I just received my chocolate Habanero seeds today, but it is not too early for me to plant. However, I will be going out of town on Saturday for four weeks, and so I will take the seeds with me and attempt to start them in Palm Springs. I tried this last year and it did not work because I left the seedling out in too much heat, but I will be more careful this year.

In February, I can leave the starter trays outside during the day and then bring them inside at night, for more warmth. There is no danger of frost, but the seeds will start better if the temperature is fairly warm, which will be fine during the day.

If I get enough plants started, I will plant some of them in the ground here in Los Angeles, but I'll have to protect them from slugs, etc. In the past, I have kept them in huge pots.

I plan to plant some shishito peppers in March.

Very nice site Zeedman. Lots of temptations there. Care to share what you going to grow? Maybe I'll choose some different things and we can compare. Our climates are a little different, but still similar.

Interesting - thanks for sharing!

Curious - where in FL are they located? I can't find that info on their extensive website...

They are located in (or at least mail from) St. Petersburg.

@rdback, as you may recall, yardlong beans are one of my special interests. Even for those, I look for varieties other than the ubiquitous brown or black seeded varieties (which I already have plenty of). There are no seed descriptions for the yardlongs & the prices are very reasonable, so I ordered 5 varieties, hoping that at least one would meet my collection criteria:

• Summer Treasure
• Long King
• Vine Full #9
• Waterfall
• Long Winner

Upon examining the seeds (which look very full & healthy) there are white seeds, speckled seeds, bi-color seeds, reddish brown seeds - and only one with brown seeds. 4 out of 5 unique, much better than expected! But since not all may be adapted to the long day length of my latitude, I will do a mass trial this summer. Depending upon the results of the trial, I may order the rest of their yardlongs next year.

I also ordered two hyacinth beans, to see if either will be day neutral (most climbing hyacinth beans are not). I also ordered one "white" snap bean (White Winner) to see whether 'white' means 'wax'.

Will be placing another order for some of their edible gourds... their selection of luffa varieties is phenomenal.

Thanks - that's close to me 🙂

Update...

The seeds I ordered from AG2T arrived in 8 days (2 of those held up Chicago, and 2 in my local PO prior to delivery) >:-( A second order (for some edible gourds) arrived in 7 days - and included a free packet of a related variety. So given post-covid mail slowdowns, the shipping is reasonably prompt. All seeds look healthy, and are at or above the advertised quantities.

I'll post more in April-May when I have a chance to observe germination.

I ordered a variety of bitter melon seeds from them last season. Turned out ok except one variety. I am trying that again this year though. The white luffa they have is one of a kind. I love her gardening tips too in their youtube channel. Especially pruning asian vegetables.

I am getting more into Asian cooking due to gut issues so going slightly "macrobiotic" and I was just thinking the other day I should look into growing some Asian greens, varieties I like but haven't gardened yet. Bok choy is one of my favorites, as are some of the other cabbages. I also like some of the squashes. Don't know much about the greens for salads, but I like most greens so might want to try. I definitely need to grow Thai basil again this year . . .

Edited to add I don't need to grow the amaranth greens, I can weed those right out of the garden, which I usually do . . .

I don't like mustard greens, but I might like mizuna and malabar spinach, I think I have had both of those before.

As for squashes, I like kabocha and uchiki kuri and the edible rind squashes like delicata and sweet dumpling.