Lessons From Early Planting

Two weeks ago, in mid-April, I put out some early starts.  They have survived, but they have not thrived. 

Here's a direct comparison between German pumpkin plants. The one on the left was one of the plants I put out two weeks ago. The one on the right, I put out on May 1.

Quite a difference. Not a winning proposition.

On a related issue, here's a lesson learned from zucchini: these were zuke starts that I thinned in the greenhouse. I was hesitant to throw them away, so I planted them. They didn't die, but they didn't grow during the next week of sunshine. (I watered them daily.)

I decided that I didn't need to save zucchini sprouts! I have some zuke starts inside. So I replaced the non-growing sprouts with some actual starts.

Might still be kind of early, but they're already way ahead.