Ready? Set. Go! Gardening takes off with arrival of March
The second week of March is when the garden “to do” list grows as fast as the lawn. Time to prune roses and fruit trees if you have not done so yet, feed and mow the lawn, weed, remove winter debris and start your seed planting.
Growing plants from seed is by far the best bargain of any hobby on earth. For a bit more than a buck, a package of seeds can fill a vase with flowers or a table with food. Another reason to plant seeds is because many plants such as heirloom tomatoes or knee-high sweet peas are hard to find as starter plants. You need to find, buy and plant the seeds in the spring for a summer season full of flavor and beauty.
Q. I want to buy seeds for vegetables but am afraid that some seeds marked hybrid are full of GMOs. Should I only plant heritage seeds? — N.G., Renton
A. No, hybrid seeds are often more disease resistant, weather resistant and have higher yields than so-called heirloom seeds. The entire subject of GMO, or genetically modified, seeds does not really apply to home gardeners buying seeds from local seed companies. It is mostly commercial farmers that use the controversial GMO seeds to better help crops resist disease and insects. Calling a seed hybrid does not mean it is a GMO plant.
The word heirloom is also misleading. Heirloom often refers to a variety that has been around awhile because the seeds are easy to save. This is because the seed has been open pollinated so if you save the seeds, they will bear the same traits as their parents — unlike hybrid seeds that do not breed true. It is true, however, that some heirloom seeds do not have the disease resistance or vigor of hybrid seeds, but they may have more flavor and fragrance.
Q. I want to plant disease-resistant tomatoes this year and hear that some tomato varieties have been bred to resist disease and are marked with letters. Can you explain? — S.F., Buckley
A. The alphabet soup you may see on the plant stake or label of a seed pack or young plant is the shorthand for what diseases the plant can resist. Tomatoes show these letters most often. They are V for verticillium wilt resistance; F for Fusarium wilt; N for nematode, a soil worm; and T for Tobacco mosaic virus resistance.
Q. What is the best time to start tomato seeds indoors? I finally have a greenhouse so for once my kitchen counters will not be covered with baby seedlings. I tend to plant too early and end up with tall and leggy seedlings that cannot go outdoors because it is too cold! — C.D., Olympia
A. The general rule of green thumb for seed starting is 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost. In Western Washington, tomatoes, peppers and other warm-season crops prefer to stay indoors until the soil is warm, around mid May. So starting seeds around April 1 is a good bet. Cool season crops such as peas, leafy greens and cabbages can be sowed directly into the ground once the soil dries out in early spring or started indoors in the month of March and transplanted to the garden 4 to 6 weeks later.
Gardening is an art, not a science, and every garden is different, so experiment and explore and congratulations on the new greenhouse!
Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of several books. Reach her at binettigarden.com.
This story was originally published March 13, 2021 at 5:45 AM.