For many gardeners, this may be the best time of year: seed catalog season. Since the first week of January, links to online seed catalogs have appeared in my inbox, along with color seed catalogs.
For a vegetable garden in the greater Columbus area, there's nothing quite as satisfying as perusing a colorful seed catalog on a cold, snowy, or rainy January day and months later dreaming of growing your best ever vegetable garden.
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Many gardeners skip the growing season by starting their seeds indoors, and January is the time to start planning for ordering seeds and other supplies.
The benefits of growing your own seeds
There are many benefits to growing vegetable seeds indoors, but having a wider variety of different types of food to choose from is at the top of the list of benefits for me. When you buy late-season seeds from a garden center, there are usually several types of specialty produce.
Selecting vegetables with the exact traits you want is easier when you select the seeds you want and start from within. Starting from an indoor nursery allows you to grow plant varieties that have proven successful the previous growing season in the specific conditions of your garden.
Growing your own seeds can save you money because buying a single plant is sometimes more expensive than a packet of seeds. But perhaps the greatest benefit of growing your own seedlings is the satisfaction and joy that comes from flying in the Greater Columbus growing season and being active in winter gardening.
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Selection of seeds for planting at home
Although growing seeds indoors offers many benefits to the gardener, not all seeds need to be grown indoors. Some vegetables do well outdoors when planted directly in the ground. Before you start your seeds, it's a good idea to understand which seeds to grow indoors and transfer to the garden.
Vegetables that can be successfully started at home include Brussels sprouts, eggplant, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, okra, peppers, and tomatoes. Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage seedlings are actually grown indoors and transplanted into the garden as a nursery, rather than grown directly in the garden outdoors.
Some seeds that are a little more difficult to grow indoors are celery, radishes, cucumbers, melons, squash, spinach, and squash. Vegetables such as beans, beets, carrots, corn and peas should be planted directly in the garden because removal can disturb the roots and stunt plant growth.
When to start seeds?
Most of the warm season crops like peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins etc. Should be sown indoors 6-8 weeks before the last Greater Columbus frost, which usually occurs around May 1. Cool season crops like onions, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower and lettuce can be grown indoors starting in February because depending on soil conditions they can be planted in the garden before the last frost.
Resist the temptation to start sowing seeds too early indoors, as seedlings can take root before planting in the garden and larger seedlings can be more difficult to harden off or acclimatize outdoors in spring.
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Organize the necessary supplies
Now it's time to gather and organize the supplies you'll need to grow your seedlings. Pots and seed containers should be cleaned and sterilized before planting. Before turning on the lights and fans at the end of winter, check that they are working properly.
Make sure to buy the right seedbed to start your seeds from the inside. While an all-purpose or all-purpose soil mix works well for larger seeds such as squash or cucumber, smaller seeds such as tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, eggplant, etc. should use a seed starting mix that is specifically made for seed starting. : .
Mike Hogan is Associate Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Associate Professor of Extension at Ohio State University.
hogan.1@osu.edu
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch; Gardeners should plant seeds indoors ahead of the vegetable growing season.
