March 18, 2010: Whew! I Can Breathe Again!

Do those of you who start their own plants indoors hold your breath from seed planting to germination? I do. I am always filled with apprehension, right up until the day I see that bit of green breaking through. It didn't take long this year. This morning I had cosmos, marigolds and several varieties of lettuce peeking out at me.


Cosmos had very good rate of germination, only 2 of 18 haven't peeked out so far.


Petite Yellow Marigold is anxious, as well.



Buttercrunch won the race of lettuces, with 4 of 5 showing this morning.


And another "Whew!" I finished and filed my taxes last night.

23 comments:

  1. I'm still holding my breath - and I'm on the 7th seed flat... it never ends!

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  2. Not a lot of success here with germinating indoor. Must pay attention.

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  3. p.s. I notice you have to adapt your gardening to the zone you presently live. It must keep you agile.

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  4. Wow we haven't even started on our taxes. Life is crazy right now, but at least my lettuce seedlings are happy.

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  5. I know exactly what you mean, I've been waiting for some Brandywine OTV to sprout. I got them in a trade, and they looked kind of old. Three out of twelve sprouted after 10 days, so those babies are getting lots of extra TLC!

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  6. I keep peeking in on my Wintersown stuff in the milk jugs....nothing yet, otherwise I am able to keep it cool. ;) Is that all your indorr sowing for the season?

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  7. Just started mine and its been four days and nothing poking through. Whats going on. :o( John

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  8. Yes, I do hold my breath. I thought it was just me! Glad to see yours are sprouting.

    I haven't been brave enough to tackle taxes yet...

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  9. Erin, it never gets any easier, does it?

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    Lakeviewer, I'm not very experienced with indoor seed starting. This is just my second year! I had some good and some bad experiences last year, I hope I learned something from the bad.

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    Daphne, I think your seedlings are always happy. You and Thomas...it seems to come naturally for both of you!

    Taxes are no challenge to me, ours are so simple to do after doing our business taxes for so many years. It's just that when we got home, Mr. H looked through our mail and then shredded it. I had to send for copies of our tax documents! He's been banned from the shredder ;-)

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    Rebecca, that is my greatest worry. Many of my seeds are 2-3 years old, and I don't know how viable they are. There's such a narrow window of time to get them started, there's not much room for error (replanting).

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    Kelly, no, I have just begun! I still have tomatoes and a bunch of flowers to start indoors. I'm just hoping what's growing now will be able to handle moving to a cooler location when the next batch needs the heat mats.

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    John, I look at mine about every two hours during the day! It's like watching a pot that won't boil.

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    Villager, maybe that's what causes those strong spring winds....all of us gardeners collectively releasing our breaths when our seedlings sprout!

    And getting our taxes done ;-)

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  10. Granny, when I've got seeds I'm not sure about, I usually start them in a moist paper towel. You can see them as soon as they start to sprout, which is usually about three days for tomatoes. Then you can pop them into some soil. It saves a few days of anxiety. :-)

    We did our taxes February 2nd, but we still haven't gotten the state refund back. They're out of money, apparently. Now they know how the rest of us feel..

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  11. Rebecca, I know a lot of people pre-sprout their seeds that way. I've never tried it, and I should.

    We're lucky to live in WA, where we don't have to file state taxes, and our economy here (Tri-Cities) is about the best in the nation. Even our housing prices are going up, unlike the decline seen in so many cities.

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  12. I am watching anxiously for the peppers to sprout forth. They are always so slow to germinate and it is agony waiting for them. Since I am away all day at work five days a week, I don't have the temptation of looking at them every few hours! I just check morning and night instead. ;)

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  13. That's great, I hope it stays that way! My husband is in landscaping, so we've been hit pretty hard. Good thing I already had the garden set up! And we got a little flock of chickens last summer.
    I love your blog, I've been following it for almost a year. Love the dog pics!

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  14. Kitsap, peppers are so slow, they always worry me. I was happy to hear Dan had great germination with the seeds I sent him, so no reason mine shouldn't do the same. I worry now, as I moved the tiny seedlings to the shed, and I'm monitoring the temperature in the mini-greenhouse. So far, it's a bit too warm with all four lights on, and about right with only 2. I might have to ventilate it better when I need to have four lights going.

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  15. Rebecca, thank you! I'll be getting more dog pictures soon. Annie needs to show off her new figure (don't tell her the diet hasn't made much improvement. We think full figured girl dogs are gorgeous).

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  16. I understand totally about the anxiety...Mine is about watering the little seedlings, of course...

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  17. EG, I'm more afraid of the little ones drying out. I stand by them, squirt bottle in hand, and I poke and prod and feel to see if they might be dry...I just can't leave the poor things alone!

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  18. I really do need to start my flowers. I'm growing cosmos and marigolds as well. Flowers just aren't as exciting for me. hahaha.

    By the way, those soil blocks look great!

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  19. Granny, I check on my seedlings several times a day. It's the first thing I do when I wake up (even before coffee, so that's saying a lot). This weekend I MUST start my tomatoes and peppers. This will be my first attempt and I'm already feeling a bit nervous!!

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  20. Thomas, I love flowers, but veggies have always held the most importance for me. This will be my first year to try to incorporate as many of both as I can. I feel the need to do my part to increase the bee population. I've already stopped using pesticides, except wasp & hornet spray directly on the nests of those that sting my dogs, so the next logical step is to introduce bee friendly plants.

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  21. Caffienated Mom, I started my tomatoes and peppers at the same time last year, and my toms got a bit large. I'm waiting a couple weeks this year, giving the peppers an 8 week growing period, the tomatoes will only get six weeks.

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  22. Cool idea growing plants indoors. My lettuce always gets chewed up by bugs outside. Do you know of any organic bug sprays? I heard about Safer Brand’s EndAll spray and would love to hear your thoughts. I like that it’s safe to use up to the day of harvest and kills so many different bugs. If I had the space I would definitely grow indoors.

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  23. Ronald, I just got my light bill today, so I'm not so sure it's a cool idea! I don't remember it going so high last year, but I was only using half as many light fixtures. It may have been the heating pads that ate up so much electricity.

    I don't use any bug sprays at all, so I really can't recommend any. I only have birds that eat my lettuce, so I use plastic netting to cover them. It might be slugs attacking yours, and I have heard Sluggo is a good product for those.

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