Finally set out a few of my plants today for a few hours. Everything is looking good with the exception of the tomatoes. I have a few that are hanging on for dear life. I lost 3 Cherokee Purple, but started a few more last week. They've sprouted and doing well. Hopefully I will have better luck with these.
My peppers are doing great. I have 20 cayenne, Hungarian wax, chili, and jalapeno that look healthy and are ready to go. Two sweet minis are finally taking off. I will definitely have to start those earlier next year. I didn't realize how slow they are to grow. When the packet states to start them in February that's what they mean!
Here's a few of my tomato plants, a beefsteak and Hillbilly. I have a few others that are doing well, but others are struggling to make it. Not sure what has happened with the tomatoes, as I provided the same care and maintenance for all of them. Next year, I will plant far more that I need to ensure that I don't have to start over. I'm sure somebody at the office will take the extra off my hands. I still have a few weeks to see how they progress. I won't put my garden in until the end of May and may stagger the planting through mid-June. We've gotten frost in these parts in the middle of May. So my philosophy is, when it's warm enough to swim it's warm enough to put the garden in.
The squash, zucchini, watermelon and pumpkins are doing great. I need to get them in the ground soon. My guest room is starting to look like a jungle. I've had to move most of them out of the pots and into these Hefty cups. Thanks to Granny at Annie's Kitchen Garden, I used her idea of punching holes in the bottom of the cups with a glue gun. We drink out of these cups regularly because Mama don't have time to be washing dishes all day, so we have plenty of plastic cups around. The hot glue gun works wonderfully for the holes, and they're nice and deep and strong. Perfect for the plants once they take off.
This was my first year starting seedlings. I have to say, I really had a great experience. I'm learning bunches visiting your blogs and taking a tip here and there. Next year, I'll start the peppers and tomatoes a little earlier and the squash and zuchinni a little later. I need to invest in another 4 foot grow light, other than that I'm getting the hang of things.
This is the first year you've done this?? Wow. You really had a good result. It's hard to lose plants but the ones you have are looking nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It's been a learning experience, but one that I enjoyed. My thumb is turning green, but my tomatoes demonstrated that I still have brown spots on them, lol. Hopefully, I'll do better with the tomatoes next year.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so green and beautiful. I like the idea of reusing your disposable cups for starting plants. I get to teach the ladies at church how to save money gardening (most of them have been gardening for decades longer than I have so who knows how it will go). Oh and those things on my tomatoes are Wall-o-Water season extenders and can be used on any plants you want to give a head start to.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting that you will be teaching a gardening class. I'm sure you will have lots of ideas to share, and they will have plenty to share with you. I checked out the Wall o Water, sounds like a great Christmas gift. Ill be able to get my tomatoes started early!
ReplyDelete