Seed starting update & more.

I have had some great sucess starting my seeds so far this year. My attempt to use the floating pellet tray did not work out well though. I didn't keep much of any water in the bottom of it, but some of the "pellets" got moldy inside. I had about a 50% germination sucess with it. I transplanted a small handfull of seedlings out of it, then tossed it. I will not use this method again. I know that it is this approach alone that failed because I used my new seed starting process (explained below) in the same exact conditions and had great sucess with it. Here is a picture of the floating pellet tray...

Tray after pellets moistened & seeds added, before it was put into my seed starting greenhouse:





In past years, my veggie plants have experienced symptoms of being potted up too many times, along with some legginess caused mainly by starting them in peat pellet trays. These things, especialy the legginess, have caused severe problems with many of my plants. So, I decided to try a different seed starting method with somewhat larger pots, better medium, etc.. I bought some trays/flats & 3 inch square pots that go together (these are durable & will last a few years at minimum). I also bought some Pro Mix Seed Starting medium. I would start a flat of seeds & place it on a heat mat inside a covered greenhouse. This atmosphere also tremendously helped the germination process as inside the greenhouse would stay very humid & also quite warm, from the heating mats. Below are some pictures of the flats & greenhouse.

The flats with 3 inch square pots in them:


One of the flats, fully prepared (this one contains 6 types of peppers & some Dill):


The greenhouse I kept the flats in while seeds were germinating:


The seed starting mix, flats, 3 inch pots & a few other items I ordered from ICG.





A few pics of some of the wee seedlings, which were recently potted up to 1 gallon pots that they will stay in until they go into their final homes (5-10 gallon pots) out on the deck or in the backyard.

Milk Thistle seedling (about 2 weeks old...one of my "test plants" this year):


Pepper seedling (about 10 days old, from seed in dirt):


Tomato seedling (about 10 days old, from seed in dirt):





I am very excited to grow garlic again this year. I hope it does as well as it did last year. One pot of it was planted in late Fall & 2 more will be planted soon, in Spring. This is the Fall planted garlic.






Last, but certainly not least, are some pictures of a few more of my plants, most of which are currently living in my garden room upstairs.

Adult Aloe:


2 of my 3 Angel Trumpet plants received at the Fall MTPS swap. These were simple sticks when I got them with no roots or anything and have grown insanely well over the past 5 months!


3 baby Aloe plants, received in a mail swap. They are about a year old.


The plants I left outdoors over the Winter in dormancy. My almost 4 year old Wineberry Raspberry & Triple Crown Blackberry (should get several berries of them both this year!), 2 grape plants (will be a year old this Spring. Probably won't produce any grapes this year) & a few other random plants.


Mother of 1000's (tons of babies hanging off these)


Red Dragon Flower.