I my seeds germinated, now what do I do?

I got some seed starting kits and successfully started some seeds. This is very exciting to me, but it creates a problem I hadn't considered. I live on the border of NY and CT in zone 6B, the plants I've germinated are cleome, heuchera, and dianthis, and we are still gettings some frosty nights. Is it safe for me to put the seedlings (which are currently in little grow pot pods) directly into the garden?

Someone should be by soon to help you more with this.
My suggestion would be to wait till after your last frost date
bre

I'm by no means an expert, so take this for what it's worth...

Like barhea7 said, I'd wait until after your last frost date to put your seedlings in the ground. If necessary, you can thin them and transplant some of them to larger pots until it's warm enough to plant them. I have 3" peat pots that I've been transplanting my larger seedlings to; particularly morning glories and lupine.

I also believe seedlings grown indoors should be hardened off, which is to say gradually moved from the house, to a sheltered area outside, and then finally into the ground after your last frost date. What I do with any plants I need to harden off is to put them outside by day, then move them into my garage at night. I do this for about a week before I actually transplant them into the garden. This gives them a little time to adjust to the change in climate from house or greenhouse to outdoor space. I also gradually increase the amount of sunlight they get during the day. Some plants are more sensitive to sitting in the warm sun and need to be gradually acclimated.

I'm sure others with a lot more experience will be along to give you some advice. This is what I would do, though. So far it has worked for me. :)

Kayly is right. That's a good general way to treat seedlings and new plants, especially in your zone. Excellent advice.

How do I know when my last frost date is?

laura10801 - You're not too far from Norwalk, right? According to http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/ct.html, the last frost date - for Norwalk, anyway - is May 8.

laura - this is a helpful frost date list: http://www.almanac.com/garden/frostus.php

And Syrumani's link didn't work for me, although it's right! victoryseeds dot com/frost/ct.html

You'll have to type that in, remove the spaces, and replace my "dot" with a real dot. hehe



This message was edited Apr 5, 2008 11:32 AM

I saw the almanac.com frost list, but the only city listed in CT is Hartford, and since that is inland, I would think frost dates might differ from a coastal town. Just a thought.

Hmm, you're right, KaylyRed . . . my link only takes you to the homepage. Let's see if this one works better . . . http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/

A couple of things I'do with transplants...

Seedlings grown in still air indoors will fall over the second they are hit by real wind
outside. Once they are a couple of inches tall I have a fan on an interval timer to
shake them. I start with sa 5 mins per hour and work up to about 20 mins/hr.

I used to hate hardening off. Running in and out with trays is a pain.
I read somewhere all you need to do for hardening is place the palnts outside
(after frost) in an area where the sunlight and breeze are reduced 50%.

To this end I build a 4' cube out of 2x2's and covered all but the bottom and
one side with 50% wooden furring strips. The open side faces North .
Placing flats in here cuts the wind and light as described. This works well.
After about a week I can transplant most things directly into the garden.
Two weeks is a bit safer. Make sure to keeps plants that are hardening off
from drying out completely or sitting in water. Check every day.