{"id":3672,"date":"2015-04-27T04:08:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-27T08:08:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-13T17:42:38","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T21:42:38","slug":"exercising-patience-with-spring-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardern.co.za\/2015\/04\/exercising-patience-with-spring-and\/","title":{"rendered":"EXERCISING PATIENCE WITH SPRING, AND DIVIDING DAHLIAS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tomatoes, peppers and some snapdragons await transplanting this weekend. These will be upgraded into 2.5 inch pots. No need to rush, even though nurseries are already selling tomato seedlings with blooms on them. It’s far too early here.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n<\/div>\n \nI do understand the issue here, though. I too am eager to get gardening, but I’ve learned over the past 45 years or so of starting tomatoes, to wait – even later and later, sowing my seed around the end of April ( see above) and learning to keep my tomato and pepper seedlings warm (near 75\u00ba) both day and night, and I’ve learned from commercial growers, that even shifts in night and day temperatures can stunt tomatoes, and peppers in particular can be damages by temperature shifts ( iron deficiency = yellow leaves and stunted growth, no matter how much you feed them). The best answer is under lights, warm and safe until mid May. By doing this, I get healthier seedlings with large root systems and large leaves, and I get tomatoes about 3 weeks earlier than my neighbors – many of whom bought pre started seedlings that were much larger than mine, but they just planted them out too early.<\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n
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