I have been having a bit of trouble with my seedlings. A few of them were doing great and then just fell over and died, a problem I later discovered is called dampening off. It usually happens when the soil gets too soggy and wet, and a type of moldy bacteria begins to grow. I was slightly puzzled, because I didn't think that I was watering them too much at all. I realized the problem is that the tray I had them in didn't distribute water evenly through the plugs of seeds. There would be one plug that was bone dry, 3 around it that were soaking wet, and two next to those that were completely dry. Frustrating! Especially because I tend to research everything to death before I do it, and I thought I really had a handle on how to get these seedlings off to the best start.
So I decided to do away with that tray, and I transplanted all the seedlings Monday night with the kids. We got out a bunch of plastic trays (some new, and some saved from last years plants that we bought at the nursery) and some organic potting soil and got busy. The kids were great helpers, filling up the containers with soil, making a hole in the middle for the plug to sit in, and helping me label and organize the plants. They loved being a part of it, and were very gentle with all the plants. Rowan always tells me that plants need 4 things to grow; Water, Soil, Sun and....Love. If that's the case, these plants are going to thrive ;)
All transplanted and ready to go back under the lights:
We ended up losing a few - not all of our peppers had germinated, and some of the lettuce was so leggy it wasn't worth transplanting. But we have:
10 mini red bell peppers
4 mini yellow bell peppers (with 8 new ones planted, and fingers crossed)
4 tom thumb lettuce
2 summertime lettuce
4 victoria lettuce
2 italienisher lettuce
4 red cabbage
6 romanesco broccoli
6 brussel sprouts
6 celery
Now the problem is that we don't have enough room under that light to fit all the plants. So we are off to Home Depot to get another light and set of bulbs! I am excited to see that some of the plants are starting to get their first set of true leaves, and I am feeling hopeful that this is going to be a productive experience!
So I decided to do away with that tray, and I transplanted all the seedlings Monday night with the kids. We got out a bunch of plastic trays (some new, and some saved from last years plants that we bought at the nursery) and some organic potting soil and got busy. The kids were great helpers, filling up the containers with soil, making a hole in the middle for the plug to sit in, and helping me label and organize the plants. They loved being a part of it, and were very gentle with all the plants. Rowan always tells me that plants need 4 things to grow; Water, Soil, Sun and....Love. If that's the case, these plants are going to thrive ;)
All transplanted and ready to go back under the lights:
We ended up losing a few - not all of our peppers had germinated, and some of the lettuce was so leggy it wasn't worth transplanting. But we have:
10 mini red bell peppers
4 mini yellow bell peppers (with 8 new ones planted, and fingers crossed)
4 tom thumb lettuce
2 summertime lettuce
4 victoria lettuce
2 italienisher lettuce
4 red cabbage
6 romanesco broccoli
6 brussel sprouts
6 celery
Now the problem is that we don't have enough room under that light to fit all the plants. So we are off to Home Depot to get another light and set of bulbs! I am excited to see that some of the plants are starting to get their first set of true leaves, and I am feeling hopeful that this is going to be a productive experience!