Cutting back

It is a hard thing to do but necessary to keep your plants from over-running the house.  It is time to cut back.  I have trimmed my onions four times since seeding them in February.  The plants grow to about 6" before I reduce them by half.  They have been spending a few hours outdoors each day so they can make the transition to the vegetable garden very soon. 
I confess that I have not been very motivated to get my garden work done and this weekend will require my efforts to get out and start seeding my early crops.  The weather promises to be dry enough to do that.  The ground never really froze and the early warmth this spring has the soil more than ready to go.   I will soak my sweet pea and garden pea seeds today and get them in the ground tomorrow.  They will swell with the water and get a very good start.  The germination rate of peas is much higher if you soak them for at least 12 hours before planting.

 I did get busy and check out the size of things that are rooted and transplanted today.  You can see the before and after size that my citronella geraniums have gone through.  There is lots of time for them to grow and this will also encourage side branching for fuller, bushier plants in May.  I did the same for my coleus in my cell packs.  This will slow down the rate that they are drying out and also produce a multi-stemmed plants which will fill out the garden better. 

If you are over-wintering your plants, it may be time to prune.  If they are flowering plants such as hibiscus and such it is a little late in the season for that.  Some light pruning would not be out of line if you want to contain and shape them a bit.  Happy Easter to all!