Seeds and Dirt - My Favorites!
Apr. 15th, 2011 04:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluesgardenBah. Why can't I plant things at 4am? (Hint: It's cold and dark in the greenhouse. This does not make me less grumpy about it.)
In dirt news, I planted seeds in a couple more containers the day before yesterday - French Breakfast and Rudolf radishes, Da Cheong Chae greens, and Red choi in the other planter beside the greenhouse door, plus Tyee and treated Tyee spinach in another galvanized tin tub beside the garden shed. I added some Plant-Tone fertilizer to the top few inches of both containers, plus some between the rows of peas in the slower growing blue container. The black container with the radishes and Asian greens also got a loose cover of insect barrier to protect from flea beetles. It was easy enough to just tie it on with twine since the container has a lip at top, but I'll probably have to bury the edges to keep it secure once I install it in the garden, since any gaps would defeat the purpose of keeping the insects out!
Later on, D moved the spinach container that was still in the greenhouse out beside the new one so I don't have to worry so much about my baby spinach bolting with the way the daytime temps jump in there. The Winter Density lettuce might still be a bit susceptible, but not so much as the spinach.
After that came basil planting in a half flat to go under the lights inside. Started are 6 cells each of Rosie, Lime, and Cinnamon, plus 9 cells each of Sweet Genovese and Large Leaf Italian. I've yet to decide if it's enough or if I should start another half flat. There's no such thing as too much basil, right?? I also thinned the tomato plants down to one per cell. It's funny how quickly tomato plants smell like tomatoes - they're already quite strong anytime you pull out the tray and they're only 3-4 inches high.
Yesterday morning was most of another half flat, this time with 3 cells each of kale (Red Russian), Swiss chard (Silverbeet), cabbage (Impala), and epazote (a Mexican herb), plus two types of kohlrabi - 3 cells of Kossak (large, storage type) and 6 cells of Korist (standard size). Then I had to replant the Tyee spinach as River confirmed the organic Plant-Tone fertilizer is still tasty. I had 4 beagle nose sized divots in the front half of the container.
Later on, when it's not pitch black outside, I'll be moving the onions and leeks out to the greenhouse. This will free up some space under the lights inside and allow me to keep the lights on longer. If I were to keep the lights on too long, consistently, while the onions were in residence, they might start to think it was summer and begin to bulb up prematurely ('long-day onions'). Then I'm thinking I may actually give the tomatoes their first transplant to larger accommodations! VERY EXCITING.
There's a chance for rain today, but if it's not too bad, I'm hoping to take some pictures. :)
In dirt news, I planted seeds in a couple more containers the day before yesterday - French Breakfast and Rudolf radishes, Da Cheong Chae greens, and Red choi in the other planter beside the greenhouse door, plus Tyee and treated Tyee spinach in another galvanized tin tub beside the garden shed. I added some Plant-Tone fertilizer to the top few inches of both containers, plus some between the rows of peas in the slower growing blue container. The black container with the radishes and Asian greens also got a loose cover of insect barrier to protect from flea beetles. It was easy enough to just tie it on with twine since the container has a lip at top, but I'll probably have to bury the edges to keep it secure once I install it in the garden, since any gaps would defeat the purpose of keeping the insects out!
Later on, D moved the spinach container that was still in the greenhouse out beside the new one so I don't have to worry so much about my baby spinach bolting with the way the daytime temps jump in there. The Winter Density lettuce might still be a bit susceptible, but not so much as the spinach.
After that came basil planting in a half flat to go under the lights inside. Started are 6 cells each of Rosie, Lime, and Cinnamon, plus 9 cells each of Sweet Genovese and Large Leaf Italian. I've yet to decide if it's enough or if I should start another half flat. There's no such thing as too much basil, right?? I also thinned the tomato plants down to one per cell. It's funny how quickly tomato plants smell like tomatoes - they're already quite strong anytime you pull out the tray and they're only 3-4 inches high.
Yesterday morning was most of another half flat, this time with 3 cells each of kale (Red Russian), Swiss chard (Silverbeet), cabbage (Impala), and epazote (a Mexican herb), plus two types of kohlrabi - 3 cells of Kossak (large, storage type) and 6 cells of Korist (standard size). Then I had to replant the Tyee spinach as River confirmed the organic Plant-Tone fertilizer is still tasty. I had 4 beagle nose sized divots in the front half of the container.
Later on, when it's not pitch black outside, I'll be moving the onions and leeks out to the greenhouse. This will free up some space under the lights inside and allow me to keep the lights on longer. If I were to keep the lights on too long, consistently, while the onions were in residence, they might start to think it was summer and begin to bulb up prematurely ('long-day onions'). Then I'm thinking I may actually give the tomatoes their first transplant to larger accommodations! VERY EXCITING.
There's a chance for rain today, but if it's not too bad, I'm hoping to take some pictures. :)
