All my seedlings seem to be doing great. I have 2 grow lights and 2 shelves of plants.
The tomato plants I started 5 weeks ago are bigger than what I normally buy in a store. I seeded them too early. Now I have to deal with these plants that are too big and take up too much space.
I moved all the seedlings I planted 3 weeks ago to bigger pots. They should be about the right size when I’m ready to put them outside.
I planted 3 varieties of turnip in one of the new beds yesterday/today. The weather was very warm earlier this week (80F days), but today is the start of a cold front that will bring cold and rainy days.
here is a view of the front garden
I planted 2 beds of peas today, mostly sugar snap peas
I planted carrots, radish, lettuce, and beets in the 2 new raised beds.
The tomatoes I planted from seed are taking off and growing quickly now. I planted these 1/7, which is probably too early. I transplanted the tiny seedlings before they grew their true leaves into larger cups with holes poked in the bottom. They are under led grow lights that stay on 16 hours per day. I water with a weak fertilizer solution from the bottom.
I planted 2 sq-ft of carrot and 2 sq-ft of radish this morning. I planned on duplicating this to a second bed where I have new soil, just as a A/B test to see how different the 2 soils performed. …But I ran out of time, so only one bed planted so far.
I ordered 3 thornless blackberry plants from Bob Wells nursery. The variety name is Arapaho and they are thornless.
The bed on the left is filled with old soil from a bed I moved, the one on the right is filled with new soil purchased from Living Earth. I planted 2 varieties of onion, half in each bed. This should be a pretty good comparison of the two.
I purchased 3 cu-yds of soil from Living Earth in Plano. Price was $62/yd
I assembled 2 beds from the formed concrete sides I made in the past. I also built 2 more beds from treated 2×12 lumber.
The beds I made ~8 years ago from cedar are starting to deteriorate to the point they are failing.
I ordered 5 bare rooted pear trees from Bob Wells nursery. They showed up today in one big box.
I’m impressed with how large these trees are. They are larger than some of my trees I’ve had in the ground for 2 years.
I planted them in the swales before sundown. It’s forecast to be very warm this week, so I hope they get a good start.
I planted 8 each of 4 varieties of peppers today. I’ll keep the potting soil moist and sitting on a heat pad.
The plants I seeded a few weeks ago are starting to grow– I transplanted the sprouts into individual pots and they’ve been living under some new LED grow lights. It was probably too early to start the tomato plants, but I did it anyway. I was told by several online that I shouldn’t try to transplant seedlings until the plants have 2 to 3 sets of real leaves. But I remember reading about someone who liked to plant them closely in a big container, then transplant them into pots as soon as they sprouted. I’m trying this out, because it is easier to sprout them in a big container and you can quickly see if they are going to grow or die.
Buying potting soil is such a pain! Seems like all the normal brands and what is available at the stores is complete garbage. I think it is worth it to buy ProMix BX. It is great, very consistent texture, no trash or sticks in it, and has worked great for me. Problem is the shipping. The big bags weigh 60lbs each. I feel like I lucked out and found that I can order it from my local Ace Hardware store for about half the price the big stores wanted for it, and they even delivered to my house for free.
planted a few tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds today. They are on a heat mat to bring the soil temperature up to a temperature that will promote seed germination
