A Quick and Dirty Guide to Raising Vegetables in Southcentral Alaska Step 3: Starting Your Seeds
Starting plants indoors:
My seedling cart. It's a wire rack from Costco, several fluorescent lights, and a outlet timer.
Because our seasons are so short in Alaska, you can give your plants a good head-start by starting them indoors.
In order to start your plants indoors, you will need to use some sort of artificial light. Something as simple as a couple fluorescent tubes will do the trick. You’ll want to keep the lights as close the plants as possible, but not so close that you burn the plants. Additionally, adding a rotating fan nearby will give your plants some added strength and may prevent them from getting too leggy.
Buy some plastic flats from a local greenhouse, as well as some clear plastic tops that fit over the flats. Scrounge up empty cell containers from neighbors and friends. Reuse them every year and you’ll soon have a good stock of containers. Keep your plants moist and warm while they germinate. The plastic covering is ideal for this.
Below is a brief calendar that outlines when veggies should be started:
January:
- Onions
April:
First week:
- Cabbages
- Broccoli
Third week:
- More cabbage
- More broccoli
- Kale
- Lettuce
May:
First week:
- Corn
- Zuchinni
- Pumpkins
seed flat with plastic cover
Seed directly in the garden:
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Kale
- Swiss chard
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Green onions
- Radishes
- Peas
Outdoor Planting/Transplanting:
The rule of thumb in Alaska is that you should not transplant your veggie starts until Memorial Day weekend. Others say you are safe as soon at the birch leaves are as big as a squirrel’s ear. Some seeds, like carrots, peas, and kale can be planted just after the soil has warmed. Check your seed packets to see. I’ve planted as early as May 9th, but that was during a really warm spring in a really favorable location. Officially the last frost date in southcentral is May 31st.
I had a very small outdoor garden last year in a few raised beds. I had good luck with carrots and beets but they were not ready for harvest until late september and even then some beets were very small. We bought a house this fall in east Anchorage and I am excited to put in a much larger garden and would like to start some vegetables indoors to hopefully get two crops. I am concerned with the amount of snow we received this winter it may be awhile before our yard is snow free and we will need to build our garden that if I start the veggies indoors too soon they might grow too quickly. Do you have any advice for me on when to start my seedlings as well as any info on putting in our garden? I would like to be as organic as possible with regards to fertilizing. Thanks