Seed starting problem (kind of)

J Long 3/26/2015, 11:41 am

I started three trays of seeds three days ago, mostly peppers and tomatoes, BUT some cucumbers. The issue is, I have 2-3 inch tall cucumbers sprouted already! The other stuff is not up.

My thinking is, if I transfer those out to pots, they will be ready to produce cukes WAY before I get them in the ground middle of may.

Should I just kill those off and wait a couple more weeks and start more?

Thanks

CapeCoddess 3/26/2015, 12:51 pm

I have had no luck starting cukes inside, but others have. I direct seed under clampacks after the soil under the clampacks has been warmed up for a while. Maybe you could transplant outside earlier than normal under some kind of plastic?

As for peppers and tomatoes, mine usually take a while but are much faster on a heat pad - around 5 days +/-. Are yours on heat?

CC

J Long 3/26/2015, 2:05 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:I have had no luck starting cukes inside, but others have. I direct seed under clampacks after the soil under the clampacks has been warmed up for a while. Maybe you could transplant outside earlier than normal under some kind of plastic?

As for peppers and tomatoes, mine usually take a while but are much faster on a heat pad - around 5 days +/-. Are yours on heat?

CC

Yes, they are heated and I am maintaining about 85 deg F.
I was anticipating about another 6 -7 weeks of transferring seedlings a couple of times before going into the ground. I might just transfer a couple of these into post and see what happens and just seed the new seed directly to the garden.

JW

**camprn** 3/26/2015, 10:41 pm

J Long wrote:I started three trays of seeds three days ago, mostly peppers and tomatoes, BUT some cucumbers. The issue is, I have 2-3 inch tall cucumbers sprouted already! The other stuff is not up.

My thinking is, if I transfer those out to pots, they will be ready to produce cukes WAY before I get them in the ground middle of may.

Should I just kill those off and wait a couple more weeks and start more?

Thanks

My recommendation is to just sow the cucumber seed directly into the garden. Sometimes cukes don't like to be transplanted and the result is usually a weak plant.

Dunkinjean 3/26/2015, 11:27 pm

It is usually recommended to start tomato and peppers seeds 6-8 weeks before planting in the garden. The cukes only need 3-4 weeks before planting in the garden.
The peppers take the longest to grow from seed.
When I planted my tomato and pepper seeds the tomato seedlings came up first, then the peppers. I also used a heating mat (DYI) my hubby built for me.
Then I potted the seedlings into pots.
I would pot the cukes into larger containers if necessary to save them.
When you plant them into the garden be careful and plant the cuke with as much of the soil as possible as to not disturb the plant. If it doesn't transplant well into the garden then you could direct sow by seed.
Best of luck.

landarch 3/27/2015, 10:28 am

Cukes really don't like to be transplanted...cukes grow so quickly that direct seeding is the way to go...still a month or so away from adequate soil temps.

Dunkinjean 3/28/2015, 12:33 am

landarch,

You are correct that cucumbers are best direct sow as I have always done in the past.

**jimmy cee** 3/28/2015, 7:57 am

Cucumbers need to be planted when day temps are 68 degrees F and night temps aren't below 60.
I'm delaying my planting this season hoping I can challenge my cucumber beetle problem.
I know a farmer who has gorgeous cuke's, he plants with his almanac which he tells me is June 21st.

Windmere 3/28/2015, 12:09 pm

My first year of SFG I tried to start cucumbers and zucchini inside. For me, it was a disaster. I did not know how delicate they are. They all immediately flowered (plants were only about 5 inches). After flowering, they withered away. Since I'm so clumsy with seedlings, now I direct sow cukes and zukes.

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