My other enabler is Benkhe's nursery, which mentioned that they had spring seeds in stock in their newsletter. I bought some that can't be transplanted outdoors, so those will have to wait. However, three of them are prime too-early-to-plant-these material: Bell peppers, lettuce, and kale.
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I also bought seed starting mix and a plastic cover to put over my seedlings to keep them nice and moist. I didn't want to buy seedling trays, since I'm only going to use them once. Paper cups it is! I punched some holes in the bottom of the first paper cup for drainage and nested that into a second paper cup in case the plants need a steadier supply of water as they grow.
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| Holes for drainage |
I labeled the cups so I'll know what's coming up. I found a type of bell pepper called Yolo Wonder, so they've officially been deemed my YOLO peppers. An apt name for an annual that I'm starting in mid-January...
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| A pepper plant living on the edge. |
Next I wet the soil thoroughly. I accidentally put the pepper seeds in before wetting down the soil. That turned out to be a mistake because the seeds just floated to the surface and I had to re-plant them. Oops! The others I wet the soil down first and they weren't shifted around by a slow draining puddle of water on the surface.
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| It seems like all of my favorite things involve mud. |
The lettuce and kale seeds did not mess around, man. They started sprouts on the second day. That's the fastest germination I've ever seen!
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| Growing like there's no tomorrow...The day after planting! |
You can really tell how fast they are growing by these two pictures from Day 3- 7:30am and Day 3- 5:30 pm. The time to harvest listed on the package said they could be ready in as little as 21 days. I guess that means the seeds have to move pretty quickly! I'm still waiting for signs of life from my pepper seeds.
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| Kale and lettuce seedlings at 7:30 am today, still yellow and emerging from the soil |
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| Seedlings at 5:30 pm today, first set of leaves formed and green. |
I'm just misting these with water every morning for now. In a few weeks I can start watering from the bottom of the containers and hopefully by mid-February I'll have some greens for salads! I'll keep you updated. :)
