vgkg, I raise my own cauliflower and broccoli transplants...I like Snow Crown for early ones and a later one for, well, later ones. I like Triathlon, Goliath, Arcadia, and perhaps Marathon broccoli....can't buy those in transplants. I start some seeds on my backyard picnic table on about June 14th [got to around here]....no matter what I read others doing. My melons, sweetpotatoes, peppers and corn were hard hit by hail on June 28. The corn and sweetpotatoes recovered quicly and completely. The peppers never recovered well. The melons were a mixed bag. The cantaloupes did great....Sugar Queens have some crenshaw flavor ....and which ever crenshaw that made two large ones was off the chart for flavor. The watermelons were hurt badly at a time of fruit set/developing and many did not do as well as I like. Melons have a main cycle and unless you have that super warm September like 2005, you miss out a lot if the plants don't do as well when they are young and vigorous. The corollary is corn that has only one cycle and then dies down. Still I picked some good watermelons, but ended up with more seconds and thirds this year. THe Raspas were good as were some [just some] of the Sangrias. Sometimes this one wants to set on a huge family and that leaves you with a lot of seconds if you don't thin the fruits promply. AU Sweet Scarlet was good as was Gold Strike and Orangeglo. I don't know about RoJo Grande this year as I did not mark that one and it looks so much like Sangria. God Bless, Wayne

Amprice - I'm about 2000 ft. in Santa Cruz mtns. CA - my broccoli has been growing for quite some time and we've been harvesting - I start from seed. Even when it was very cold here, hail, snow, frost, all the plants came thru beautifully.

Summer heat has come quite early here too, and I've got cabbages that have only just started to form little heads. I've got peas flowering, fava beans flowering, lettuces making heads, and kales. I was not prepared for the 80-90 degree heat every day. What I've been doing to help the plants is a) keeping the soil moist always, never letting it dry out even a little b) spraying everything with water once or twice a day, even in full sun, it doesn't burn the leaves. When spraying I make sure to moisten the soil as well, not just the leaves. c) I also water everything again in the evening so the plants can get their strength back during the night. It doesn't really take much water if you keep on it and never let the soil dry out. Watering like this is the only reason my peas are still alive, 90 degrees and peas don't mix as I've learned.

Personally I prefer starting them in the cell packs and then potting them up to the larger containers later if needed. Reasons - you can grow many more plants in much less space and using much less seed starting mix. Plus it is easy to drown young seedlings in a bigger pots. Their root system just can't manage all the moisture in the 4" pot. Third the plant benefits from the one potting up by focusing on root development rather than top growth that the roots can't support. This would be especially impt. if you aren't going to use lights and only a window. The plants will be stressed enough from the insufficient light without adding the stress of poor root development in a too big pot. Plus when you transplant them you can plant them deeper in the bigger pot to compensate fro some of their leggyness. Dave PS: welcome to GW!