In the vegetable garden, I prefer to start everything from seed. Not only is it far more cost effective, but many things are more successful if started from seed in place in the garden. Melons, squashes, pumpkins and cucumbers, for example, suffer tiny injuries to their root tips when transplanted. They can suffer a pause in root growth upon planting out. This can stress the plants if they are now in full sun, ordinary amounts of wind, and warm days. They need to be able to set roots and take up water immediately, but hey are limited in their ability to do so. These plants are best started from seed in the garden.
I prefer to start tomatoes from seed in order to get the varieties I want, varieties which are not on the local market. Starting them early in pots gets them to blooming size in the garden before the hots days are here, hot days which make pollenation improbable. I have to start tomatoes early enough that it is not in the upper 90s when they are blooming. If you summers are not so hot, you can probably have as much success starting tomatoes in the garden, rather than indoors, early, in pots.
Hot peppers I start very early. In January. I grow a type that needs a much longer growing season than we have heere naturally. However, these Red Savina habaneros have been purchasable on the local market the last couple of years, so I did not start them from seed this year. I hope to buy them at a garden shop.
I like to start my herbs from seed, sometimes indoors, sometimes out. Can save a lot of money, and most herbs are so easy from seed. Also, some of what I grow, I don't think I could purchase locally. I save my own seeds from some herbs.
In years whn I grow sweet potatoes, I prefer to buy slips, but they have been oddly expensive, so I prorably should start my own in the future.
A problem with starting my own seeds indoors is that I don't keep the house very warm. I have a light set up and that can incidenatlly provide limited heat, but mostly I'm choosing to back off on things that need to be started early indoors. In fact, I'm starting notheing indoors theis year. A friend is starting tomatoes for me. Outdoors in cell pots is where I now do herbs and decorative annuals. Most everything else is started right in the garden.
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