It’s the first really warm day of spring, and you decide to put your seedlings outside so they can soak up some sunlight. You check back in on your plant babies in late afternoon and they look…awful. Wilted. Bleached out. You wonder, what on earth is going on?
Congratulations! The precious seeds that you have sown with care have finally sprouted. But on closer inspection, you notice there’s something else growing in your seedling trays, too. Before you pat yourself on the back for a job well done, you should probably determine what the slimy green stuff actually is. Your seedling soil can…
Before growing cucumbers for the first time, I’d heard that they were finicky, fragile little seedlings. Like with many of their cousins in the cucurbit family, there’s this assumption that they don’t enjoy being moved, transplanted or their roots being messed with. As someone who starts 80% of their vegetables indoors, let me tell you – this is not true!
If you have a greenhouse, polytunnel, or indoor grow light setup, you’re already luckier than most gardeners. This means you can cheat the cold weather and start seeds under cover where they can comfortably germinate. Lettuce is one of those favorite vegetables that we’re all excited to grow come spring.
Starting a raised bed garden is no easy task. It can be expensive and labor-intensive, but it’s a one-time job and the results are well worth it in the end. My family has grown food using in-ground rows for as long as I can remember, and while this approach is straightforward and economical, it’s also a never-ending battle with weeds and dry bare soil.
I’m a big advocate of starting many of my vegetables in modules or containers and moving them into my garden as they mature. For a small garden, this method ensures that I don’t get as many empty patches as I would get with direct sowing and spotty germination. But starting seeds indoors has its trade-offs, and the biggest one is transplant shock.