The advantages and disadvantages of starting seeds early

bughunter99 · March 5, 2015

The biggest advantage and one reason I do it, is that if you start seeds early, you still have time to replace plant losses if something happens, or to reseed if you get a dud pack or they don't sprout. Another advantage is that it can extend my season a few weeks. This can make all the difference for some varieties in the area that I live in.

There really are no disadvantages from my perspective if you don't mind a house full of seedlings. Just because I start them early does not mean that they all go outside at the same time. I put out a few at a time and never more than I can protect if frost is forecast. I also keep a few extra seedlings from my thinnings in reserve as well.

Once it is time to plant out, I watch the ten day forecast closely and plan accordingly. I have never lost a spring plant to frost, however I am not planting out hundreds of tomato plants and my livelihood does not depend on them so I can afford to push the envelope around that.

Oh and the other advantage? The annual satisfaction of a successful early planting despite all the people telling you that you were doing it wrong, tomatoes in late June when your neighbors wait until late July, and of course an earlier end to the winter blues by bumping up spring activities a few weeks.

I am zone 5b. My peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, herbs, kale, chard and some annuals are all started!

Stacy

taboule · March 11, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by bughunter99

Oh and the other advantage? The annual satisfaction of a successful early planting despite all the people telling you that you were doing it wrong, tomatoes in late June when your neighbors wait until late July, and of course an earlier end to the winter blues by bumping up spring activities a few weeks.

Stacy

Many good reasons mentioned to start early, the 2 above resonate the most to me. Starting early does wonders to cabin fever and gets you back in the game sooner.

Another: you can get lucky with an early spring, then you're ahead. The key is to stagger the seeding, so you also have some later/younger plants if spring is late, or you lose some early ones. Playing the numbers game maximizes the chances of early and larger production.

March 5, 2015	#1
bughunter99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: zone 5 Posts: 821	The biggest advantage and one reason I do it, is that if you start seeds early, you still have time to replace plant losses if something happens, or to reseed if you get a dud pack or they don't sprout. Another advantage is that it can extend my season a few weeks. This can make all the difference for some varieties in the area that I live in. There really are no disadvantages from my perspective if you don't mind a house full of seedlings. Just because I start them early does not mean that they all go outside at the same time. I put out a few at a time and never more than I can protect if frost is forecast. I also keep a few extra seedlings from my thinnings in reserve as well. Once it is time to plant out, I watch the ten day forecast closely and plan accordingly. I have never lost a spring plant to frost, however I am not planting out hundreds of tomato plants and my livelihood does not depend on them so I can afford to push the envelope around that. Oh and the other advantage? The annual satisfaction of a successful early planting despite all the people telling you that you were doing it wrong, tomatoes in late June when your neighbors wait until late July, and of course an earlier end to the winter blues by bumping up spring activities a few weeks. I am zone 5b. My peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, herbs, kale, chard and some annuals are all started! Stacy Last edited by bughunter99; March 5, 2015 at 11:49 PM.