Oh, I am so excited!!
This week is the week to start certain seeds in Zone 5. I have onions, leeks, artichokes, and a packet of perennial flowers.
A few things to note:
Onion family needs to start early because they need as much heat and sun to grow - peppers also need to be started early because they also like the heat and sun. Peppers can get big fairly quickly though so I tend to start those only a week or two before tomatoes. Nightshades in general are heatloving and will need heat mats to start unless in a room that's already fairly warm.
Onions - I will put 15 - 20 seeds into each cell, then spread apart a little when up-potted to 3 inch pots, then separate when I plant them in the ground in late April/May
Leeks - same as above
Artichokes - 1 seed per cell. Last year I planted 6 plants, 6 survived - 3 produced flower heads and I let all 3 bloom. THEY WERE GORGEOUS. This year I want to plant them in my front yard that gets direct sun for 12 hours to simulate their native region. I'm planning on planting out the rest of the packet, so approximately 15 seeds to start.
Packet of perennial flowers - received from MN Dept of Ag. Claims to be all native perennials, however, when reading the varieties that are included I have dealt with 3 in my yard that became invasive and wanted to take over. I will do 1 seed per cell to separate out what I don't want in my yard. Those plants will go to the hill at the school garden where they can take over and hopefully choke out Canada thistle and the weird non-native grasses.
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