With all of that beautiful snow that covered the ground and now the soggy soil, you may be feeling like you are never going to be able to get out there and work in the vegetable garden. Well think again. This is the perfect time to start some of your seeds indoors and you don’t even need the light to do it. Some seeds actually prefer the darkness to germinate. A few examples are asclepias (butterfly weed), amaranthus, some asters, gazania, melampodium, verbena, vinca, zinnia, moonflower vine, eggplant, cantaloupe and cilantro.
If you want to start them indoors, place them in a dark tray and cover with a dark dome or use something that will block out the light. Once the seeds germinate remove the cover and grow as you normally would either with a sunny window or a grow light. If you are thinking of growing cantaloupe, hold off seeding until early April; it germinates quickly.
Many seeds have a very long germination rate. To name a few that can take up to 21 days to germinate are: perennial asters, ascelepias, dragon wing begonias, heliotrope, pentas, moonflower vine, hot peppers, dill, lavender, rosemary, parsley, oregano. So start them now and don’t forget to check them every couple of days to make sure that the soil has not dried out. Most of the mentioned plants are also very slow growers and you’ll want some size to them before planting outside in the garden.
Sharon Cohee
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