Back in October, I was at the Lowe's garden center when I noticed they were once more well-stocked with such plants as tomatoes and peppers. I asked the saleslady about the timing and was informed that winter was, in fact, the best time to grow these vegetables which I associate so strongly with summer. I purchased a couple of token pepper plants. I went home and looked up the seed catalog. What's not to like? Some of the seeds are on sale for a fraction of their spring price.
But after all, it is counter-intuitive to be starting the warm season plants for setting out in January. My seedstarting efforts have therefore been haphazard and sporadic. By the time the seeds arrived and I was ready to plant, I found I could no longer purchase flats for starting them. I made do with an assortment of small, plastic pots.
I put the newly planted seedpots out in the front patio, raised off the ground to protect them from frost and the dog. I felt it might be safer than trying to start them in the house, where my preferred ambient temperature is, I'm afraid, around 75 degrees F (24 C) - a fact to which I attribute many past cases of damping-off and other evils. No, this group went out on the patio. They started slowly, but they did sprout and they are growing.
To be honest, even my selection was haphazard. The results are a small tomato, "Lady Bug", and a hearty group of Helipterum, which have grown rapidly enough that I have already planted a few out. There is also some German chamomile...
...and the only perennial of the collection: Oenothera pallida "Innocence".
And then just the other day I found seeding trays... at WalMart... There was quite a selection. My sister encouraged me to get this flat. When watered, the peat plugs expand. The plastic is a little sturdier than some of the others - great for reusing, except that now I will have to buy replacement peat plugs instead of using soil, which I prefer. Here is the tray with half of the plugs watered.
Tomatoes, poppies, but mostly more chamomile seeds...
And a plastic lid to keep the moisture in effectively - all the more important since I am keeping this tray in the (warm) house.
As a test of sorts, I also planted some of the poppy seeds (Park's Flemish Antique) outdoors in a peat tray. The peat will allow me to plant the seedlings directly without removing them from the pots.
None of this is a large project, just a trial run. At this point all I can do is collect information and experiment with it. So that is what I am doing!
As for the pepper plants, one was accidentally lost; but the other - still a bit small - has its first few peppers coming along...
I usually start my peppers seed in January, in fact I sowed some this week. They are a perennial so you may be able to keep the plants alive more than one year if your weather isn't too cold. People in the UK are trying to avoid peat as it is a finite resource, it takes thousands of year to make peat. I use coconut fibre blocks which I reconstitute with water and find it brilliant for good root development. I mix it with other things, I'll write about it in a post soon.
ReplyDeletePeppers as perennials sounds very promising - I never knew about that, so now is the chance to try it :) Coconut fibre would be interesting though whether I can access it locally would be a big question. I'll be glad to see your post on it as I've never been entirely pleased with my seedstarting efforts.
DeleteJe découvre que nous utilisons le même genre de support pour cultiver nos plantes. Ces godets de tourbe sont parfaits pour réussir les plants de fleurs ou de légumes. Je les utilise énormément dès le mois prochain pour faire mes semis de surfinia.
ReplyDeleteBelle soirée
Very good to see, Jocelyne :) These are new to me, so I am happy to know you use them successfully...! I will hope they work well for me also, since I look forward to using seeds in greater abundance than in my previous garden. Have a lovely day!
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