March is rightfully considered the most eventful and labor-intensive month for gardeners and vegetable growers, since it is in March that the mass sowing of seeds for seedlings begins.
During this period, the main vegetable, flower and decorative foliage crops for the garden and vegetable garden are sown. And some summer residents already in March sow greens and spices.
Anastasia Kovrizhnykh , an expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", a scientist, agronomist and landscape designer, told us what to sow for seedlings in March.
Early March sowing provides the opportunity to obtain a bountiful harvest and lush flowering of plants throughout the summer season.
At the beginning of March, first of all, eggplants and sweet peppers are sown for the greenhouse, and in the middle of the month, these same crops are sown for open ground.
Eggplants and peppers have a fairly long seedling development period – it ranges from 55 to 65 days.
In this regard, seeds for seedlings must be sown no later than the beginning of March, since with later sowing the harvest on the bushes simply does not have time to ripen before the onset of cold weather.
Also at the beginning of March, tall tomatoes are sown, which will subsequently be grown in a greenhouse.
Depending on weather conditions, tomato seedlings can be planted in a greenhouse around the end of April, so it is best to sow seeds from March 5 to 15. And after the 15th, low-growing tomatoes for outdoor cultivation are sown. Then by mid-May, such seedlings can already be transferred to the ground.
In early March, you can sow bush petunia. This is a cold-resistant plant that can withstand frosts down to -5C.
Petunia seedlings will produce fully developed seedlings by the beginning of May. And at this time, the plants can be planted directly in the flowerbed.
In mid-March, flowers intended for growing on the plot are sown. These include lobelia, salvia, alyssum, echinacea, sweet tobacco, carnations, marigolds, snapdragons. It will take about 2 months to form seedlings of these plants. And by mid-May, they will reach the required age for planting in flower beds.
In the second half of March, you can sow onion seedlings from nigella seeds. The onion variety does not matter, since the seeds of any variety and hybrid are suitable for one-season cultivation.
Onion seedlings develop for about 50-60 days. Then they are transplanted into open ground, and by the end of the season a full harvest is obtained.
Depending on weather conditions and growing region, you can start sowing all types of cabbage at the end of March.
Cabbage seedlings sprout quite quickly and take up a lot of space, so it is better to grow them without picking, using seedling boxes.
If at the end of the month the temperature is above zero both during the day and at night, you can sow radishes in the greenhouse. It is cold-resistant, prefers short daylight hours and low temperatures. And already at the end of April you can harvest the first crop.
Earlier we talked about how to prevent seedlings from stretching.
Expert: Anastasia Kovrizhnykh
