Hey folks! I'm new to gardening in a cold climate and trying to create a gardening calendar for next season. I live in Norway, and I'm in zone 6A/B or possibly 7A, depending on which map you look at. My space gets limited sunlight because of the nearby forest and houses, but I do have a heated room at 25C (77F) where I can start and nurture seedlings. Last year, I got a bit ahead of myself and started peppers in late November and tomatoes in January, which turned out to be a mistake since I ran out of space and had a lot of repotting to do. Here's what I have so far for my monthly to-do list:
- December: Germinate superhot chilis
- January: Germinate the rest of the chilis
- February: Germinate late-maturing tomatoes and plant sweet peppers
- March: Germinate all tomatoes
- April: Germinate flowers, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, swiss chard, and spinach. Last chance for early tomatoes in the first week of April.
- May: Potentially plant melons, cucumbers, and pumpkins outside, if the weather permits.
- June, July, August, and September are still open.
- October: Overwintering the best chili plants.
I even clarified my wording by changing 'plant' to 'germinate' to avoid confusion! Any feedback would be appreciated!
2 Answers
My last frost date is usually around May 15th, so I plant tomatoes and peppers outdoors on June 1st. For starting, I go with March 1st for peppers and April 1st for tomatoes. It seems like you might be starting quite early, though!
You're starting a bit too early for the colder climate. In my zone 6A here in Washington state, tomatoes and peppers can’t go outside until around mid-May due to frost danger. I usually transplant any warm-weather crops around two weeks after the last average frost date. For cool-weather crops like chard, spinach, and peas, you can get them out now! As for melons and squashes, I wait until around June 1st. Good luck; it's tough to resist the urge to start too early!
Oh sorry, I didn't mean put them outside! I just wanted to germinate them in soil indoors. I'll clarify that now ? I haven't planted anything outside yet.
Thanks for the heads up! I'll adjust my timeline accordingly!