I planted spinach and chard five weeks ago. They did not come up. I planted spinach chard and cabbage three weeks ago. They did not come up. I planted spinach, chard, onions and kale Saturday. Yesterday only the onions had not come up. The cabbage from three weeks ago is coming up. I used the same type of seed for the spinach and chard each time. The important variable is probably soil temperature.
Since the 5 week and 3 week seeds have still not come up, I will report the other variable. The seeds planted Saturday were in a raised bed and the soil temperature should be more sensitive to changes in air temperature. Here is a web page that list optimal soil temperatures for different seeds. http://tomclothier.hort.net/page11.html . This tells us that the Cabbage can germinate at a higher temperature than the Spinach. When I looked carefully at the beds last night, I also realized that the arugula and radishes had germinated. The mesclun mix had not.
That could be because of the lettuce requiring a lower temperature.
The really good news is that the arugula is almost ready to be picked. That means we can have a salad with peppers, tomatoes, arugula, radishes and cucumber all from the garden. How rare is that?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label germination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label germination. Show all posts
Friday, September 18, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Fast Germination
written 12/30/08
Fast Germination
Saturday morning I planted some seeds to replace the ones in rockwool that had not sprouted. Yesterday (Monday) afternoon many of them had already come up. The ones in rockwool have still not poked their little green heads out of the rockwool. The ones that really surprised me are the sunflowers. I had thought they would take a long time.
I have learned (from experience) that it is best to take the cloche off of the flats after the plants sprout. The plants don’t seem to like the really high humidity of the heated flat and the cloche. I am going out of town for New Years and I am concerned about the greenhouse plants. New Years eve the temperature is supposed to drop to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I will not be here to light the propane heater and a tank of propane will not last that long. I will leave an electric block heater on; but it may not keep the greenhouse warm enough if the temperature stays down. Will the cloches damage the plants?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Fast Germination
Saturday morning I planted some seeds to replace the ones in rockwool that had not sprouted. Yesterday (Monday) afternoon many of them had already come up. The ones in rockwool have still not poked their little green heads out of the rockwool. The ones that really surprised me are the sunflowers. I had thought they would take a long time.
I have learned (from experience) that it is best to take the cloche off of the flats after the plants sprout. The plants don’t seem to like the really high humidity of the heated flat and the cloche. I am going out of town for New Years and I am concerned about the greenhouse plants. New Years eve the temperature is supposed to drop to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I will not be here to light the propane heater and a tank of propane will not last that long. I will leave an electric block heater on; but it may not keep the greenhouse warm enough if the temperature stays down. Will the cloches damage the plants?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Fast Germination
Fast Germination
I don’t normally soak seeds to plant outside. I feel like they know when to sprout. Let nature take its course. I have a little plastic can where I store the seeds. Somehow it leaked and the seeds got wet. I planted them Wednesday (9/10/08) figuring that if they did not germinate I could replant. They were up by Saturday morning. The rows planted Wednesday had shallots, mustard, oak leaf lettuce, collards, arugula and radishes.
Saturday morning I went to Renfrow’s Hardware and bought 11/4 #’s of onion sets. I planted them, mesclun mix, Detroit dark red beets, Swiss chard and Tokyo cross hybrid turnips. Friday afternoon the paw paw trees from Stark Bros that were supposed to be shipped in November arrived. I dug the holes for them yesterday(Saturday) and planted them this morning. I dug a bushel sized hole for each one, filled them with water and a 5 gallon bucket of compost and a handful of lime. The paw paws went in at the level of the stem crown. The soil tested 6.5 ph. Paw paws like 7.
My wife made baba ganoush yesterday. It is awesome. I will give you the recipe soon. I know it is eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and pine nuts. I just don’t know how much of each and what the process is. I know it is good.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
I don’t normally soak seeds to plant outside. I feel like they know when to sprout. Let nature take its course. I have a little plastic can where I store the seeds. Somehow it leaked and the seeds got wet. I planted them Wednesday (9/10/08) figuring that if they did not germinate I could replant. They were up by Saturday morning. The rows planted Wednesday had shallots, mustard, oak leaf lettuce, collards, arugula and radishes.
Saturday morning I went to Renfrow’s Hardware and bought 11/4 #’s of onion sets. I planted them, mesclun mix, Detroit dark red beets, Swiss chard and Tokyo cross hybrid turnips. Friday afternoon the paw paw trees from Stark Bros that were supposed to be shipped in November arrived. I dug the holes for them yesterday(Saturday) and planted them this morning. I dug a bushel sized hole for each one, filled them with water and a 5 gallon bucket of compost and a handful of lime. The paw paws went in at the level of the stem crown. The soil tested 6.5 ph. Paw paws like 7.
My wife made baba ganoush yesterday. It is awesome. I will give you the recipe soon. I know it is eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and pine nuts. I just don’t know how much of each and what the process is. I know it is good.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Learning from Experience
Learning from Experience
I have really learned a lot in the last few days. A high learning curve can be painful. Soaking seeds over night in water is stupid. You will not believe how hard it is to take them out and lay them on paper towels to soak them for germination. That is stupid too. They are really hard to pick up and put into the planting system.
About planting systems… I have used potting soil and cups in the past. It is cheap and the cups are really easy to label with a permanent marker. Planting the pre-germinated seeds in the little cups is a lot of work. Every cup has to be labeled and filled. The seeds have to be picked up with tweezers and put into the cups. The whole thing has to be covered with a little bit of potting soil and tamped. They can be bottom watered; but the wicking is really slow.
Jiffy cubes are better. They are really easy to plant. They are virtually impossible to label. Just put them in water until they swell up. Put the seed in the little hole and smash the cube a little to cover the seed. The seeds do not really need to be germinated in advance. The jiffy cube is a great germinating place. Jiffy cubes cost $.16 each. Rockwool comes in 98 cube sheets that fit inside a flat. Just soak the rockwool for a few hours and put the seed in the hole. Break off a little piece of rockwool from somewhere to plug the hole. The seeds do not need to be pre-germinated. I have already germinated way more seeds than I really need to plant. What a mess.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
I have really learned a lot in the last few days. A high learning curve can be painful. Soaking seeds over night in water is stupid. You will not believe how hard it is to take them out and lay them on paper towels to soak them for germination. That is stupid too. They are really hard to pick up and put into the planting system.
About planting systems… I have used potting soil and cups in the past. It is cheap and the cups are really easy to label with a permanent marker. Planting the pre-germinated seeds in the little cups is a lot of work. Every cup has to be labeled and filled. The seeds have to be picked up with tweezers and put into the cups. The whole thing has to be covered with a little bit of potting soil and tamped. They can be bottom watered; but the wicking is really slow.
Jiffy cubes are better. They are really easy to plant. They are virtually impossible to label. Just put them in water until they swell up. Put the seed in the little hole and smash the cube a little to cover the seed. The seeds do not really need to be germinated in advance. The jiffy cube is a great germinating place. Jiffy cubes cost $.16 each. Rockwool comes in 98 cube sheets that fit inside a flat. Just soak the rockwool for a few hours and put the seed in the hole. Break off a little piece of rockwool from somewhere to plug the hole. The seeds do not need to be pre-germinated. I have already germinated way more seeds than I really need to plant. What a mess.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
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