Hi,
I want to start tomatoes and peppers from seed next spring. I keep seeing references to growing under lights indoor, but can I start the seeds instead in my small greenhouse? I have never done this before, but I got one of these plastic walk-in type greenhouses and was hoping I could start stuff from seed in there.
If so, would I start the seeds the same time as is recommended for seeds started indoors? Will they need less hardening than indoor grown seedlings?
Thanks!
Boel
Starting from seed
Boel,
Most seeds need to germinate under warm conditions. I am guessing that your greenhouse is unheated? If so, your night time temperatures are likely to be low and cause slow or poor germination in mid or late March. After the seedlings are up, they can handle cooler temps like 60 - 70 ° Still, they need very good lighting as soon as they emerge.
Greenhouse plants probably could still use some harding off, but less than ones raised solely under lights....hope this helps a bit.
Have you ever considered winter sowing? I started a number of veggies this way last year for the first time with great success. There is lots of information at wintersown.org.
I just purchased a couple of 'greenhouse' shelving units that aren't heated, and I am going to experiment with some early starts in there this year, as well as winter sowing most of my veggie seeds. It will be interesting to see what works...