when and where to plant

Hi, Many thanks for your warm welcomes!
I have a couple of questions about the timing of planting my Japanese morning glory seeds. With the common morning glories I've grown, I have planted them in soiless mix inside in the last week of April or so (our last frost date is about May 10th, but there has been frost a week later in some years). Then I grew them under my lights until it was warm enough to risk planting them outside. I grew them in jiffy pots so there was no problem with disturbing the roots when transplanting. Of course it didn't take long for them to get too tall for the lights and then I'd have to raise the lights to the maximum.
I also tried planting them outside where I wanted them and that could be hit or miss. They'd germinate but would often disappear, perhaps thanks to cutworms. I would end up with enough plants to cover my trellis eventually.
But with the Japanese morning glory seeds I want to minimize the losses and grow strong plants. Any advice you can give me would be great.

Thanks, Tanglee

I think you have the basics on starting the seeds and planting and growing them...I grow most of my plants in containers supported on circular tomato cages. How long is your growing season? Your last frost date is about as it is in Delaware. We can grow the vines until the frosts arrive in November. I get started in late May.

Joseph

I have to use snail bait or slugs will eat the cotyledons. I have sprouted some of the vines in a large cage to protect them and then planted them out after they got bigger. I use wire around the bottoms of the pots and planting areas because of armadillos,cats,dogs and other critters.

Karen

Yes Joseph, your growing season sounds about the same as mine. Sometimes we've gotten a frost in October, just one night or two, but there went all the annuals. But in the last few years it's been November. I want to grow the MG on 3 trellises I have against my back fence to give it colour and interest.
Karen, armadillos! I can't imagine my reaction if I saw one of those in the gardens, I'd be calling the zoo asking if they had had an escapee! Here the chief animal culprit would be squirrels, followed by cats. Since the yard is fenced in dogs aren't an issue. It's the slugs and bugs that are the biggest threat. Wire sounds like a good idea as well as slug bait. Thanks

P.S. I meant wire cut and shaped around the bases of the plants like caging. I`m already seeing the slug eggs so very soon it will be time to do pest control here.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cirrusimage.com/Mollusca/mollus3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cirrusimage.com/mollusca_garden_slug.htm&h=189&w=252&sz=18&hl=en&start=19&um=1&tbnid=NHpePzs5H6BP3M:&tbnh=83&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dslug%2Beggs%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DHPIC,HPIC:2005-32,HPIC:en%26sa%3DN

A variety of different kinds of fencing cut to fit is good for that too. Karen

The wire caging sound like a good idea. Wow, you're seeing slug eggs now! All I'm seeing is white. The snow had almost all melted by yesterday when we almost broke a record with a temp. of 48 degrees. But a system came roaring in overnight, bringing alot of wind, some snow, and a temp. drop down to 10! We're supposed to get another 4-6 inches of snow on Friday, so I'm not going to be seeing slug eggs for awhile!

Brrr! We have rain instead of snow. Our yard is getting partly flooded in places and I`m ready for the rain to quit for a while!

I can plant my more replaceable vines on March 15 and cover them if it gets cold a few days at a time. I lose a few but it gives me a head start on getting color in the garden. I plant the more rare ones in pots I can bring in and out of the house.

April 15 is safe for us to put everything outside. What is that time for you?

About 7-10 days before you plant would be good for general checking for pests and preventive measures.

Karen

We definitely can't put things outside in April, they'd be hit by frost for sure. May used to be a beautiful month here, but in the last 3 years we've seen some really miserable weather. It's been rainy and as cool as 38. We even saw snow at the beginning of last May! Usually it's okay to put things out by May 20th. But heat loving vegetables such as tomatoes and green peppers shouldn't be planted until the beginning of June. Of course I'm speaking of my hometown of Montreal. Now that we're in the Toronto area, where we're up half a zone, I've heard spring starts earlier. We'll see. All I know is that tomorrow we're getting a snowstorm with between 6 and 12 inches of snow and it looks like school will be cancelled and alot of people will be working from home. It's coming up from the US. If it weren't for looking at seed catalogues and then starting plants under the lights I'd really get cabin fever!

Tanglee