I’ve gotten several seed catalogs and am preparing to make my seed order for this year’s vegetable garden. Any suggestions? DR

Seed catalog season is always a good time of year. It seems like mine came late this year, but they finally splashed down not long ago. It’s always fun to browse, looking at all the varieties and make our garden plans. However, there are a few things to consider other than just ordering what looks pretty in the catalogs. Here’s some things to consider.

One vegetable that’s usually on most everyone’s list is tomatoes. If you are going to order tomato seeds, the first thing you will need to consider is do you want to grow determinate or indeterminate tomatoes. You will need to decide because this choice will make a difference on how many and when your plants produce fruit. Determinate plants are those that generate one batch of fruit and then are done. They are good if you plan on canning a bunch of tomatoes or salsa etc. You can expect a determinate tomato plant to grow to about 3 to 4 feet in height and be a somewhat bushy plant.

Indeterminate tomato plants tend to be more viney and will require a support system. The advantage to indeterminate plants is that they will continue to produce fruit until the first freeze if you can get them through our Oklahoma summer.

Next on the things to consider about seeds is whether you want heirlooms or hybrids. Heirlooms are those plants that have been passed down from generation to generation with the plants remaining essentially the same. Hybrids have been cross bred, typically to increase disease resistance in the plants. So, if you’ve had an issue with one of the tomato diseases in past years, look for seeds that come with some degree of disease resistance. Hybrids are not GMOs if that concerns you, they are just cross-pollinated.

If you plan on saving seeds to plant next year, go with the heirlooms because you will know what you are getting. With hybrids, there’s no guarantee their seeds will grow a plant true to their origins.

Plant disease resistance is identified through a series of codes such as F, F2, F3, PM, or TMV for example. F would indicate some degree of resistance to fusarium wilt while PM would indicate powdery mildew resistance and TMV would indicate resistance to tomato mosaic virus.

Seed catalogs also tend to tell you the number of days required for germination and the number of days to harvest. Both of these numbers are good guides to use during the growing season. For example - suppose they say the seeds should germinate in 7 to 10 days and you are on day 21 without any sign of life. If this is the case, odds are the seeds either didn’t get enough water or perhaps weren’t warm enough to germinate, so it would be time to start over.

Days to harvest is a good guide when you are trying to time your cool and warm, season crops. For example, if you wanted to plant a particular variety of lettuce and you knew that it was going to require 60 days till harvest, you wouldn’t want to plant your lettuce seeds in early June, because it would likely be too hot for them before you got a harvest. Same thing would apply in the fall if you were trying to squeeze in another round of greens, you would want to plant at least 60 days before our November 15^th average freeze date.

Next you will notice that seeds are also identified as either organic or conventional. Organic seeds come from plants that have been grown using organic gardening practices while the conventional ones have been produced using standard garden practices.

You will also notice that some seeds come “pelleted” while others do not. Pelleted seeds for those plants with very small seeds such as lettuce. Seed that are pelleted are covered in clay which dissolves after planting. It doesn’t adversely affect the seeds and it sure makes them easier to handle. The only downside to pelleted seeds is that they don’t save well so you’ll need to use them in one season.

The next thing to consider is varieties. I am always getting lured into purchasing seeds for something I’ve never grown before which is fun, but the downside is that you never really know how it’s going to work out in our growing conditions. OSU publishes a recommended variety list which is a good place to start if you are new to vegetable gardening. You can find this list on our website (www.tulsamastergardeners.org) in the Lawn and Garden Help section - Vegetables. Then once you get some experience under your belt, you can branch out into what might be considered the more exotic varieties. I say exotic because they tend to be plants we don’t see grown a lot here. However, some people’s exotics are other people tried and true varieties, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

Each spring we teach vegetable gardening classes. We haven’t nailed down the dates yet, but we’ll let you know once we do. See you in the garden.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Tom Ingram