Yard & Garden

Tomatoes normally take about 6-weeks to grow into a good-sized transplant. Peppers require about the same amount of time, but slower growing cultivars may require 8-weeks. The correct indoor sowing dates for several popular flowers and vegetables are:

• early March - cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower;
• mid-March - pepper, eggplant, petunia, and salvia;
• late March - tomato, marigold, and zinnia;
• late April - muskmelon, watermelon, squash, and cucumber.

If unsure of the sowing date, check the seed packet.

Starting Seeds Indoors

Vegetable Garden Seed Storage and Germination Requirements

Late February or early March is the recommended time. For more information, visit Planning Your Garden Pruning. 

One-day average soil temperatures and 7-day average soil temperatures are provided year-round, through CropWatch. Soil temperatures are taken at 4 inches below the soil surface under bare soil. 

Find your current soil temperature here. 

More detailed soil temperature and precipitation data is provided daily by the Nebraska State Climate Office (NSCO). Visit the NSCO and Nebraska Mesonet websites for more detailed local and state climate data. 

A basic soil sample is good to have to know the basics about a soil, such as pH, organic matter content, and more. This can lead to good soil management practices which are the foundation of plant health. The University of Nebraska no longer provides soil sampling for a fee. Instead, we provide information on private labs soil samples can be sent to.

There are several commercial labs across Nebraska which can do soil and water testing. Visit Nebraska Soil & Water Testing Labs for more information. 

Tree leaves, grass clippings, plant stems, spent flowers, fruit and vegetable scraps, straw, hay, sawdust, choped or shredded tree and shrub prunings, coffee grounds and eggshells.  Branches and twigs larger than one-quarter inch in diameter should be put through a shredder or chipper before composting. If you have access to manure, it can be used, too.

Do not add meat scraps, bones, grease or dairy products to the compost pile because they will cause odors and attract rodents. Do not use weeds that have gone to seed or diseased plants. Home composting is unlikely to attain a heat level high enough to kill all seeds or disease organisms.

Garden Compost

6 Common Composting Questions

Uses of Compost in a Landscape