Need help with Gardening in the Carolinas?  
Transplants vs. Direct-Sowing

Starting a vegetable garden? Confused about whether you should start seeds indoors or sow them directly in the garden?
  
There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these practices and the answer really depends upon the individual crop.
  • Starting seeds indoors allows you to have more control over the growing environment.
  • Certain pest and disease problems that plague young seedlings in the garden are avoided when plants are started indoors.
  • Replacing early season crops in the garden with started plants allows you to produce another crop quickly.
  • Transplants must be hardened off before planting in the garden. Direct-sowing avoids this.
Certain crops perform better when set out as transplants and others do better when the seed is planted directly into the garden soil.  

Here are some general guidelines:
  • Crops with rapid top growth and slow root growth, like corn, beans, squash, and melons, don't transplant well and are generally more successful when seeded directly in the garden.
  • Crops with rapid root growth and slower top growth, such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and celery, will do better when planted as transplants.
  • Root crops are more successful when they are direct-sown as they tend to be more flavorful, tender, and straight if they grow at a steady rate from germination to harvest. Transplanting interrupts this steady growth.
Cool-season veggies to start indoors:
Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, head lettuce, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts

Cool-season veggies to direct-sow:
Peas, radishes, turnips, parsnips, beets, spinach, carrots, potatoes (from seed potatoes)

Warm-season veggies to start indoors:
Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, celery

Warm-season veggies to direct-sow:
Beans, corn, okra, cucumbers, squash, melons, pumpkins

With Permission from February 6, 2013, "The Weekender from Viette's"
   Lori Jones, Horticulturist/Senior Editor
   Andre Viette Farm & Nursery, Fisherville, VA
Soil Test Kits:
Available at the NC Extension Agricultural Center, 
3230 Presson Rd., Monroe.  Soil tests are analyzed at no cost to NC residents.  
Planting Zones:
Click on the link below for the USDA Planting Zone map for North Carolina:
www.planthardiness.usda
CENTRAL NC PLANTING ARTICLE:  NC STATE UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
VEGETABLE PLANTING GUIDE:  NC STATE UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION