Taking a chance

[ksmith]

I may well come to regret this in the next few weeks, but I planted the tomato and bell pepper seedlings in the raised bed this evening. We will have temps of around 70F for the next couple of days (80s farther inland, but I'm Near The Lake) with chance of rain, and I figured oh hell. I still have viable seedlings in the tray in case something happens of a frost nature.

I did not make the same mistake I made last year, when I got greedy, refused to thin seedlings, and wound up with too many plants crammed too close together. That left me with fewer tomatoes and easier blight transmission--none of the plants out and out succumbed, but I did spend a few minutes each day pulling off yellowed leaves and spraying copper solution. This year, I planted the best seedling of each of the four varieties (Aunt Ginny's Purple, Mountain Fresh, Tommy Toe, and Siberian), and mulched the entire bed to keep blight spores from bouncing up during rain/watering. I may still mulch the lower bed as well, at least the half containing the peppers, to prevent any blight spores down there from traveling.

Three types of peppers, one each of red, chocolate, and purple. The red variety gave the healthiest seedlings, followed by the purple. The chocolate may not make it. The only seedling I could find had just sprouted, and I may have moved it too early. If it fails, I'll put in another red. I tried 6 chocolate seeds, and only one has sprouted over the last month and a half. Not impressed.

So, it's all in. Basil in pots. Store-bought parsley in pots. The only thing I may add is tarragon, but I haven't been able to find any plants so far.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

What's your "frost-free date"?

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I found a chart that gave a frost-free date of April 15 for Zone 5. I have also read that I shouldn't plant anything sensitive prior to Memorial Day, but I have put stuff in the ground earlier than that. Last year, I put the tomatoes in around the 21st. So I am early. We'll see what happens.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Mid April, you could still get snow. Back when we had a garden, I wouldn't plant corn or set out tomatoes before Memorial Day. We're a bit north of you, about 45 N.

[mindyklasky.livejournal.com]

Is the "chocolate" supposed to be a flavor profile? Or solely a color?

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I don't know--I *think* it's just color. I know that the golden and orange bells are a little sweeter than the reds.

[fireun.livejournal.com]

I tried chocolate's last year. Low germination and very weak seedlings. What few plants made it were not very heavy producers. The fruit were very pretty though.

I planted early as well. I container garden, so in the event of frost I have to scramble and pull in a LOT of buckets, but I have a good chance of not killing everything off. Worst damage I have had so far is from an obscenely brave groundhog.

Good luck and a bountiful harvest!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks for letting me know this. I used a different potting mix this year, and I thought that might have had something to do with it.

The red seedlings were the most vigorous by far, but even those weren't spectacular.

In addition, for whatever weird reason, no seedlings, tomato or pepper sprouted in the interior cells of the tray. All around the edges, fine. It must have had something to do with temperature, because I can't think of any other reason why interior seeds wouldn't sprout.

May your harvest be bountiful as well!