Monday, February 14, 2011
First sign of Spring in the garden!!! =)
As always, my 5 year old Garlic Chives are the first to show signs of Spring in my garden. Very excited to get things going this year! Here's a little pic of them.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Baker Creek Order Arrives!
Now i'm just waiting on my Greenhouse MegaStore order which contains my seed starting supplies for this year (and a few more things). Once I get that order, i'll immediately start some of my garden items for this year, mostly herbs. I'll probably start my tomato plant seeds in mid February then start the rest (peppers, cukes & such) in late February.
Below is a picture of my Baker Creek order which contains the following: Thai Green Cucumber, Jamaician Hot Chocolate Pepper, Caribbean Red Habanero Pepper, Chocolate Habanero Pepper, California Wonder Pepper, Golden Marconi Pepper, Thai Long Sweet Pepper, Orange Banana Tomato, Sungold Select II, Amish Paste, Chadwick Cherry, Placero, San Marzano Lungo No. 2 Tomato, Rutgers Tomato, Thai Dill, Milk Thistle, Sage, Soapwort & Stevia. This is only about a third of what I plan on growing this year! =)
Below is a picture of my Baker Creek order which contains the following: Thai Green Cucumber, Jamaician Hot Chocolate Pepper, Caribbean Red Habanero Pepper, Chocolate Habanero Pepper, California Wonder Pepper, Golden Marconi Pepper, Thai Long Sweet Pepper, Orange Banana Tomato, Sungold Select II, Amish Paste, Chadwick Cherry, Placero, San Marzano Lungo No. 2 Tomato, Rutgers Tomato, Thai Dill, Milk Thistle, Sage, Soapwort & Stevia. This is only about a third of what I plan on growing this year! =)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Steve's Garden 2011
I just wanted to drop a quick update on here to let everyone know that my 2011 garden will be completely insane! lol...I plan to make up for having a horrible garden in 2010.
Just a few of the items you'll see in Steve's Garden this year are: Dwarf Banana tree attempt #2, 4 beautiful Angel Trumpet's I got from Joe at the Fall MTPS, Maybe a lime or two on my 3 year old lime tree, a few handfulls of berries off my Wineberry Raspberry & TC Blackberry plants (almost 4 years old now), the usual few different types of tomatoes (Sungold again, for sure! Plus, I want to try San Marzano again), a few varieties of both hot and sweet peppers, the 2 grape plants in their second year (in desperate need of an in-the-ground home), more fruits maybe, Garlic, herbs, etc., etc., etc.! =)
Stay tuned for the list of what I got from Baker Creek this year & a different approach (more custom) to my seed starting.....
Just a few of the items you'll see in Steve's Garden this year are: Dwarf Banana tree attempt #2, 4 beautiful Angel Trumpet's I got from Joe at the Fall MTPS, Maybe a lime or two on my 3 year old lime tree, a few handfulls of berries off my Wineberry Raspberry & TC Blackberry plants (almost 4 years old now), the usual few different types of tomatoes (Sungold again, for sure! Plus, I want to try San Marzano again), a few varieties of both hot and sweet peppers, the 2 grape plants in their second year (in desperate need of an in-the-ground home), more fruits maybe, Garlic, herbs, etc., etc., etc.! =)
Stay tuned for the list of what I got from Baker Creek this year & a different approach (more custom) to my seed starting.....
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Winter Garden Veggies Germinating!
Here are a few pics of the germination success i've had so far with my Winter Garden veggies:
Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato:
Sorrel:
Cherry Bomb Pepper (Wicked excited about this one germinating! Wasn't sure how peppers would do indoors in a Winter garden):
And last, but not least, a few babies on the grape tomato plant I got from the Fall Middle Tennessee Plant Swap:
Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato:
Sorrel:
Cherry Bomb Pepper (Wicked excited about this one germinating! Wasn't sure how peppers would do indoors in a Winter garden):
And last, but not least, a few babies on the grape tomato plant I got from the Fall Middle Tennessee Plant Swap:
Monday, October 25, 2010
Angel Trumpet Cuttings Rooted!!!
I received 4 Angel Trumpet cuttings (2 pink & 2 purple, I believe) from a friend at the Fall Middle Tennessee Plant Swap. I simply kept them in water for about a week & they all grew tons of root nodes and a few even had a root or two growing off them! I potted them up this past Saturday and am looking forward to seeing new growth on them very soon. =) They are inside with the rest of my Winter Garden. Picture of one of the cuttings & its roots below. let me know what you think. I'm wicked excited about them! - Steve
Monday, October 18, 2010
TNVeggieGardner Lives On! =)
Yes, I am still alive...lol. Look for blog posts about my indoor Winter Garden to come soon. Sorry if I haven't been keeping up with this blog the past several months. Just had a lot going on in my personal life. =) For now, enjoy the pictures below of the beginnings of my Winter Garden. In the cups are 2 varieties of tomatoes, 4 varieties of peppers, sorrel & china white mini rose, all from seed...
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