I was still concerned about how leggy they were, so I cut a toilet tissue roll into three 1" lengths and placed them around three of the seedlings. I then back filled the cardboard rolls with potting soil. I only had one empty roll on hand, I really needed two of them cut in half, as there is still a good inch of stem exposed. I don't know if this method will do any good, but tomatoes grow roots along the entire length of their stems, so hopefully it wont hurt to give it a try.
They will have to live on top of my microwave until it's time for their trip to Washington next month. In a couple of weeks, it will probably be warm and sunny enough here to set them outside for their light source.
I had a second picking of greens from the little Arizona garden today. This time it included a bit of spinach, which looks like it might actually have begun growing since being transplanted. And one onion, that hasn't grown a bit since it went in the ground, but sure has developed a good root system! My bunny, Cookie, isn't going to get this salad. Mr. H and I are going to enjoy it ourselves.
The little garden continues to grow. Look closely, I think the spinach is looking larger, don't you? The beets have certainly put forth growth, as has the parsley and the lettuce (which has already been picked once).
Garden February 10 compared to January 15th.
The peppers I planted on January 24 from saved seed have done nothing. I'm not sure how long I should keep babying them, but I guess I'll give them another week. In the meantime, I bought a packet of bell pepper seeds and started another batch. I found out they germinate best at 80F so, not having a seed starting mat for heating, I grabbed the next best thing....my heating pad. With a wire rack between the pad and the mini-greenhouse, the temperature stays at exactly 80F all night. In the daytime they get moved to the top of the refrigerator, where they also maintain a constant 80F temperature.
,
Found your blog through a gardening forum, awesome to see what you're doing with your mini-greenhouses!
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to start my first SFG this spring, I'm so excited! And would you believe it? It's snowing here in Washington today!! Such a crazy year we've had!
Granny, those tomato seedlings are little stinkers, ain't they? Boy...I mean, they'll grow tall/leggy in just 24 hours. I'm glad you've got everything under control, that lettuce sure looks good!
ReplyDeleteEG
Mommyamy, I think this was a good year for me to be in Arizona for the winter. We usually don't get really bad weather where I live in Eastern WA, but this year certainly was an exception!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the wonderful world of gardening...SFG, raised bed, intensive or whatever you wish. I have a combination of the three methods!
Hey, EG...I have 5 1/2 ounces on my produce scale! Woo-hoo!
ReplyDeleteI agree...Woo Hoo! Boy...I can't wait until my pumpkins and large melons start coming in around september, that'll get my numbers up, for sure! I'm going for 750 lbs of produce for the entire year - all 3 crops. Heh.
ReplyDeleteEG
EG, it will be nice when I can weigh in pounds instead of ounces. Maybe if the beets grow large enough to pull before we leave to head north. If they don't we'll be eating beet greens!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about your little bowl of salad greens yesterday while looking at my tiny little lettuce starts. Ah to live somewhere warmer!
ReplyDeleteIt should take your peppers 8 to 25 days to germinate at 80° - it's hard to wait that long! I just put mine in little pots yesterday. ::taps fingers:: ;^)
Now that heating pad is sure stemming things up, that should greatly improve germination. I grew peppers from seed last season. They took a long time to germinate and hardly grew at all until planted out and the temps increased. I had them same results with eggplant. I did how ever picked up sweet banana peppers as transplants and they did very well.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is looking better & better after each post. Is that a collard in the white pot? It is a big boy.
OK, Jenn, I'll baby them for a month and if nothing shows they're outta here!
ReplyDeleteThe salad was so good tonight. Tiny garden greens just have so much more flavor than the store stuff.
Dan, I thought it was a cabbage in the pot. I've never grown (nor seen) collards, but whatever it is it was growing with the mesclun I brought down from my Washington garden last fall. I potted it up out of curiosity, so we'll see what it is. It looks like every cabbage I've ever grown, so I'll wait and see if it heads up.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see what it becomes. I think collards and cabbage look the same until the head starts to develop. I have never grown a collard either, can't wait to see what EG does with his.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to mix up collards and cabbage when they're little (I did it last year).
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new "babies."
"It's easy to mix up collards and cabbage when they're little"
ReplyDeleteLOL, and especially when they are "mesclun", which wasn't supposed to include cabbage or collards!
Hey Granny! Way to go on getting germination on those tomatoes. I'm still waiting (im)patiently for mine. I see however, from the picture, that your light is well above the seedlings. I'm hoping you moved it down to 1-2 inches above the plants after the picture was taken? I figure you did, but after Sandy had her leggy situation, I thought it best not to assume.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got another salad. I'm surprised it didn't produce more. Must be the chilly nights. /shrug
Oh, and thanks for clarifying on the indeterminates. Makes more sense now. hehe
Sinfonian, the light was just raised so I could get photos...it's 2" above the babies, and this morning I can see tiny true leaves beginning to show. I will have to do a complete transplant, not a pluck and plant, as they have so much stem covered. They sure aren't showing any signs of stress from wrapping them in TP rolls and soil!
ReplyDeleteChilly nights? COLD nights! I's been in the mid 30s for a couple of weeks now. Not even ten degrees higher than it is at home, and daytime temps mid 50s.
My husband wore out the high setting on his heating pad so he got a new one. Low & Medium still work and I was thinking of using it the same way. I'm glad you did it first, now I have someone to copy... :-)
ReplyDelete(Greenbean)
Greenbean, it works great! I keep an instant read thermometer in the mini-greenhouse, and it stays at a steady 80 degrees with the heating pad on low. I'm going to take this pad home with me, and there I have another. I'll probably be able to put all my indoor seeds on heat :-)
ReplyDelete