Historically, I am not very good at growing things from seeds, so we'll see how it goes.
I got seed start planting mix and plantable peat pots. It took about half of the planting mix to fill all the pots, and getting them "thoroughly wet" turned out to be a bit of a pain. The soil particles just encapsulated the water and it sort of floated around instead of soaking through. I finally just dunked each pot into a pitcher full of water until the soil started to float, and then planted the seeds.
The pot packaging said to put two seeds in each one, but the onion seeds were tiny and many in number. Even putting a pinch of seeds into two holes in each pot, I only used half the packet. I didn't want to spend money on more peat pots without knowing if they're even going to work, so I planted the rest of the seeds in a plastic cookie tub that I had lying around.
I also planted the basil and catnip seeds from J-Dog's Christmas gifts, and put everybody in front of the South-facing window in our guest room:
And now, I suppose we wait.
(And tomato people...are these trellises good for tomatoes, or should I stick to a traditional tall, round wire cage?)
Hey :) Kinda neat, I may or may not change my bad habits of killing plants (except for my Christmas Cactus, because my Christmas Cactus loves me) but I wouldn't have the vaguest idea how to start seeds... perhaps I'll read and learn for another year.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous. I wish you many great successes.
ReplyDeleteMy mom harvested all my kale and ripped out the roots. Then she and Z picked all the tomatoes and cut the vine way back. It was all in an effort to make the garden easier for J to maintain while I can't. But still, no home-grown veggies for me this spring and summer. Boo.
I picked up my first seeds today and I'm going to be starting them tomorrow, all because you inspired me. Or because you sparked my competitive nature. One of those. :P
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to try square foot gardening this year, in the huge bed that M built for me last year. Everything I'm finding on it is a little vague (tomatoes should be... 18 inches apart? but the squares are only 12 inches wide? and can different plants go in the same bed, or do you have to do 16 feet of tomatoes, then 16 feet of cukes? I am so confused), so I'm nervous that I'll screw it up -- but it would be awesome to be able to grow 10 or 12 or 16 different crops this year, plus plunking some herbs and berries into last year's containers.
Your seedlings are excellent and inspirational. I can't wait to see how they turn out!
Hey, Sara! I'm no expert, but I think if you cage or trellis your tomatoes, you can probably grow them 12 inches apart. If they get big, it'll be kind of jungle-y, but my tomatoes were about two feet apart last year, and it still got jungle-y.
ReplyDeleteAs far as planting more than one crop in the same bed, I don't see why you couldn't! I would just recommend trying to figure out which way the sunlight comes from the most, and planting the tomatoes in the back / far side so they don't shade everything else.
Our light hits from the non-fence side, so I planted shorties (cukes and zucchini) in the front, bell peppers in the middle, and tomatoes at the fence side last year. It worked out pretty well! Good luck, and may the tomato growing competition begin ;)