In Other Words
April 15
2021
9
Diggin’ in the Dirt: Starting Your Seeds
By Chip Bubl
Oregon State University
Extension Service - Columbia County
Seed Starting
Seeds are not difficult to start. If
you can create an environment that pro-
vides plenty of high intensity light, you
can grow excellent transplants and have
them available at the time you need
them. You also have access to a lot more
varieties if you grow your own.
If you have a greenhouse or
cold frame, you won’t have to worry
about added light. But if you are starting
seeds inside, you will need a waterproof
seed-starting table with fluorescent shop
lights with reflectors that can be lowered
and raised as the plants grow. You don’t
need expensive grow lights. The lights
need to be set as close to the growing
seedlings as possible. Two inches is
not too close. This will create a strong,
stocky plant.
I have successfully started to-
matoes indoors in modest light and
moved them outside in the trays under
eaves that get good light and moved
them back inside every evening. They
warm back up when they don’t need the
light and seem to do okay outside dur-
ing the day if temperatures exceed 50
degrees.
There are two common ap-
proaches to starting seeds. Some people
grow them in flats with enough space
between seeds to allow them to be di-
rectly transplanted out into the garden.
More commonly, seeds are sown more
thickly in starting flats and then trans-
planted into individual pots or “cell”
trays. The seedlings are transplanted
after they develop their first set of true
leaves. This process takes a little more
time but will generally produce a stron-
ger transplant.
Seeds are often sown too ear-
ly. Then they are held in pots past the
point that they should be. You can plan
your seeding dates by counting back-
wards from when you want to put trans-
plants out. For example, it takes about
2-3 weeks to grow seedlings of lettuce
and greens for direct transplant or 3-4
weeks if you move the seedling first
into individual pots or cells. For cab-
bage and broccoli, it is 4-5 weeks by the
first method or 5-6 weeks by the second.
Lettuce and the cabbage family can be
transplanted from now on. Beans can be
started and transplanted despite every-
thing you have read. They can be ready
to transplant in three weeks or less after
seeding in individual containers. Have
the ground prepared and protect from
cold nights.
Tomatoes need 5-7 weeks by
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the first method or 6-8 weeks by the
second. Peppers are slightly longer.
Squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and mel-
ons should only be sown directly in in-
dividual pots and they need 10-21 days
to transplanting.
Using that information, don’t
plan on planting your tomatoes outside
until mid-May at the earliest. If
you protect your tomatoes with
either a mini-greenhouse struc-
ture or some other device like a
“Wall of Water,” you can move
this up a couple of weeks. Pep-
pers are very sensitive to cold
soils so a late May to early June
is usually better. Again, if you
can protect them after setting
them out, they will do better.
Warming the soil by covering it
with clear plastic for about five
days before transplanting also
helps quite a bit.
Seedlings need good air circu-
lation and attention to watering
– neither too much nor too little.
This is very important! Veg-
etable transplants need to be hardened
off by exposing them to outside tem-
peratures, sun and wind gradually. Put
them outdoors for short periods of time
in indirect light and then for a few more
days (for short periods) in more direct
light.
When transplanting, continue
to protect them from low or high tem-
perature extremes. Bait for slugs and
consider drenching the transplants with
a good water-soluble fertilizer. Most of
our transplants in April and May need
additional heat. Floating row covers or
plastic mini-greenhouses can help to
keep the vegetables growing rapidly. If
you are using plastic hoop structures, be
sure to open them up in the morning to
avoid excessive heat buildup. It is easy
to cook your tender seedlings if you are
not paying attention.
Despite all the rain, I am opti-
mistic that we will have a good garden-
ing year. Last year, the wet weather of
May and June really had an impact on
gardening, especially the warm season
crops like squash, tomatoes and pep-
pers. The odds are against a repeat.
The OSU Extension office is starting
to re-open for face-to-face public con-
tact Monday through Thursday. I will
generally be there Monday and Tues-
day but check as individual days can
change. There should be someone an-
swering the phone all those days.
Free newsletter (what a deal!)
The Oregon State University Extension
office in Columbia County publishes a
monthly newsletter on gardening and
farming topics (called Country Liv-
ing) written/edited by yours truly. All
you need to do is ask for it and it will
be mailed or emailed to you. Call (503)
397-3462 to be put on the list. Alter-
natively, you can find it on the web at
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/colum-
bia/ and click on newsletters.
Take excess produce to the food bank,
senior centers, or community meals
programs. Cash donations to buy
food are also greatly appreciated.
The Extension Service offers its pro-
grams and materials equally to all peo-
ple.
Contact information for the Exten-
sion office
Oregon State University
Extension Service – Columbia County
505 N. Columbia River Highway
St. Helens, OR 97051
(503) 397-3462
Email: chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu