African Violets and Gesneriads: I'd like to talk about light and African violets :)), 1 by critterologist

critterologist wrote:
Oh, gosh, I think I ended up with more than 2 dozen flats down there last spring.... This photo doesn't show the second shelving unit DH set up for me by the window, with 4 more sets of lights for the lower shelf.... When I started trading seeds at DG and amassing this huge variety of peppers, tomatoes, etc that I wanted to start, DH shook his head.... and went out and bought me another shelving unit! He is such a sweetie! He doesn't understand it, but he knows gardening brings me joy, so he's an enabler!

I gave several flats away to friends & neighbors, sent out a few things (I was just starting to learn how to send plants last spring), and planted most of the rest.... I like to do a couple of flats of annual flowers, and I started a number of perennials also, including that flat of daylily seedlings on the top right. (The daylilies did great! There are at least 30 little plants out there in my daff bed, and I'm hoping for a few blooms next year.) I always end up with a couple flats of basils, as I have a "thing" for edible ornamentals. I have to confess that a few things are still in deck pots, and I'll be tucking them in "somewhere" this Sunday.

I run into space problems when I get really good germination on tomatoes & peppers... I just can't bear to toss the extra seedlings when I think somebody else will want them! Nanna, you are welcome to lay claim to some of my "extras" next spring. I've already promised 3 flats worth of space to my neighbors, so I could start a flat for you too! Between those flats and the 2 shelves I've now filled with AVs, I think I am going to have to add lights to the remaining bottom shelves this spring. Or I could cut back.... ;-)

As to what the plantlets turned into.... Just take a look at this year's chile pepper patch! I know this is off topic for this forum, but it was *awesome*! Some of the habaneros in the middle row grew 5 feet tall, so they are hiding the sprawling cayenne varieties behind them (nothing got staked but the early tomatoes along the back wall).