Newbie Q: Time frames for starting seeds indoors?
| Posted in Vegetable Gardening on
Hi there,
Newbies question here. I just purchased some seeds for vegetables. On a few of my new seed packets, it says start seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before last frost, but that would have been a few weeks ago. It also says I could start seeds outdoors 2 weeks after last frost.
Is it ok to start them indoors now? Or should I wait for to plant them outside? I’m unclear if it would be bad to start them at this point inside or not.
Thanks!
Replies
Hi, welcome to vegetable gardening! Can you tell me your zone and what vegetables you're wanting to grow? Generally peppers and eggplants carry the 8-10 week recommendation. If you're in a short growing season zone, you won't get fruit before the first frost by starting them outside or possibly even inside at this point. An important number on the seed pack is 'days to maturity'. If you add up days to germination (usually about 7) and days to maturity, you can determine how much time it will take the plant to produce. Keep in mind also that as the season goes on and we get cooler shorter days as we head toward frost, tender vegetable plants won't grow as vigorously. Tomatoes are generally faster to germinate and produce, so you can likely still start those inside, depending on your growing season length. Other popular vegetables such as beans, summer and winter squashes, melons, and cucumbers are actually best started outside in place and you should still have plenty of time for those!