Not much will grow outdoors in winter. But winter is a good time to plant vegetables – indoors.

Get a head start on spring planting by starting vegetables from seed indoors. If you normally plant transplants in the spring, you’ll save money with transplants you grew yourself.

Here are some vegetables you can grow from seed now. Included is general information, from Texas Cooperative Extension Service, on how many weeks it takes to grow into transplant size:

Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower: 5 to 7 weeks

Cucumber: 2 to 3 weeks

Eggplant: 7 to 8 weeks

Lettuce: 4 to 6 weeks

Onions: 8 to 10 weeks

Peppers: 7 to 8 weeks

Squash: 2 to 3 weeks

Tomatoes: 5 to 6 weeks

Watermelon: 2 to 3 weeks

You can grow seedlings in shallow containers such as egg cartons, foam coffee cups or milk cartons, as long as the container is at least 3 inches deep. Punch holes in the bottom to let water drain.

Give seedlings room to develop. If they are crowded, they could fail once you transplant them. Plant more seeds than you want plants, because seeds’ germination rates are unpredictable. Sacrifice seedlings by removing them from the starter pots or transplant the seedlings to individual containers once the first true leaves appear.

If the danger of a freeze is over (March 16 is the average date of our last frost), seedlings are ready to transplant when they grow a set of strong-looking leaves.

Vegetables that like cold weather are available as transplants now. A sustained freeze that lasts for days or a hailstorm could damage or kill them, but it’s more likely they’ll not only survive the season but flourish. Most nurseries and garden centers have numerous cold-tolerant vegetable transplants in stock, including asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, chard and onion sets, as well as blueberries, raspberries, grapevines, cilantro and fennel.

Independent retailers stock varieties known to thrive in our climate and soil. If you want to try more exotic varieties or heirlooms, you’ll have to grow most of them from seed.

For a more complete list of when to plant vegetables from seeds, see http://ag gie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/publications/ncveglist.html. Or, for a less-comprehensive but easier-to-read version, see http://nhg.com/vegplantdates.htm.

source : www.dallasnews.com