Zone 6?

[Chirpchirp19]

Hello! Is there any zone 6 peeps in here?? I am new to gardening and want to make sure I am starting everything when I should be. I attempted last year but ended up killing everything once I separated the seedlings (I was told to do about 4 plants per container) and they ended up getting overcrowded. Any help and tips are greatly appreciated!!

 

[Farmdog267]

I'm in North east metro Philadelphia zone 6b. What types of seeds are you trying to grow?

 

[Acre4Me]

Zone 6a Ohio.

Looked up NY - wow, there is a lot of zones there! Zones range from 3b to 7b in the state of NY! Looks like the zones 6a and 6b are fairly confined to finger lakes and great lakes area, or closer to LI. I attached a pic.

Seedlings. I don't usually separate seedlings, I just cut off the stems of the ones I'm not keeping. I've started seeds as early as January, but they were an alpine strawberry seed that was an approx 30 day germination! Usually you'll start seeds around late Feb/March. Plant usually around Mother's day or later.

But, there are exceptions. Direct seeding: put seed directly into the ground where it will grown for the season/ do not start in pots to transplant. Some seeds do best with direct seeding, such as squash, and melons and root vegetables like radish/carrot/beet/turnip. Melons won't germinate until soil is a certain temp, so don't direct seed too early bc seed could rot. Although squash and melons like to be direct seeded, you can start in pots, but they should be the kind you can plant in the ground as squash and melons don't like to be transplanted. A turnip and radish are fairly quick growing, so direct seed.

Early direct seeding. Some plants don't mind the cold, and you might be able to seed these late Feb/early March (barring an ice storm, for example): lettuce, peas, beets, turnips, radish, as examples.

Late plantings: some things do best when they get "kissed" by frost later in the season. Brussel sprouts and beets and carrots are good examples here...they get a bit sweeter when the plant gets a mild frost exposure. Or they do better when they can grow during hot weather, but mature and don't bolt when it is cooling off in Sept/Oct. Lettuces, spinach, others. FWIW, you can overwinter carrots in the ground to dig up when you want a fresh carrot in the fall/winter- just cover the row with a thick layer of straw and dig as desired.

Potatoes: These can be direct planted early spring. But, cut up a seed potato into 2-3 pieces, each with an eye. Some small seed potatoes don't need to be cut up, just plant with an eye facing up in the dirt. Let cut seed potatoes dry out for a day or two (helps prevent it from just molding in the ground - but not a required step), then plant. They will start when ready. Wait until plants flower then die back. Water well when they are flowering and until they just start to die back, then lay off the watering. Wait a couple weeks post die off, dig up your spuds. If you notice spuds trying to peek up at the soil line, cover them with dirt - otherwise they will turn green/not edible.

Have fun - lots to learn in the first couple of years of gardening.

 

[Chirpchirp19]

I'm in North east metro Philadelphia zone 6b. What types of seeds are you trying to grow?

We just wanted some basics to grow. We love veggies so it would be:
beans
squash
zucchini
peas
tomatoes
lettuce
spinach
peppers
cucumber
canteloupe
watermelon
pumpkins

I don't have a lot of space really so I know I have to pick and choose. I was planning on making raised beds.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't have a lot of space really so I know I have to pick and choose. I was planning on making raised beds.

Not in your zone but a lot of your favorites are space consuming, so yes you'll need to pick and choose, or aim for smaller varieties that are more manageable in a home garden. Like green/wax beans, I do bush types so no need to trellis. Peas I trellis onto the chicken run to take advantage of the existing fence so that really minimizes how much space I need for them. How much sq ft garden space do you anticipate having?

 

[Acre4Me]

beans
squash
zucchini
peas
tomatoes
lettuce
spinach
peppers
cucumber
canteloupe
watermelon
pumpkins

Squash, zucchini, canteloupe, watermelon, pumpkins all take up A LOT of room. Even if you got some sort of "midget" variety, it is only "midget" in relation to its full size counterpart. So, I'd recommend only one of these leggy varieties for you in your first year. Also, melons of any kind like heat, as much as possible... and sunshine!! since you are in W NY, I'd look for ones developed for cooler climates/shorter seasons.

Tomatoes and peppers can be grown in pots, but get a bigger pot than you might think. One that can fit a LARGE tomato cage for the tomatoes, and a small tomato cage can work for peppers. One plant per pot. They need consistent water/ moisture, so that is the other reason to not go too small on pot space.

Other veggies grow well in pots: I grew a nice amount of bush green beans one year, got several meals out of a few smallish pots of green beans.

Peas - there are short varieties, otherwise, these climb. But many things will work for this, string, fencing, etc. Check packages for the height.

Spinach - Mine has always bolted once it gets hot, so try to get a "bolt resistant" or plant in cooler weather. You are already in a cooler area, so it may do great for you. Lettuce - same notes. You might have great success bc your weather may be generally cooler. Lettuce does not like hot weather generally.

Cucumber climbs a lot. So you'll need something for it to climb on.

 

[Farmdog267]

Now would be a good time to mix in some leaves to your garden bed and let them decompose (if your ground is workable and not frozen.) It may also help to reach out to a local Agway or similar store to get a soil test kit and test your soil to see what you are working with.