Success with Seeds

Though it may be on the late side in Southern California to start tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds for the warm season garden, there are loads of others that can be direct seeded in the garden. You can also get a head start with cucumber, squash and bean seeds by planting in cells or flats, especially if cool season vegetables are finishing their run.

In my garden, the sweet peas are over the top of the six foot trellis and I’m letting them set seed. It will be a few weeks before I’m ready to set out cucumber seedlings and they prefer the longer, warm days of late May.

Transplanted cucumber seedlings from another year.

I’m always learning from garden mentors and in my meanderings I encountered a useful piece full of reminders for experienced gardeners and sound guidance for beginners. Learn from this article at A Way to Garden.

How to Start Seeds: 18 Confidence-Building Tips

Here are two of my favorite tips:

16. Do sow extra, and do “cull the herd” by discarding any weak or “off-type” seedlings at any stage of the process. More is not better if they are runts. One expert seed-farmer friend even starts her careful selection process even before sowing, discarding the smallest seeds from each packet. Give yourself the best chance for success with a bit of ruthlessness.

18. Don’t blame yourself for every failure. Old seed or poorly stored seed or just crappy seed can outsmart your best efforts. Sometimes seed was viable (had the ability to germinate) but lacked sufficient vigor (the ability to thrive). Learn the difference. And then you have the weather to invoke as the guilty party. This is gardening, remember? We can always blame the weather, and then try again.