Well, well, well! Looking good!
Fall/Winter Gardens 2014-15 Part 2
All the carrots are pulled, blanched and froze! Snap peas or spinach next me think. Maybe one dino kale plant too. That did well for me this year!
Love dino kale....I grow that all winter here. It's pretty and edible.
I just received some seeds for dino Kale. Good to know they will do fine here.
They grow like a palm tree so you just cut the leaves off and the plants keep going. It's used in soups and such in the Tuscany region of Italy. I've never protect mine from freezes either. But I didn't grow any last winter, I'm not sure it could take those temps...
Just found a &*^%#!!! woodchuck munching on my 2 dino kales! Time to trap this sob. ARRRRRRG!
sounds like a stew is in order ;) lol
Carrots are coming along well. i have some growing in a 6" deep container because they are "parisian", one of those that grow little round orange ball shaped carrots, so figured it didnt need near as much root space. Also have some of it going down in my garden bed. Those golden beets are about the size of a quarter now. also got another round of seed started
Also an unexpected planting, lol. Mom had thrown in a lettuce core into my compost bin without my knowing, and several weeks ago i noticed a white sprout sticking out from the compost, turned out it was the core of that lettuce trying to grow again, lol. So i have it in a container now, and its really starting to take off!
Good Afternoon!!
HELP!!! I planted my broccoli seed on August 16 and now 3 weeks later they are still only about 2" tall and have only two (a few have 3) tiny leaves. I moved the lights down to within 1" of them and leave them on 16 - 18 hours (or 24 when I forget to turn them off). They are in my utility room which is not air conditioned but has the windows raised and I have a fan on to circulate the air. Each plant is in its own 2" pot with regular MiracleGrow potting soil. I water them from the bottom when the soil feels dry to the touch.
What am I doing wrong and can these plants be salvaged? Will they be ready to set out any time in this century?????
Mae Belle
periods of slow, to no growth may not mean theres anything seriously wrong, perhaps they are waiting around for those autumn conditions to come around before they really take off--being the brassicas that they are. as long as you dont see anything die back or start to rot, i wouldnt really worry yet.
Belle,
Don't panic. They're just settling in. Trust me. Soon as they decide they like it, they'll take off.
Also, keep that soil moderately moist. Brassicas are WATER HOGS and HUNGRY HIPPOS, and will pout if they don't get enough to eat and drink. But, don't overdo any of the feeding or watering.
Go look over here.
https://allthingsplants.com/blogs/view/Gymgirl/
These are my broccoli plants hardening off outside.
The variety on the right is GREEN MAGIC which is one of the "Texas Super Star" variety.
I am very impressed how much bigger and stronger Green Magic plants are compared to my other varieties.
For sure a variety to keep watching.
My summer garden is not yet finished. Tons of okra and long beans and very ugly (but good) eggplants.
Swiss Chard and Kale still growing slowly indoor. They went in a kind of shock since I potted up into a 4" pot each. Now they seem to start growing again.
now that i know you have a blog, you have one more stalker ;) LOL :D
I did have a bit of a clutzy moment this morning, and accidentally dropped a 6 cell container of romaine lettuce plants. lost all but one from it (mainly because they fell out into a place where i cant really get to). I did get some Red romaine lettuce seed the other day, so i figured what better thing to replace them with.
This message was edited Sep 8, 2014 4:32 PM
JMC and GymGirl
Thanks so much for the information......guess I will give them a while longer before I buy some plants at the nursery.....
GymGirl - your ATP blog is so informative.....thanks for the link.....I have bookmarked it so I can keep up with your progress.
MB
Thanks, Belle, glad it helps! Do you have any pictures you could post?
And, as for my newest stalker.....LOLOLOL! I love you, too! ^^_^^
This message was edited Sep 8, 2014 4:18 PM
GG, I will take some pictures when I get home and try to post them......not sure I am smart enough to get them from my phone to my computer to DG!!! :)
MB
Belle,
If you have a USB to plug your phone INTO your computer, no need to upload from the phone to the computer first. You can upload the pic directly from the phone to DG.
When you hit the "choose a file" button below, just look for your cellphone's camera/picture file, find the pic you want, then transfer it directly here...
Unless you just WANT to save the pic to your computer first...
Here goes......broccoli seedlings
Belle,
Please post a pic of your light setup...
In the meanwhile, this is what I would do, if those were my broccoli seedlings.
I'd get myself some drinking water bottles, the straighter the better, meaning without the deep hand grip "waist" in the middle. Scout around at your local store for a case, for around $3.27 or so.
Cut the top off with scissors all the way round, right above the label, and cut some drain holes in the bottom.
Then, I'd transplant each seedling to its own bottle. Since they're in 2" pots, they shouldn't be anchored too tightly in the cells. Sort 'a wiggle the trays like popping ice cube trays to loosen the root ball then gently lift the seedling out by the leaves -- not the stem.
I'd transplant them this way. Fill the bottle with moistened potting MIX (not potting soil), and make a deep hole in the center with a pencil or chopstick. Calculate the depth from the root ball to about 1/2" from the bottom leaves. Drop each seedling straight down into the hole up to the bottom leaves, just like deep planting a tomato seedling. Gently tap the bottle on your counter to settle the mix. Add more if necessary, and tap it again, till the soil is 1/2" below the bottom leaves. Don't mash the soil down, just tap the bottle down firmly.
Water the top of the mix gently, and only once to establish a capillary flow, then sit 'em in your drip tray, and add a little water for them to suck up.
Try to set all the transplants at the same height, so they're even across the top.
Get them under the lights, and keep the lights 1"-2" from the tops of the leaves -- 15 hours a day on.
Bottom water the trays allowing them to suck up the water. Use a turkey baster to suck out any water remaining in the trays after about 15-20 minutes or so. Don't leave them sitting in water...
That's what I would do...
Need to see your lights. ..
This message was edited Sep 8, 2014 11:20 PM
This message was edited Sep 8, 2014 11:34 PM
agreed with GG, they look like they are a bit starved of proper lighting.
GG
Thank you so much for your detailed instructions......I went to the store this morning and purchased a couple of cases of water and the seed starting mix so I can get the seedlings moved to their new homes.
Here are pictures of my light set up.....it is a 3-shelf stand with a 2-tube shop light for each shelf. I have a reflective emergency blanket taped to the back and sides to retain as much light as possible. The shop lights are suspended on chains that I can raise and lower in ~1" increments using S-hooks.
Thanks, again, for all your help......and I think I will join jmc in stalking you!!! :)
Belle,
The light looks ok. Depending on how wide your seed tray is, next go round, you might consider sitting two light kits side by side on each shelf, to evenly disburse the light. See if the seedlings are stretching in any one direction to get to the available light.
One last question in this mystery of why those seedlings are so leggy -- WHEN did you first put the seedlings under the lights, and, how tall were they at that point?
Hugs!
GG,
I kept the lights about 8" above the tops of the pots until the seed all came up.....then ~ 2 weeks ago, I lowered them to just about 1" above the leaves......they had already gotten leggy by then but I was hoping they would start putting out more leaves when I lowered the lights.
At this point, I'm thinking it probably would have been cheaper to buy plants at the nursery than all of this BUT I would have had to take what they had and I've never seen broccolini plants (the seed are hard enough to find!!!) or Green Magic plants.....so all in all if I get a head or two out of all this it is OK.....at least I have learned SO MUCH and will be better prepared next spring!!!!
Thanks.
MB
MB,
I'm thinking they can ALL make it at this point. I've brought MUCH worse seedlings through.
Just be tender when you transplant them...
Keep us posted!
You could also pot them up into larger pots/cups and add dirt to help support the stems. In the future, keep the light source as close to the plants as possible.
so we have reached the point where the daily temperatures are maintained within the 70 degree temperatures, with a stray day of lower 80's every once in a while. My kale had become root bound in their seed starting containers and were starting to complain about it, so i figured since its a cloudy day i would go ahead and move them into the veggie bed, with a nice layer of worm castings sprinkled on top, followed by a layer of leaf mulch. Carrots are coming along quite nicely. The bull's blood beets nearly camouflage into the leaf mulch colors i think. And the swiss chard get their own little space in the corner, followed by golden beets with romaine lettuce to the far left of that photo.
Ordered & received my hot pepper seeds from Buckeye Pepper Company. They're having a 40% sale if you enter the coupon code "FIFO" at checkout. Going to try the, currently, hottest pepper next year, Carolina Reaper, along with my favorite Habanero, Thai & Jalapeno. They sent along 2 free seeds: Naglah Red, another super hot, and St Helena Yellow, a milder chili pepper. I'll probably start these indoors around the beginning of January for transplanting sometime in March.
Got my new T8 lights ordered and have my growing shelf waiting. I use a lot of habanero peppers in my jelly making and I had such bad luck buying transplants this past spring that I decided to grow all my own for next year.
Jo-Ann
jomoncon
that is fantastic !
nice treat for me today while i did my daily (ok its usually more than once daily) garden check up, lol. Ladybird beetle nymph, probably the last of the ladybird beetle generation for this year before their hibernation instinct kicks in.
Hey cool! I appreciate the pic, jmc. It never occurred to me to look up the beneficial nymphs, so now I have one image.
:~)
last year i set loose a big batch of mail order ladybirds onto my tomato plants to combat an aphid infestation, so every time i see one of these now, i always wonder if they come from those that i set loose. ;)
This is yesterday's harvest, one red bell pepper and a few Emerald okra pods. The okra plant are only about 2.5 feet tall and already producing! I'm battling aphids on them, though. Ugh!
I made seed trays last night to start my onion seeds, beets, lettuce, and spinach outdoors under my portable mini greenhouse(s).
https://allthingsplants.com/blogs/view/Gymgirl/
The broccoli, cabbages, and collards indoors are ready for hardening off. They'll go outside this evening.
We're having rain all this week, so I can't till the raised beds. All I'm adding is a couple bags of Black Kow Composted Manure....
Hugs!
This message was edited Sep 17, 2014 3:04 PM
Golden Detroit beets should be ready really soon! The Kale is really taking off now. Easter egg, and Crimson Giant radishes have germinated, and the mums are in bloom. :)
I transplanted out my Broccoli.
Swiss chard and kale are hardening off and will be transplanted next week.
Eggplants starting to produce again.
A few melons left in the vines.
The weather is finally cooling down.
Harvesting okra and long beans everyday ...
Today I planted garlic and direct seeded radishes.
Turnips and radishes are coming in, and just when I thought the flood of fish peppers was over, they have a thousand new buds. They are unlikely to make it before frost, tho.
Wow all, everything looks great!! I am down to just tomato plants, a few sweet pepper plants, some herbs and long beans. My seedlings are pathetic, may just try direct seeding entire packets next year so I don't waste the space on my light shelves. I had the same problems as texasbelle, had lights practically touching them their entire growth and they are spindly as can be.. Not throwing in the towel, but I am doing something different next year. The space I have for my shelves is only 3 feet wide so I went with the $10 led "grow lights" that are 3' also. Each shelf has 2 of these grow lights and I have the same Mylar behind my shelves also! Seems to me it should be more than sufficient lighting but I think it has something to do with the lights themselves. Was trying to be economical but maybe I completely wasted my $$. I'll be on the lookout for the standard shop lights but can't seem to find any locally that are 3' rather than the standard 4'. Good luck all, and happy gardening!!
I don't think the grow lights are supposed to be that close to the seedlings but I'm not sure bc I've never used them.