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applestar
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Re: 2016 -- starting seeds and cuttings for the new season

You are so cavalier about this. :lol: I still get stressed out about starting peppers and eggplants. :oops:

In the mean time, the biggest Solstice broccoli seedlings went outside today for a little sun. Uppotted the ice cream tub of Limba seedlings -- they are now in 2 tubs of 6 biggest seedlings each, a 4' pot of 5 medium, and a small clamshell of 8 or 9 tiny ones.
image.jpeg

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I started part of the dwarf variety tomato seeds. I get obsessive about those, so I'll keep track of them in this separate thread: Subject: Applestar's 2016 Tomatoes

Here are some of the other seedlings. These are in the Winter Paradise indoor covered shelves which stays about 5-10°F warmer than the room temperature due to the heat mat on the bottom shelf and the light fixtures inside. I roll down but not zipper the front flap at night when it's very very cold out side. It's in front of a NW facing triple window and gets some direct westering and setting sun except near Winter Solstice when the sun sets south of west, which also helps to raise the temperature inside the cover.

TOP: Roselle ... Peppers with unfolded seed leaves ... Hari eggplants
image.jpeg
BOTTOM: Germination trial Kikuza x Tromboncino F1 C.moschata cross ... Peppers and Tomato seeds started on the heat mat ... TPS (True Potato Seeds) seedlings

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The second box of seedlings will join me in the South Window. The first group have already been moved to the unheated greenhouse. Bok choy has protection enough from morning frosts. These snapdragons will probably stay here until I turn on the heat out there in the greenhouse.

Not yet exposing even their seed leaves, the tiny things hardly look like they are plants. They should unfold and lift green leaves since we are supposed to have several sun breaks through the next few afternoons. This cooler nighttime location should be okay. I will likely be moving the pepper seedlings from the window back to kitchen warmth for a few nights. It would be best if they are all developing at the same stage but emerging comes first.

The first tomato seed went in the soil mix, yesterday. I'm not yet fully into this but my kitchen seed-starting space is filling. There is another shelf and even the opportunity to move somethings on top of a cabinet. I doubt it will come to that this year. I'm showing some restraint, scheduling looks like it is on track altho I'm getting some help from a little warmer than usual late winter and prospective spring, organizing itself outdoors.

Steve

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I have such little space for starting seeds and limited space for the seedlings as they sprout. I've posted about experimenting with Spoonzip (spoon in seed zip bag) and recycled K-cup for space-saving seed starters here and there. I've also borrowed your idea for dividing a clamshell with strips of plastic, digitS. :()
image.jpeg
Using tiny seed starters in inadequately lit but heated location to start fussy seeds does mean you have to monitor them closely and prick out and plant the little seedlings as they sprout or move them to bright locations that are more optimum for growing sturdy seedlings, but for me it's worth the extra work.

I pricked out and planted sprouted tomato seedlings in my new 2Kc (Double K-cups) today, and divided some peppers out of 2Kc cups in which they sprouted, and double-deckered some TPS's (True potato seedlings).

It turned out that I can fit 14 2Kc's in tripled clear plastic egg carton lid. Only problem is they have to be matching cartons. I hope I can find more among the saved egg cartons. 8) I think the larger clear container is the one from H-mart (Korean super market) I can't remember how many, but the 2Kc's also fit exactly. :-() The white one looks like a 1/2 dozen egg carton, but is actually a tray in which Mochi Icecream came in, and it wastes space due to the spacing between the cells, but I can make it work by putting two more on the ledge between the cells for total of 8. It's sturdy and can also be strengthened by stacking two trays. Image
image.jpeg
...those tomato seedlings that have been alotted premium space in a pint deli container are my Dwarf Arctic Rose x Utyonok F2's. I'm not sure if that's enough, but I'm trying to find rugose PL like DAR's. If I have to start more, I will have to wait until later when I can put them outside.... :?
Last edited by applestar on Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Added divided clamshell photo

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Here's a peep into the neck of the top half of a soda bottle humidity dome for the coffee seedlings :wink:
image.jpeg

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Do we ever begin to wonder ..

. who is "running things" after seeds germinate and begin to grow?

Are we still "running things" or is this once again how life takes control of us and our activities?

Steve ;)

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We are at their beck and call :roll:

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Trying yet another idea this year... A dozen peas in each designated for variety egg case. I plan to plant them out as soon as they sprout and fill the cell, and protect them as necessary with low tunnel etc. 5 dozen so far, but I have more varieties to start and plant. I'm thinking I will refill the egg cartons as soon as previous batch is all planted for staggered start of same varieties.
image.jpeg
Pea, Mammoth Melting Sugar PT for 2015
Pea English, Green Arrow PT for 2015
Pea Snap, Super Snappy
Pea English, Garden Sweet
Pea Snap, Sugar Daddy

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Tomatoes really are not that fussy. They are all germinating and sprouting at once! :shock:

Transplanting the sprouted seedlings into 2Kc's (doubled K-cups) is tedious but the process is pretty much automatic now while listening to music or audio-book. :wink: Sand size DE is working out great. The roots slide right out after adding enough water to puddle (a squirt with a pipette ...or a sprayer... makes it easy and uneventful). I use a moistened bamboo skewer to "handle" the seedlings in Spoonzip (A plastic fork for the seedlings in seed starting mix).
image.jpeg

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When the significant other starts saying things like EEEEYAYAYA!!!, it might be time to switch to winter sowing. Air-born cutlery can sometimes follow the shreik...

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Okay, AppleStar. You got some ‘splainin’ to do!

The seed from my tomato varieties are all coming up nicely, so far. The Sweet Chelsea seeds were I-don't-know-how-old but they aren't much behind. Nothing is older than 2013, other than that one. However, the seedlings occupying the South Window are only from the first and second sowings ;). The third sowing is in the kitchen.

I learned an important lesson a couple years ago about paying some attention to seed dates, especially for my own, inexpertly saved seed. Also, do not save empty packets! That's misleading Image!

Steve

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digitS' wrote:Okay, AppleStar. You got some ‘splainin’ to do!
:?: ...what do you want me to 'splain, digitS? :|

If you are talking about my space saving methods/process, I'll mention some stuff below the photo collage. :D

First I wanted to show that there was a Lady Patrol inspecting the tomato and pepper seedling 2Kc's (Doubled K-cups) :()
image.jpeg
I "pricked out" these seedlings from the Spoonzip and planted them in this 1/2 gallon rice milk carton using the plastic divider (Cut up clear container lid) method. These are ones I wanted extras of -- they came up together, 4 to 8 per spoon, and they all needed to come out of the Spoonzip. It seemed easier to plant them in community container rather than individually.

If you've read my seedstarting ramblings from previous years, I discovered these rice milk cartons are great because they fit in standard trays exactly, and can be used flat like this or standing on one narrow length for deeper rooted and older seedlings. I also cut up and tape two of them together for 1 gal containers sometimes.

As I mentioned before, even though I have to fiddle with the same seeds and seedlings several times when using this method, it's worth it to me because I have very limited space, and by using methods and systems that use bare minimum space needed by the seedlings at that particular stage in development, I can take advantage of the transitioning late winter to early spring seasons and weather to basically "Just-in-time" my seeds to transplants production.

While the Spoonzipped seeds are germinating and sprouting, cold weather early spring seedlings and other cold hardy/frost tolerant seedlings and plants can be grown in the Garage V8 Nursery and then moved out, just as the tomatoes and peppers begin needing to be potted up. Tomatoes can move out from inside the house to the garage as they get bigger and peppers and eggplants (And other plants including cold sensitive flowers) can take over the vacated space for early occupied by the tomatoes and other plants.

There is a mass migration from the house to the garage to the outside.

...

One of the tomato varieties is an F2 of someone else's new cross breeding project. I saved seeds from this F1 plant because it was a large pink blunt heart shaped fruit with a dusting of antho on the shoulders. I think the antho expression in some of the seedlings is stronger in this generation. I have 2 or 3 other varieties with antho, but I'm not growing as many of them as I did last year.

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Left: Mammoth Melting Sugar and Green Arrow peas are starting to sprout. It felt like it took forever, but that must be because I've been looking at them every day... :> (It's only been 5 days)
image.jpeg
Right: Started an 18 egg carton of Marrowfat peas on 3/9. They are starting to germinate. :D

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tomc wrote:When the significant other starts saying things like EEEEYAYAYA!!!, it might be time to switch to winter sowing. Air-born cutlery can sometimes follow the shreik...
Ricky Ricardo might not have thrown knives but that was who Tom's SO's exclamation reminded me of.

You are doing just fine 'splainin' what you are up to, to the HG community, AppleStar :).

Steve

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Well, I planted corn last week at the community garden. They were last year's seeds so they were iffy. I planted 60 seeds and maybe 5 or 6 came up. It has also been a bit cold in the 60's since the cold front passed, so it was not an auspicous start. The weeds came up fine though. So I re weeded the garden and decided to plant some short crops. Kai choy cabbage and spinach. They might do better in the cooler weather. I guess I will also be getting some fresh corn seeds.

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That's why for my small space and small blocks of corn, I like to pre-germinate in a kitchen seed sprouter, then sow the germinated corn in those rice milk cartons standing on the narrow side. I can't remember the exact number, but I think I can start something like 24 germinated corn in each box and, generally, all of them come up. Then I can choose the same biggest size transplants to group together so they are most likely to develop at the same time. I usually plant the second/rest of the shorter/smaller group together.

Depending, I can also replace corn seedlings that were munched to shreds by the slugs this way.

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The problem with berry boxes:
March 13, 2016 50234 PM PDT.png
March 13, 2016 50234 PM PDT.png (135.52 KiB) Viewed 10925 times
Too many holes ...

You know how pepper seed takes so long to sprout? I sowed some in a berry box and completely forgot any plastic around it for the first 3 days. I had to get the box into some water after the very first sprouts showed up, about a week later. I'm not sure if any more would have joined them, the soil was becoming so dry.

Bagging the box works fine but the extra layer of plastic adds to the difficulty of spying on the sprouts ;). Oh, and it's dark up there on top the fridge early in the AM. Flashlight territory ...

Steve

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I stretch a plastic wrap across the top rim then snap the lid shut. Lowers the headspace. Open the lid and flick the wrap to clear the condensation. :wink:

BTW, I save and re-use the plastic wrap, but just this morning, I couldn't find the two or three sheets that I had been keeping for next use and had to get a new piece. So annoying. :?

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Here are some of the greens. Obviously, I'm falling behind on dividing the Komatsuna and others in the 2x2Kc (Double deckered K-cups). :?

When I was looking over this photo, I realized there are TOMATO SEEDLINGS growing among the large flat of mixed greens. :o -- I've no idea where they came from, except that I mixed in old potting mix which had tomatoes growing in it when I blended the uppotting mix for the greens. (I vice versa and re-use the old greens potting mix for uppotting older tomato seedlings).
image.jpeg

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applestar wrote: Feb 26

Wisteria seeds from Mom 2015 -- pre-soaked for 36 hrs in plain water, then rolled into a wrap of moist paper towel and saranwrap inside a freezer zip bag.
I completely forgot about these, but happened to look at it today and thought I saw some green inside --- Look! Image
image.jpeg
-- this quart freezer zip bagged roll has been sitting on the SE window-side stand, not on heat mat so night time temp of around 65-68°F and daytime ranging from about 70° up to maybe around 85°F when the sun is shining on the stand for a few hours.

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Seeds are growing but I seem to be having a black thumb year with cuttings. I am having a higher than normal mortality rate. Some cuttings are doing better on top of the bench instead of under it.

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About the only cuttings I do are for rosemary, Imafan.

I also leave them under the bench ... if they can't grow roots from energy stored in their stems, they just aren't going to make it. They are down there with no direct sunlight for as long as 3 weeks. How long depends on whether it's sunny or cloudy when I really begin to feel guilty about their lengthy confinement away from sunlight. If it's cloudy, they can come out sooner.

Rooting hormone is used. It all works! Most of the time there is about a 90% success rate. I'd have trouble bringing myself to put the cuttings in direct sunlight.

Steve

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Sooo excited! :-() -- I took my mom shopping at H-Mart (a Korean/Asian grocery store) and they had a newly opened crate of lotus roots packed in moist wood shavings, some still joined in links like sausages. I grabbed the one with some roots still on the joint.

They also had fresh water chestnuts on sale probably because they were deteriorating -- some were shriveled and some were ... starting to sprout :D I picked the biggest sprouting ones :()

I'm going to try to get them started in a bucket for growing in my pond. 8)

I also found some big taro corms with beginning of pinkish shoots, white skinned blue/purple fleshed yam/sweet potatoes, and I bought another pre-bagged sweet potatoes that had signs on the display touting how sweet and better these were compared to the regular Korean sweet potatoes.

I don't know if these sweet potatoes are treated to not sprout, but I'm going to try to get slips growing out of them if I can. I already have organic sweet potatoes in my pantry that has started to grow, too. :roll: :lol:

Oh, and I bought a small bag of organic sweet brown rice which I'm going to try to grow in my little rice paddy this year, and -- this one I hadn't considered possibility of GMO variety, but -- a big bag of gorgeous huge seeded black soybeans that I'm thinking of trying to grow. If this is the same or similar variety to one I'm thinking of, it will be good for harvesting as fresh edamame as well as using as mature dried beans. :>

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I am jumping right back here to say, "Yay, AppleStar!"

Good luck with growing Asian produce. I may try taro, some day. I mean, many of us are storing dahlia and gladiolus roots in our basements (me :)). Many are willing to care for caladium and callas (I finally purchased a call a root, recently). Why not taro?

I tried sweet potatoes several times. In fact, I had good seasons growing a edamame soybean. Delicious! This is an appropriate climate for neither! After 3 or 4 good years with only 1 success out of numerous soy varieties I tried, I moved my gardening to a different location where conditions did not favor even that one! People who knew sweet potatoes better than me, were amused at my efforts to grow them, including the tasty but poorly performing purple that I tried last :? .

It hasn't occurred to me to try to grow rice on glacial till ... didn't even think about water chestnuts :shock: . I did have good success with watercress in a temporary garden pond once ... Ya know what I substitute for water chestnuts in my stir-fries? Radish. Yeah, I use a round variety and the entire plant goes in. I know, it's pathetic :wink: ... okay, I'll be curious about your experiences there in the Garden State.

Black rice. Yeah! I was just reading on CNN about a researcher extracting its anthocyanins and using them in a "super bread." The bread is made with conventional wheat flour, the anthocyanins probably change very little other than the color (purple), but slow our digestion of those simple bread starches. Maybe we can make a more healthy loaf of bread. I don't think it would bother me at all if it's purple!

:) Steve ;)

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I just checked and these water chestnuts look like they grew some more in the produce bag and want to grow the most right now so I put them in this tray where I was watering the tomato and pepper seedlings for now -- I'll find a smaller container for them later. :bouncey:
I still have to find out the best way to start the lotus roots in a bucket of water... Does anyone know?
image.jpeg
66 2Kc's fit in a standard tray. I watered these and others scattered in various smaller trays and sorted them by height and need for double-deckering or uppotting or dividing.
image.jpeg

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Apple - I started some tomatoes in that vermiculite in the spoons, and it turned out good - all the seeds came up, and the seedlings were easy to get out (unlike some in the papers), to transfer. Won't be doing this for my large batch of seeds I do all at once, but when starting early ones, it is an easy way to do it.
Image

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Oooh! Good to know vermiculite works well for this method. Thanks, pepperhead :D

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I forgot to mention that they came up in about 2 1/2 days, and that photo was taken at about 72 hours.

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Yep. See why I like this method?

...

Subject: 2015-2016 Winter Indoor Peppers
applestar wrote:
Image

The Hari eggplant seedlings -- both in this ice cream tub and another group in yogurt cups -- are yellowing for some reason. I can't tell if I might be overwatering, if I'm not keeping them warm enough, or if they need fertilizer -- I've heard eggplants are heavy feeders. I tried adding organic 7-4-2 to the yogurt cup group yesterday, but if anyone knows what this is, please let me know. I have had limited success growing eggplants from seeds so far and I don't know why they grow sometimes and why they don't other times.
...I added fertilizer (Dr. Earth organic fruit fert.) and added some more potting mix in the Yogurt cup Hari, and they have responded very well, so I think the issue was soil fertility.
image.jpeg
...I fertilized the ice cream tub Hari seedlings a few days ago as well.

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The only containers left in the warmth of the kitchen overnight hold basil seed.

It is a little cool in the darkness of the south window but the little table is still nearly full of tiny seedlings. It will be cloudy today and the shop light over the table will be turned on.

The greenhouse heater has been running for over a week and the benches are filling with plant starts. Many of them have been moved out of community containers and into 4-packs. Rosemary stem cuttings are still under the benches and out of direct sunlight.

The onions started from seed in the then unheated greenhouse in early February have been moved into the unheated temporary hoop house over two garden beds. Joining them are some pots of thyme and mint started from root cuttings. The covered beds hold some bok choy transplants and seed, which should be emerging soon. Many of those Asian greens and escarole seedlings will be moved to beds in the open garden.

... Steve :)

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Glad to hear that the fertilizer worked, applestar. I have had this happen with some eggplants, but strangely, other varieties in the same soil mix would look fine! What I use for fertilizer now is a hydroponics liquid that I use for herbs and greens: Foliage Pro 9-3-6. I just put a few drops per quart, starting when the plants get their first true leaves, and use this every time I water, instead of giving the larger amounts of fertilizer periodically. This works great, and, while not organic, I use these types of things indoors, since they have all of the nutrients needed by the plants.

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Every time I see digitS's reports, I think to myself -- I've GOT to build some of those season extending structures. Some of you know I've talked about it every spring,... And yet, here we are. :roll: Eventually, I will get around to building them, and then I'm coming back to these for tips and timing on their use. :()

Pepperhead, sounds like you've got it worked out. I currently only have one other variety of eggplants started from seeds -- Japanese Kamo. I just Uppotted them from a community K-cup to individual K-cups. I have 5 of them -- one iffy but discovered a late sprouting loop, so hopeful. I put a little organic fertilizer in their mix so they don't run out.

...this is such a busy time! Indoor started seeds and seedlings to care for and uppot as well as earlier started transplants, ready for early spring planting to be done. My peas are ready in their little egg cartons.
image.jpeg
I ended up putting 2-3 pea seeds per cell
I planted one 24 cell of Early Burpeana today, but should have tried to get more done considering the rain in the forecast.... :? Also planted the pre-germinated spinach and some more broccoli.

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applestar wrote: Every time I see digitS's reports, I think to myself -- I've GOT to build some of those season extending structures. Some of you know I've talked about it every spring,... And yet, here we are.  Eventually, I will get around to building them, and then I'm coming back to these for tips and timing on their use. 
My next step, is thru the South Gate into my neighbor's yard and the hoop house attached shed! It's easier to heat than the flimsy thing I've got in my own backyard.

Now, if you wait too long, AppleStar, I will have just continued South. So far! I won't be able to get back home to my own backyard. I won't need season extension, just shade! And, I may be so olde I will have forgotten all the bother I went to!

;)

Steve
who got up this morning to a half-inch of slush on the backsteps

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I finally got cuttings of lavender to strike. I planted them on New Years day. I had them on top of the bench in the sun instead of under the bench where I usually keep cuttings. I finally transplanted them yesterday and most had a well developed root system. I will see how many survive the transplanting. I took more cuttings to start more. I planted more chili peppers Scotch bonnet, Rooster spur, fatali, Waimanalo long eggplant, Shimonita negi, Trinidad scorpion, Hawaiian chili, Hungarian Wax pepper, a cross between a Hawaiian chili and Ghost ( I am not counting on it, there weren't many seeds in the pod), Joe E. Parker pepper, and AAS winner Flaming Flare pepper ( Fresno type). I transplanted dwf siberian kale, Thai eggplant, Black beauty eggplant, key largo, and yellow bell peppers. I repotted some lavender into gallon pots, and potted up Chinese Giant bell pepper into a 4 gallon pot.

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Winter Paradise Penthouse and Annex
Winter Paradise Level 2b
Winter Paradise Level 2a
Winter Paradise Level 1

image.jpeg
...I'll post photo(s) of the rest of them in the Garage V8 Nursery tomorrow :wink:

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Sometime last fall, we bought some HUGE Asian pears that were packaged in clear clamshell package kind of like egg cartons except much bigger. They were delicious and I thought it might be fun to see if I could grow them from seeds, so I pushed them into a pot on the patio outside that had become vacant in the winter freeze :()

L:Today,nI noticed they had sprouted :D
image.jpeg
R: A trifoliate orange "flying dragon" seedling had sprouted inside, but I think it will be Ok outside

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Here's an example of how the peas pre-sprouted in the clear egg cartons turned out. I planted all of the rest today since for the last three or four days, they were needing twice daily care to make sure they didn't get dried out in the sun or drowned when it rained. I'll post elsewhere with more details about how I'm planting them this year.
image.jpeg

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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I went to the garden today to drop off three more trays of seedlings. Someone had turned my sprinklers off and half the bench looks really bad. Peppers, fennel, kale, thai basil that was ready for the sale next week probably won't make it. I watered the plants and hoped for the best. I guess I will find out tomorrow what will come back. I transplanted more dill and I potted up some spearmint. I forgot to take my miracle grow sprayer with me so I will have to remember to do it tomorrow. Just as well, it would not have made sense to water dead peppers anyway. I was hoping to pot more of the peppers up, but I may be cleaning the bench instead. There is nothing more I can do about it anyway. I'll just have to plant more seeds for next month. I may be able to get more quick cutting of spearmint and maybe some daylilies potted up. They root fast so they may be ready for the sale.

I have another broccoli head to pick and another one that is starting to bloom already. I waited so long for them and now, I can't get to them fast enough. I picked another handfull of greenbeans, and the cherry tomatoes are falling off the vine. I haven't had time to get to them either, and it requires some acrobatics to get to some of them since the broccoli is behind the beets and the komatsuna, tatsoi, and cucumber are in front of the tomatoes which decided it liked to sprawl on the ground instead of climb the trellis.

I have to make some room in the garden soon for the lettuce and bok choy, and pot up the peppers.

Today was my green day and the cans were empty! I haven't had the time or energy to work on my own yard. I did actually pull a 5 gallon bucket of nut sedge but that went in the garbage not the greenwaste can.

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applestar
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Posts: 30884
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Wow, what a bummer about the dried out plants. :(

imafan26
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Posts: 14216
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Yeah. Apparently they worked on an irrigation valve on Wednesday. But, the timer was set for 0 minutes and nobody knows who messed with it. There would not be any reason to touch the timer if they work on the irrigation system, and really no reason to change the program.



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