I am totally itching to start something with my new seed mat and lights in the basemaent.
What can I start now?
Veggies or flowers or hers I dont care just need the trerapy!
Sue

I live in zone 3-4 depending on which hardiness chart you use. I start tomatoes, peppers, and some flower seeds in early March. Since you are in zone 5, I should think you could start these seeds now. Good luck and have fun. fambenko

i live almosty in zone 6 and don't start my main crop to,atoes until april. They cannot go out until the end of May and you don't want the plants too big and root bound which they will become.

Brassicas, lettuces, onions, leeks can all be started now as long as you will be planning to transplant them in mid to late March

If you live Tenn or south than by all means start the peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, etc.

Start some herbs like oregano,hyssop,lavender,sage,parsley,etc.
Start some flowers,some take a long time until they flower, like
periwinkle,impatien,verbena,heliotrope,lobelia, petunia and the famous DustyMiller!!

Onions and leeks can be started now as long as you leave room for them to grow, or have plans to transplant them into a larger space. They love a good lead time, and now is when I start these. Of course, you could do some winter sowing. This would not be getting use of your heat mats and lights, but would be getting your fingers in the dirt. Maybe you can start more than this, as mentioned. Have you checked your calendar and counted to find your planting dates?

Have fun and GO!

BG

In about a month I'll be starting my tomatoes and peppers. I'm in Zone 4/5 and I keep potting them up until they can go in the ground so they don't get rootbound. Once they poked up through the potting soil I turn on an oscillating fan in the room (indirect) which will help the plants get strong. It also means I have to water more frequently. You can accomplish the same thing by giving the trays/pots a good jiggle everytime you walk by.

What to start depends on just when your latest date of frost is. From that count back 6 to 8 weeks to start frost tender "stuff" while frost hardy "stuff" can be started now. Frost hardy would be lettuce, cabbage family, and spinach while frost tender would be tomatoes, peppers, and such.
I saw recently that one of the national chains had the latest date of frost for zone 5 listed as April 15 which may be true for Indianapolis/Columbus, but certainly isn't true for Kalamazoo/Toledo/Chicago.