Despite reading everything I could find on seed starting, attending a seed starting class, AND talking to all the veteran gardeners I knew, I had some pretty horrific casualties this year. The moisture pads that I bought to keep the plantlets watered during our vacation worked for many of the plants but notably, not my bergamot (sniff), parsley (sniff) or one of my thai basil (sniff). I have planted the scrawny surviving bergamot (which I had initially planned to discard) and a half-revived parsley, but I have little hope of them surviving.
Let's move on to peppers that were looking terrible BEFORE I even went on vacation. Three out of the 6 (or more. I've lost count) hot peppers survived unscathed: 2 cayenne & 1 thai pepper. One Kung Pao looks a bit pathetic (thanks aphids!), but I planted it anyway. My sweet peppers? Mostly gone. And I had like 8 of them! I think I was able to salvage 2. I've also bought additional sweet & hot pepper plants to get me up to my desired number.
And tomatoes? A Cherokee Purple just...well...shriveled up & died. For no reason I could really tell. I have little faith in my other tomatoes. They looked awful when we got back from vacation, but did perk up a bit with some more regular waterings. The Sungold Cherry Tomatoes are wicked tall & I don't think that's a good thing. The other Cherokee purple looks pretty sad, as do the Wonder Lights. However, I've planted all of these in hopes that something will come of them with good natural light, fertile soil and some fresh air. My fingers are crossed, but I've got little faith. A friendly freecycler, Karen, gave me some of her tomato seedlings in case mine are worthless. Thanks Karen!
All that said? I'll be starting seeds again next year, more experienced & wiser. I plan to germinate the tomato seeds like I did the peppers, get another grow light so that there can be more air circulation around the plants, try very hard not to let aphids in the house and not get emotionally attached to the plants. After all, I'm going to eat them!
How did your seed starting fair?
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How Much:
2011
Have I spent? $82
Have I harvested? 69.95 lbs
2010
Have I spent? $115.84
Have I harvested? 26.02 lbs
Have I spent? $82
Have I harvested? 69.95 lbs
2010
Have I spent? $115.84
Have I harvested? 26.02 lbs
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Since it's warm here most of the year, I started my seeds indoors the first week of March but moved them outside shortly after. The herbs are doing OK except the rosemary never sprouted, and neither did the catnip I planted in a separate container. The green onions and chives were a complete failure. My cucumbers have flowers but they, and the tomatoes and peppers, don't have any fruit. Everything is a lot smaller than I expected it to be by this point. . .I followed the instructions to a "T" on the back of the seed packet as far as timelines. Supposedly I should be harvesting cucumbers in a couple of weeks but if there's no fruit, then no harvest! Stupid seeds. I should have bought plants already started. :(
ReplyDeleteSorry to here that! You have my deepest sympathies. I know how heart breaking it is to try so very hard & then...nothing happens.
ReplyDeleteMy fingers are crossed that those flowers result in fruit. I know we've had a longer-than-usual winter, maybe your weather (even though it's always warm) is a little behind?!? Here's to hoping!