Status of the seedlings
It has now been seven weeks since we started our seedlings and this year, once again, we tried a different way.
That's the way it is with gardening and gardeners in general. Many ask me as of late to give them advice and most times I'm left stuttering and speechless. Because most of it boils down to trying something over and over again and just simply finding what works for us.
Out of all the seeds we have started it now appears we have a WHOPPING two plants that are being stubborn so far.
One newspaper pot containing an Italian Pepperocini from Baker Creek and one newspaper pot containing a seed for a Chocolate Habanero have yet to germinate. All the others are doing their best, growing closer and closer to the grow lights we purchased for them this year.
Now, while I bang my chest and announce in a false baritone voice "me good gardener!" I do feel there is a need for tweaking our methods here.
Our plants are doing pretty good however they are all showing signs of being a bit leggy which means they have thin stems and are a bit weak. This is usually due to poor lighting which has always been a problem in the house we reside. Unfortunately we are cursed with several issues which severely restrict the availability of good light.
I can, with some ease, grow plants that enjoy shade or filtered light but trying to grow plants that need or require full sun conditions, during the winter, in our house is pretty challenging.
We have now transplanted our seedlings, most of them anyways, at least once.
I am still contemplating if I should grow one more variety of tomato called Egg Yolk Tomato.
This is a list of our current seedlings.
Japanese Black Trifele
Brandywine
Black Cherry
Christmas Grapes
Rut ger
Ingegnoli Gigante Liscio
German Strawberry
Eggplants:
La Traviata,
Purple Stripe Edirne,
Brazalian Oval Orange
Bell Peppers:
Pinata Mix Sweet peppers
Sweet Chocolate Bell Pepper
Hot Peppers:
Jalapeno both hot and mild
Bhut Jolokia (We have gotten AMAZING Germination rates and growth from these little guys! Amazing!)
Cubanelle
Italian pepperocini. (like I mentioned earlier only one has actually germinated, even after two plantings. Weird.)
My one lone watermelon I started earlier, Cream of Sasketchewan is still hanging in there. I get the feeling that that little guy is really craving the sun. While it doesn't look sad it definitely looks as if it would go nuts the moment the late spring or early sun hit it.
Purple tomatilloes are still growing. Like the others, they are a little leggy but I'm hoping as we get into the warmer months I can solve that by hardening them off outdoors.
A few more plants still have to be started. Like my last blog on the status of our seedlings, I need to get the peanuts started as well as some of our herbs.
My Turmeric, amazingly enough, has held on through the winter and is actually doing quite well. I'm hoping that by this summer we will be harvesting some, saving some that we can then use, hopefully, toward another planting. That is if we are in a new house by this next winter. I did also have ginger started up but, well, I started it but it never did its share of the work and fizzled out without even the slightest growth. I have read that store bought ginger is treated so it will not sprout, much like potatoes are so that could be the reason for that failure.
Still, I might be trying again soon. Stay tuned for that.
Last but not least. Spuds. Taters. We have them sprouting everywhere now! The potatoes purchased a while ago started to sprout around Christmastime. We did everything we could to delay them a bit and then, just recently, we finally decided to plant them. Inside. In pots. And honestly, they seem very happy now. It is rather odd at first to look at the plant and realize its not a houseplant, its a potato but then we've been growing a sweet potato vine in the house since early winter so whats one more tuber.
I did have more to write about, mostly pertaining to a plant called the Moringa Oleifera and how I thought it was sprouting but then I got curious. I ventured back upstairs to check out the pot a bit further. Upon moving the soil around a bit I discovered that what I thought was a Moringa seedling was in fact the beginning of a green onion resprouting. Obviously the bottom of a green onion somehow landed in the planter and was hiding. Talk about having the wind taken out of your sails. Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday.
That's the way it is with gardening and gardeners in general. Many ask me as of late to give them advice and most times I'm left stuttering and speechless. Because most of it boils down to trying something over and over again and just simply finding what works for us.
Out of all the seeds we have started it now appears we have a WHOPPING two plants that are being stubborn so far.
Now, while I bang my chest and announce in a false baritone voice "me good gardener!" I do feel there is a need for tweaking our methods here.
Our plants are doing pretty good however they are all showing signs of being a bit leggy which means they have thin stems and are a bit weak. This is usually due to poor lighting which has always been a problem in the house we reside. Unfortunately we are cursed with several issues which severely restrict the availability of good light.
I can, with some ease, grow plants that enjoy shade or filtered light but trying to grow plants that need or require full sun conditions, during the winter, in our house is pretty challenging.
We have now transplanted our seedlings, most of them anyways, at least once.
I am still contemplating if I should grow one more variety of tomato called Egg Yolk Tomato.
This is a list of our current seedlings.
Japanese Black Trifele
Brandywine
Black Cherry
Christmas Grapes
Rut ger
Ingegnoli Gigante Liscio
German Strawberry
Eggplants:
La Traviata,
Purple Stripe Edirne,
Brazalian Oval Orange
Bell Peppers:
Pinata Mix Sweet peppers
Sweet Chocolate Bell Pepper
Hot Peppers:
Jalapeno both hot and mild
Bhut Jolokia (We have gotten AMAZING Germination rates and growth from these little guys! Amazing!)
Cubanelle
Italian pepperocini. (like I mentioned earlier only one has actually germinated, even after two plantings. Weird.)
My one lone watermelon I started earlier, Cream of Sasketchewan is still hanging in there. I get the feeling that that little guy is really craving the sun. While it doesn't look sad it definitely looks as if it would go nuts the moment the late spring or early sun hit it.
Purple tomatilloes are still growing. Like the others, they are a little leggy but I'm hoping as we get into the warmer months I can solve that by hardening them off outdoors.
My Turmeric, amazingly enough, has held on through the winter and is actually doing quite well. I'm hoping that by this summer we will be harvesting some, saving some that we can then use, hopefully, toward another planting. That is if we are in a new house by this next winter. I did also have ginger started up but, well, I started it but it never did its share of the work and fizzled out without even the slightest growth. I have read that store bought ginger is treated so it will not sprout, much like potatoes are so that could be the reason for that failure.
 |
| Turmeric |
Last but not least. Spuds. Taters. We have them sprouting everywhere now! The potatoes purchased a while ago started to sprout around Christmastime. We did everything we could to delay them a bit and then, just recently, we finally decided to plant them. Inside. In pots. And honestly, they seem very happy now. It is rather odd at first to look at the plant and realize its not a houseplant, its a potato but then we've been growing a sweet potato vine in the house since early winter so whats one more tuber.
I did have more to write about, mostly pertaining to a plant called the Moringa Oleifera and how I thought it was sprouting but then I got curious. I ventured back upstairs to check out the pot a bit further. Upon moving the soil around a bit I discovered that what I thought was a Moringa seedling was in fact the beginning of a green onion resprouting. Obviously the bottom of a green onion somehow landed in the planter and was hiding. Talk about having the wind taken out of your sails. Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday.
 |
| Take this as a reminder. Spring is 10 days away! |
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