March 28, 2009: Seedling Saturday #2

I can't believe it's Saturday already!

My son came over yesterday and added a hanging shelf to the mini-greenhouse. I'll add another light to this second story and I'll soon be potting up the tomatoes into those red 16-oz. containers. The shelf will only hold 24, so the rest will have to go somewhere on the lower shelf. I may end up raising the hanging shelf and using it for small seedlings, and putting the taller plants below. It's all a learning experience for me, a period of trial and error, never having raised my own seedlings before!





The tomatoes are looking good. I might be potting them up by this time next week.


The peppers are also growing well. I was worried about the Purple Beauty peppers, as all the others had germinated long ago and there was no sign of life with these. But patience paid off, and yesterday a Purple Beauty peeked out at me, and another was showing this morning.



The only other plants in the greenhouse right now are a few marigolds.

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I moved the lettuce, mesclun, dill and some of the brassicas outside under a plastic tent yesterday. They were all looking very leggy, and I think the greenhouse is just too warm for them.


The lettuce plants, except for the red romaine, were really looking floppy.

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Inside the house, the plants in the plant window all seem to be doing well, even those without artificial light. I had potted up some of the leggy brassicas into Dixie cups, and they seem to be growing sturdier in the cooler atmosphere. I also have marigold seedlings sprouting here, as well as basil, dill and lettuce. The onions that were in pots last week have been planted in the garden.





Basil, dill and lettuce grow from tiny soil blocks that were made with a mini-ice cube tray.



The cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli plants that I moved inside to the plant window are looking much better.


The largest Arizona grown tomato plant is 16" tall (22" including pot). The middle one is 9", and the largest pepper is 9". I think I'll toss that tiny tomato. It just never recovered from the freezing it took on the trip home. The smallest pepper is showing some new growth, finally.



A bud on the largest plant has turned into a blossom. I tickle it every time I get near it, I hope it pollinates and gives me an early tomato.

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Parsnips and spinach have been started in soil blocks, and are residing on my bathroom counter. I made a new, smaller soil blocker out of a medicine bottle, which is nice for the smaller plants.



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When I buy green onions at the grocery store, I always pot up the extras or plant them in my garden. This time I had two pots of them saved up, and then I bought another bunch, so I ended up with two rows of spring onions in the garden. I put them next to the carrots (under the boards, they have yet to germinate) and in the same bed where I've planted beets and radishes. Later, there will be two rows of sweet peppers in the center of this bed.




My garlic wintered well, and is really growing now. I think I planted these way too close together, so I'll be pulling some to use fresh before long, just to thin them out. I thought I'd lost the rosemary, which was a new plant just last year, but I see a tiny bit of green at the base. Maybe it survived after all.



The bare root strawberries that were planted last week are showing some new leaves, the onion sets are beginning to peek through the surface of the soil, and two birdhouses have now been permanently installed....one atop the raspberry trellis and the other on a ladder in the squash patch. It's pouring down rain now, so I'll wait until next week to take photos.

Happy gardening!


22 comments:

  1. I never knew you could just pop green onions into the ground and they'd sprout! What a neat idea! So do they multiply once you get them going? I'm guessing they do, otherwise what would be the point.

    I really can't wait till this rain clears up so I can get my beds put together. Yes, they are still sitting in my garage... ugh! Can't wait to get my seedlings outside and off my counters. :P

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  2. It looks like you've been really busy. Your seedlings are looking great. I so wish I could get a rosemary to over winter here, but I've nevr had any luck with it. I'm just too far north.

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  3. Daphne, I had a gorgeous rosemary for several years...until I decided it was just too large, so I gave it a "trim". That killed it.

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  4. Dang, granny...you sure do have alot of stuff started! Everything looks great, and I can't wait to see how they progress. Everytime I see your soil blocks, it makes me wanna bake brownies. Heh.

    EG

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  5. MommyAmy...no, they don't multiply. They just grow and stay beautifully fresh and green rather than get all slimy and rotten in the fridge! I always seem to need 2 green onions, and they come about 12-15 to the bunch. I found out years ago that they stay fresh and usable when potted up or planted in the garden.

    See my blog

    http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-4-2008-today-in-garden.html

    to see how gorgeous these onions can be, then follow the link there to see them in the garden last year, along with how to plant them!

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  6. EG...Well, come on over and have some brownies! I don't think they'd taste too great, but whatever floats your boat ;-) At least you don't call them poopy ice cubes like Mr. H does.

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  7. For somebody who never grew their own seedlings, you're doing a darned goo job!

    Nice tomato bloom picture.

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  8. Thank you, Cheryl. It seems I do pretty good at tomatoes and peppers, the others maybe not so much. But I'll keep trying until I get it right! I think I figured out my problem, so I'll work on it.

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  9. Tomato tickler, that's funny. I have been thinking of potting up my leggy brassica's as well. I think my problem is the light is to hot because everything else is nice and stocky. Do the green onions multiple that you plant from the grocery store?

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  10. Dan, to repeat what I told MommyAmy (above)...

    .no, they don't multiply. They just grow and stay beautifully fresh and green rather than get all slimy and rotten in the fridge! I always seem to need 2 green onions, and they come about 12-15 to the bunch. I found out years ago that they stay fresh and usable when potted up or planted in the garden.

    See my blog

    http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-4-2008-today-in-garden.html

    to see how gorgeous these onions can be, then follow the link there to see them in the garden last year, along with how to plant them!

    I have come to the conclusion that I need to raise the front plastic curtain on the mini-greenhouse during the day, when the lights are on, and only close it at night when they are off. I think it was a matter of the inside temperature being too warm with the brassicas, too. I buried some of the stem when I potted them, and it didn't seem to hurt them a bit.

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  11. Wow, those green onions look great & the white part is huge! I will have to try this. I was reading a month ago about a blogger replanting just the root end of a green onion and it regrew again.

    Forgot to ask, how long does it take for marigolds to germinate. I planted a bunch and have only had one sprout in over a week.

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  12. Wow, the garlic and onions look great!

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  13. Dan, the marigolds I planted on the 17th are just now getting their true leaves. I planted more on the 20th, and they have germinated. Except the seed I saved from mine last year, only two out of 15 have come up. I think I plucked the flowers to soon, and the seeds weren't ripe.

    Tonight I can see three of the (8) Purple Beauty peppers...one has developed little leaves, the other two are just emerging.

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  14. Jenn, I am surprised the garlic survived, I didn't even have it mulched! I just noticed the photo shows some yellowing of a few leaves. I need to go look...I hope mine don't suffer the same fate as yours, as mine were grocery store bulbs too.

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  15. Your garlic should be fine and they do not look too closely spaced to me. Hard to judge from just a picture - but I generally place mine 5 to 6 inches apart from one another.

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  16. Wow! Neat with the green onions. Gonna have to try that. Have no idea how you're keeping up with all of those babies. Or what you're going to do with it all, if it all grows! LOL.

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  17. kitsapfg, I hope so. I think these are around 4" apart, but with staggered planting it gives them a bit more room. I'm not going for giants, anyway...just a bit of garlic for the kitchen :-)

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  18. sb158, the fence between me and the next door neighbor is only 3' high. I think I could reach over and plant some stuff on her side, and she probably wouldn't even care! I was thinking we might form a solid tomato fence. My daughter's in-laws have also expressed a wish for leftover plants, so I'm sure they will all get a home. It would be nice if someone would buy me a bag of potting soil or vermiculite in return. I'm not holding my breath.

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  19. I thought of you this evening when I went to turn my compost. Really it's not as bad as that sounds! lol I found a regular store onion I'd chopped the roots off of and had put the butt end in the compost heap. When I went to turn the pile I noticed that the whole thing was sprouting! I might rescue it tomorrow and find a place to plant it in the garden. It made me think of your green onions. I'll take some pictures for you tomorrow. It's pretty cool actually!

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  20. Jenn, Dan said "I was reading a month ago about a blogger replanting just the root end of a green onion and it regrew again." So it looks like you might have yourself an onion! My grandmother used to always bury her potato peelings, and she'd get a nice crop of small potatoes from them.

    Why do people think of me while turning their compost? That's twice this month I've heard that from someone...does that mean I'm just a stinky granny? LOL!

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  21. Granny, I haven't been by in the last two weeks. Been busy, but oh my gosh did I ever miss a lot. I keep seeing all these beautiful gardens, yours included. I am so envious. I am glad to hear your puple beauty pepper seeds have came up.

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  22. Don, so far only one Purple Beauty. The other two were wishful thinking, I guess. They were all under the lights with the peppers that were already growing, so I took them out and put them back on the heat pad and put a humidity dome over them. Maybe that will wake them up.

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