Want to jump start your garden for spring?  Seeding indoors is a great way to get your garden started!

If you start vegetable plants indoors, it is often helpful to list seeding dates on a calendar so that plants are ready for transplanting at the proper time. To do this, choose your transplant date and count back the number of weeks necessary to grow your own transplants. For example, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower are usually transplanted in late March to early April.It takes eight weeks from seeding to transplant size. Plants should be seeded in early February.

Below are some common vegetables grown for transplants and a recommended date for seeding. The dates are not set in stone, and a week earlier or later will not ruin the plants. Also, you may want to seed a week or two earlier if you are in southern Kansas and possibly a week later if you are in northern Kansas. Keep notes on how well the transplants did so you can tweak the planting schedule. Your conditions may result in plants thatneed a bit more or a bit less time. Of course if you have any questions or need more information e-mail us at retail@stutzmans.com or call 620-662-0559 and ask for Jason.

Here’s a sample to help:

Tips for the Tomato Lovers!

BLT’s, salads, and all the other flavors of summer that tomatoes bring starts with little seeds! If you’re wanting to start yours from seed this year, our fiends at Botanical Interests have some very helpful information:

Selecting Tomato Varieties

Our seed supplier, Botanical Interests, offers a large selection of tomato seed varieties! How do you know which variety is right for you? Start with the tomato type. Tomatoes are categorized into two main types according to growth habit and production.

Determinate types grow in a compact bush form requiring little or no staking. Fruit is produced on the ends of the branches and most of the crop ripens at the same time. One or more successive plantings will ensure an extended harvest period. If you’re looking for a hefty supply of ripe tomatoes all at once, say, for canning, determinate types are your choice. Italian Roma, Glacier, and Ace are the quintessential determinate varieties.

Indeterminate varieties continue to grow and produce fruit all season until first frost. Tomatoes in all stages of development may be on the plants at one time. The plants set fruit clusters along a vining stem that grows vigorously and long-typically about six feet in most home gardens. Some indeterminates have a bush form with stockier vines that set fruit clusters closer together. Red Siberian, Black Krim, and Better Bush are productive indeterminate varieties.

Two Great Tomato Varieties

Botanical Interests offers a large selection of tomato seed varieties! Here are a couple of excellent ones we carry:

Moneymaker Pole Tomato
This organic and heirloom variety earned its name because of its uniformity and reliably heavy yields. The medium sized 4-to 6-ounce fruits have sweet flavor and meaty texture, making them versatile for use in fresh or cooked dishes. A favorite for hot, humid climates.

Pineapple Pole Tomato
These eye-catching tomatoes ripen to a yellow-orange with hints of red that go through the meaty interior of the fruit. Large, Pineapple tomatoes have a complex tomato flavor with a hint of fruitiness that’s just the right balance of sweet and tangy.

Indoor Seed Starting: Importance of Light
When starting your seeds indoors, light is one of the most important factors to creating a healthy, strong seedling. There are some seeds, usually very tiny ones, which receive part of their signals to germinate from light. These seeds should be only lightly covered or sprinkled directly on top of moist soil. Some seeds, usually larger ones, can have their germination inhibited by exposure to light. It is vital that these seeds are sown deep enough to be in complete darkness until germinated. Botanical Interests seed packets have any special sowing instructions you need to consider.

Ample light is also one on the major factors influencing the physical strength of seedlings. Sufficiently intense light of the right duration will make a shorter, stronger seedling than weaker light sources. A basic and adequate setup can be as simple as four fluorescent tubes, two cool and two warm spectrum, hung about one or two inches from the top of your seedlings. A timer will help you consistently deliver 16 hours or more of light per day.

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