Re: N&C Midwest: March 2020

**Scorpio Rising** 3/14/2020, 12:08 pm

My rhubarb isn’t up yet...I just brutally thinned my celery babies!

https://i.servimg.com/u/f62/19/25/77/83/e847ca10.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f62/19/25/77/83/43237e10.jpg

**Scorpio Rising** 3/21/2020, 10:24 am

CK, I can’t recall exactly when I put out my onion sets, it was probably May 1st. I know it was a couple weeks before my tomatoes and peppers. I planted an Amish variety called “Candy” last year that I got at the nursery locally here, really liked them, not sweet/candy at all but a nice not hot onion. On the smaller side.

CitizenKate 3/25/2020, 12:17 am

Thanks for the info on onions. I didn't have time to start seeds, so I'll have to just buy onion sets from the local nurseries. I've all but given up (for this season) on the peppers. I've made a second start, and they're taking forever to do anything if at all. I don't know why peppers are such a challenge when they were so easy my first year growing them.

I've got a crap-ton of seed I harvested from the purchased (heirloom) plants I raised, so I'm going to spend the coming season experimenting with them to crack their code.

OhioGardener 3/25/2020, 10:34 am

Thinned the peppers to one per cell, keeping the strongest one for each cell. Six each of Bell, Banana, and Jalapeno.

N&C Midwest: March 2020 - Page 2 Pepper29

Time to trim the onions back again, so that they're less than 3" tall. Will start hardening them off today so that they will be ready to transplant to the garden next week.

N&C Midwest: March 2020 - Page 2 Onions16

**Scorpio Rising** 3/25/2020, 6:18 pm

Nice, thanks for the pics, OG!

Here, just checked on the cold frame. Things are up! It was warm in there, sunny afternoon. I have 4 uneaten onions from last year’s crop, minis, gonna stick them in somewhere...

CK, I haven’t started my peppers yet. Need to free up some space on the light shelf. Maybe this weekend? Like I said, I did this 3 times last year and finally late late late ended up with my plants going out! I bought 4 plants; Candy Cane (stripy foliage with a striped type red pepper—low producer, pretty), Ancho/poblano—loved it, actually bought some seeds for that this year! Also had regular bell peppers.

My late started peppers consist of King of the North, Early Jalapeño, Big Red. They are reliable early-ish peppers.

nrstooge 3/25/2020, 9:39 pm

Today I transplanted onions, leeks, shallots, spinach, kale and lettuce to the large planter on the patio.. under row cover now. Felt good to be on the apartment patio.

**Scorpio Rising** 3/27/2020, 6:47 pm

nrstooge wrote:Today I transplanted onions, leeks, shallots, spinach, kale and lettuce to the large planter on the patio.. under row cover now. Felt good to be on the apartment patio.

Cool! I put 4 leftover onions into the garden from last year. We are supposed ot get some rain, which I will try to capture to my advantage!

OhioGardener 3/28/2020, 2:27 pm

The Kale, Spinach and Swiss Chard that was transplanted into the bed last week are doing great! The Chard got eaten off, but they are coming back nicely now that they are protected. The Kale & Chard are planted 2 per square, and the Spinach is planted 4 per square. The onions at the far end of the bed were planted as seeds last fall, and grew through the winter. We're now pulling them for salad Green Onions.

N&C Midwest: March 2020 - Page 2 Kale_a11

The onions have doubled in size since being planted. They are planted at 16 per square, and they'll soon be ready to start pulling for Green Onions.

N&C Midwest: March 2020 - Page 2 Onions17

MrBooker 3/29/2020, 7:06 am

Ohio Gardener wrote:

"The onions at the far end of the bed were planted as seeds last fall, and grew through the winter. We're now pulling them for salad Green Onions."

I did not know you could plant Onion seed in the fall like that. Thanks. I have been lazy this spring and only just now got some things planted. Our stores are getting plants in but they're just tiny seedlings. I'm going to try holding off on planting until they get some bigger plants.

**Scorpio Rising** 3/29/2020, 3:28 pm

MrBooker wrote:

I did not know you could plant Onion seed in the fall like that. Thanks. I have been lazy this spring and only just now got some things planted. Our stores are getting plants in but they're just tiny seedlings. I'm going to try holding off on planting until they get some bigger plants.

I didn’t know that either! I will try that. Do you plant when you put garlic in, OG?

OK, here are some early pics of the cold frame! Radishes, Bok Choi, Turnips, chard and spinaches are up! Waiting on cabbages...

https://servimg.com/view/19257783/356

https://servimg.com/view/19257783/357

I don’t know why my pics don‘t show, you have to click on the links...

OhioGardener 3/29/2020, 8:05 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote:
MrBooker wrote:

I did not know you could plant Onion seed in the fall like that. Thanks. I have been lazy this spring and only just now got some things planted. Our stores are getting plants in but they're just tiny seedlings. I'm going to try holding off on planting until they get some bigger plants.
I didn’t know that either! I will try that. Do you plant when you put garlic in, OG?

I sow the seeds around the first of October each year. I don't put them in rows or squares, just broadcast the seeds on top of the loosened soil, press them down, and then water them. That gives them time to sprout and get the roots established before winter sets in.

**Scorpio Rising** 3/29/2020, 9:32 pm

OG, interesting. Do they come up in Fall?

OhioGardener 3/30/2020, 8:26 am

Scorpio Rising wrote:OG, interesting. Do they come up in Fall?

Yes, they sprout and usually get 3" or 4" tall before the cold stunts their growth. As soon as it warms, they grow again.

countrynaturals 3/30/2020, 9:38 am

OhioGardener wrote:
Scorpio Rising wrote:OG, interesting. Do they come up in Fall?

Yes, they sprout and usually get 3" or 4" tall before the cold stunts their growth. As soon as it warms, they grow again.

The only success I've ever had with onions, were the potato onions I planted from bulbs last fall. They grew all through the bad weather, producing "chives" and splitting into more onion bulbs, and are now getting ready to bloom. Amazing! happy dance

OhioGardener 3/30/2020, 9:47 am

That's too bad, CN! I have always had the best success with onions I started from seed. As long as they are fresh seeds, they tend to have a very high germination rate for me. Can't keep the seeds from one year to the next, though.

**Scorpio Rising** 3/31/2020, 6:39 pm

I will admit; I didn’t know what I was doing year one (or did that actually end?) and planted “green onion seeds” from Walmart. They had not great germination (again, didn’t know...) and I got like 3 from my 16 possible cubes.

I planted them out and forgot about them. NOT GOOD. Only one survived. It was like a Goliath onion-y thing. Pitched into compost pile.

Last year (after a 2 year respite apparently) I put in 1.5 SF of “Candy” starts that I got locally. In Love. Not a sweet onion at all, just not seething hot like some home growns.

Do-over!

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