Anonymous said:

I'll be trying out starting my own seeds indoors this year. I can usually
plant outdoors about the last frost date (raised beds / sheltered location
and so on) so when should the 'maters go in the potting soil?

I don't start mine until April. Start them any sooner and they just get too
tall and lanky -- despite my high intensity light -- and threaten to get root
bound (in the biggest pots I can manage to use and still fit all my plants
under the lights).

I wouldn't start them any earlier unless I was planning to set them out
in tunnels or something of the sort. The go out when the expected night
time lows are 50 degrees and I still have to cover them over at some
point most years due to a late frost. (My garden is in the sunniest part
of the yard, which is also a frost pocket.)
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)