. It even makes an indent for the seed.
I like to use a soil block maker also. Are you specific on your potting mix so they don't fall apart?
We have found one bagged seed starting mix that works well for making soil blocks. I can't remember the brand off the top of my head, but will look when I get home.
I've tried a few different kinds that didn't work well. I've found that soil with a lot or large pieces of perlite tend to fall apart.
Good post! I need to get busy. You're way ahead of me.
I have not tried one of the soil block makers yet. Looks promising. For early spring planting I like to do tomatoes and peppers. I try to keep them alive all year threw the hot summers here so in the fall I have nice full size plants that yield a nice production. Has worked well last 2 seasons for us but it is not easy keeping them alive in July and August in north FL. Other then those two crops I prefer to just replant the ends of my celery, onions and romaine lettuce etc. I might add some squash or melons here or there also. You really like the soil block makers?
Yeah, I like the soil blocker. The soil you use is very important. If the mix isn't right the blocks will fall apart. I found one bagged soil mix that works but there are a lot of recipes around for mixing your own.
I need to get one of the bigger blocker. We only have the 2 inch and some plants, like squash, quickly out grow a 2 in block.
We have a very different problem growing tomatoes and peppers, trying to keep them alive through spring. Our last frost day is in mid April but we sometimes get frost and hailstorms into may. Last year, I transplanted tomatoes in the middle of May and the next day it hailed. They lost a bunch of leaves but luckily managed to survive and produce a decent crop.
The weather always keeps us guessing. I use worm castings and peat moss for most of my seedlings and then we transplant them into 4 gal buckets in the green house. I use worm castings, my own compost and a mixture of frass as my soil base with peat moss and then I use worm tea or top feed castings from my worm tea brews that will have a little bio char and other meals I like to use.