Gardentalk – Getting started now with seeds indoors

Cucumber seedling
These cucumber seed starts will be ready for planting outdoors when the ground warms up. For some locations around Juneau, especially in the Mendenhall Valley near the Mendenhall Glacier, the last frost can occur as late as Memorial Day. (Photo by Matt Miller/KTOO)

There may still be snow on the ground in parts of Juneau, but it’s certainly not too soon to begin gardening.

In this season’s first edition of Gardentalk, a weekly “Morning Edition” segment and podcast devoted to garden and yard care in Juneau, Master Gardener Ed Buyarski encourages us to prepare our seed starts.

Starting seeds indoors is a good way to get an early jump on the gardening season, especially if the ground is still frozen or it’s still too cold outside.

Listen to the March 15 edition of Gardentalk:

Vegetables with a long growing season and a preference for warm conditions — like tomatoes — are an obvious choice for starting now.

Peppers, eggplants, onions and leeks can all be started from seeds now. Buyarski said he’s also starting herbs like cilantro, basil and parsley.

But Buyarski said it ultimately depends on the different timing of each vegetable. He suggests checking the seed packet for the typical period between starting and then transplanting outside in a warm greenhouse or after the last frost.

“I don’t start something too early so they get too large under my lights before they go (outside),” Buyarski said.

He also advises using fresh potting soil and clean pots for your starts.

Do you have a question for Master Gardener Ed Buyarski about gardening or yard care? Then go to our archive page where you can pose your question in the form on the right. You can also browse through previous seasons’ Gardentalk segments.

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