This is my back porch where I have put up some polycarbonate sheets up for a small green house. These are some vegetable seeds that I planted. For a very long time I have not been able to get anything to grow. Some things have but not many. Here are the seedlings
I used to put only 3 seeds per pot and then I would find the weakest one and pull it out but then nothing would grow so now I have been in the habit of piling in several seed packets per pot. They thin themselves out in my opinion. Some of these seem sort of weak but yesterday I added more finely sifted top soil to the top soil that I planted them in so they are still getting used to it. Or maybe they are on their way out to the Cemetery. So I used the 2.98$/ bag top soil to plant them in. That top soil has more bark in it. In my opinion that allows for more oxygen to get to the plant. Then when they start growing I add in more of the finely sifted topsoil to the growing seedlings. This is how I do it but others will do it completely differently. I put them in tubs to save water. I use leftover coffee that I didn’t drink and add water to that. They seem to like it. Then I siphon the water out of the tub and re-water them with that. I use the press n seal plastic wrap. It’s too dry here so it allows the moisture to build up on the top of the wrap after I cover them to keep them moist. I guess I will see how many of these will stay alive! I still have to plant my flower seeds.
It’s now April 4th and they have grown a lot since the 27th of March! I really did not think they would actually grow but this year somehow it’s different? I do not take them out of the water and I just keep cycling it through with the turkey baster. And I use coffee water all of the time. I don’t like to use fertilizer. At night I cover them with plastic wrap still to keep them moist since it is so dry here in N.M. I didn’t label any of these either because I thought they would die so I didn’t think that taking the time to label them was useful! I plan to plant flowers soon.
April 18th, 2024 These pictures are of some of the peppers and tomatoes that are still growing. They never thinned themselves out like they promised me. Now I have to figure out if I should separate them now into smaller sections and repot them or I could use a bigger pot for each one and let them grow bigger in the one large pot. Actual gardeners will say that what I have done is the largest error on the face of this whole planet. I already googled it and I have failed as a gardener because I never followed the guidelines on the package. So I will not tell them. I usually do things and then ask for forgiveness anyway. Why ask for permission? Because the answer is always a no. So I learned never to ask for that! Anyway I am still wondering what I should do because their rules do not apply sometimes! I think a bigger pot will allow the roots to get a little stronger then I can separate them later. If you do add soil to the tops of your seedlings make sure that you don’t add too much. All the way to the bottom of where the bottom leaves are is too high. I have found that if I do that the plant does not grow or it withers. I am assuming it’s because the stems need more oxygen and also to release carbon dioxide. (Not carbon monoxide! Cars emit that) or… is it that they release oxygen and take in the carbon dioxide that we breathe out?? Why am I stupid right now?? Anyway the gases need to mingle in and out of the stems for them to be successful and grow.
Here are my beautiful seedlings…I didn’t think that I needed to harden them off because they were out of the wind in the sunroom but I think they didn’t like the sun all day beating down on them. I can even bear to look at the pictures of what they used to look like. they seem to have stopped growing. I did stop adding coffee everyday so that might be part of the issue as well. They are so small still. I think that they should be further along in growing. I am hoping for at least a few to mature! I did buy three plants that were already growing at the store. I have failed this whole growing season. Count me dead. I am hideous. May 4th, 2024
A few days later
I repotted them again and this time I separated all of the seedlings that were too close together. I had to throw away many of them because they were not growing and the leaves were disappearing but the stems were still there. hopefully some will survive.
May 14th
I moved all of the seedlings to under my trees. I think the sun is too hot for them here when they are this small. They look better but still very small. I am not sure why they really aren’t growing as fast as I have seen plants grow! I bought more seeds so that I can plant those. I also cheated and bought some vegetable plants from the hardware store. I just have to keep in my mind that gardening is just a total experiment!
Here are the plants that I bought!
For the winter I want to keep some of these plants inside. I have read that people grow tomato plants and pepper plants indoors and they keep them for years so they must be perennials. Since I started growing these seeds a little too late and since they are still small I hope that will work.
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