Lighting is not the best, but I wanted to demonstrate some important things I do to keep the seedlings healthy and happy.
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Odd to be watching the news and hearing of 3 inches of snow here and 6 inches of snow there, when the "here" and "there" are pretty close by. But we escaped - so can we please get this spring thing underway?
I really love this part of the gardening season - each morning brings new life to the seed flats. If the garage warms up over the next few days, the eggplant/hot pepper tray will join the lettuce/beets under the lights. We are at day 10 and a few slow pokes are waking up, like Billy Goat and Bird hot peppers (the Hab related hot peppers really take their time). But there is life in 45 of the 50 cells, with 3 stubborn eggplant, one cell of Cossack Pineapple ground cherry, and 2005 saved Hot Paper Lantern. Mission accomplished on that flat. The sweet peppers are in general proving to be more stubborn. I await the emergence of 9 of the 34 varieties (two of which are experimental). The experimental hots are 12 out of 16. So a few more days under Saran Wrap and in front of the sunny window are in order before the relocation to the garage light table. As expected, the tomatoes are proving to be quick! The flat that I planted in the video is now 4 days post-seeding - and 15 cells show life, with raised soilless mix indicating more will pop through today. I will shoot a brief clip of what I do now. I planted another flat that day, and have life in 13 cells. The third tomato flat was seeded on March 1. Last night I got to the flowers and herbs. So aside from one more flat that will be more experimental tomatoes, peppers and eggplant (including this year's Dwarf project grow out), the seed planting of the season is just about done. In a few weeks, the labor-intensive (and resource - meaning $$$ - intensive) parts starts - transplanting into 4 inch pots. Finger crossing gets important as well, in terms of night time lows above 32 degrees. That is no certainty this season o The garden season is fully underway - I've now got 6 flats of seeds planted. The lettuce/greens/beets flat is now living under lights in my garage. Eggplant/hot peppers is mostly alive and the plastic is off - after another week or so in front of the window, it will join the lettuce tray in the garage. Sweet peppers are a bit slower but coming along.
The three tomato flats are now on the heat mats - signs of life are expected any day. I've got two more to plant - flowers/herbs, then my garden experimental goodies - the Dwarf project and other exploratory tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. I hope it warms up soon - at some point, I will want to get some of these flats out in the sun (after appropriate hardening off). I hope to start the next video soon, which will cover maintenance of the flats post-seeding, hardening off and transplanting into the 4 inch pots. Ah, the snow comment- first week of March, and the weather report indicates potential for a rain-converting-to-snow event today into tomorrow. BUT....temperatures are forecast to hit 60s on Sunday, near 70 on Monday. Daffodils are up and the buds are showing. We have crocus blooming. Daylily and spiderwort shoots are emerging from the hard, compacted earth. The buds are swelling on our ornamental cherry tree. Spring is just around the corner! This is a first take (and we may redo it at some point), but it is a good enough starting point. |
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