Mad Science of Growing Seedling [Gardening]

This post is my seedling update for March 3, 2018. Inside you'll see photos of most of the garden plants I am growing. Even though I am not an expert, I am a hobbyist who has been dabbling in various gardening #experiments for the past five years or so. I invite you to check out what I've been working on.

The intent has been to start these plants off very early in the year so they will already have a well-developed root system when they are ready to be planted in Spring. Many of my seedlings were started in January, or a few weeks ago. Currently I have a whopping list of 411 vegetables I want to grow this year, so let's get crackin'.

#Turnips are still growing. The leaves have more of a yellow color this week. Not sure if that is normal. They have been under the artificial light constantly, and the light runs on a timer. They keep growing new leaves and are not wilting, so I'm not concerned.

The third #pumpkin for the patch I'll be planting is growing nicely. This year looks like a great start for my #pumpkins.

Two of the pumpkin plants are making #buds like crazy, and reaching almost 10 inches. No signs of weakness or #leaf problems like I had last year.

Banana Peppers. So glad I started these in January. They are growing so slow. I fed all my plants some organic #fertilizer, so hopefully that helps the leaves green up a little bit more. They look yellow right now.

#Arugula is rocking out. Central leaves are starting to form. The older leaves are looking slightly red-green tinted.

#Cabbage is looking so healthy today with bigger leaves forming, I decided they should be promoted to front row sunshine seats on the windowsill.

Last week I started a new batch. Top left, #Cilantro. Top right, #BrusselsSprouts. Lower left, #Anise. Lower right, Yellow #Onion.

Somebody gave me organic seeds for the yellow onion, so I decided to plant them. They got the seeds for free from Burgerville, which is a fast food chain restaurant. I am glad they were so easy to grow.

My friends, let me introduce you to Lady #Lavender. I planted these seeds back in early January in a plastic dome, and it wasn't doing anything. A few weeks ago I decided to dump in the rest of the seed packet, and that proved to be a good idea, because it is finally growing. The #sprouts are very little, but they do reach towards the light whenever I turn the dish around. I decided to put these on the windowsill once I saw a few more sprouts emerging, as this plant loves full sun.

These are store bought #GreenOnions. They are also called #chives when served as finely chopped #green herbs, as a seasoning or garnish. In the UK, they might call them #scallions. I decided to #plant them this way because I was having so much trouble getting them started from seed. This is excellent. Now I suddenly am seven plants closer to my goal of 10 of these. This is what they look like after the first 24 hours. You can almost watch them grow in real time the instant you give them some water. Look at how much the cut line has shifted in the center!

#Moonflower opening up its first leaves. These #leaves are so thick and leathery, it is hard to believe they could ever fit inside of a seed the size of a pea. To the right, you can see the #tobacco plant is enjoying the sunshine.

Two types of #tomatoes on this window ledge.

The #peas on the left are starting to get root bound. That is one of the advantages of growing in a clear cup. You can see what the roots are doing. Even though it is still very cold out at night, I decided to chance it and plant this one directly into the garden today. Tomorrow we'll find out if it was able to survive the slugs and the temperatures.

Peas are a good plant for testing the season conditions. They do not suffer transplant shock, and they do well in cool temperatures. You don't even have to harden off peas because even young leaves and stems are tough enough to tolerate heavy sunlight. Most #vine plants also have this super ability.

This is the other tobacco variety I am growing. It is growing so slow. At least new leaves are starting to form in the center.

Even the #turmeric and #ginger are slowly growing on the far left.

That's what's been going on so far. Been re-arranging many of my pots, because I am trying to make more space to start more seeds.

Here is a list of #seeds I started #growing tonight:

• #Tomato, #Beefsteak
• Tomato, Rapunzel (cherry)
• Tomato, #Roma
• #Pepper, Ancho #Poblano
• Pepper, Banana
• #Cumin, Black (last ditch effort, my first batch did not last)
• #Chives, Tokyo Green Onion
• #MorningGlory
• #4oClocks
• #Peas

Quite a bit accomplished.

This time I also made sure I pre-soaked all of the seeds in water to help them sprout faster. The biggest seeds I soaked close to an hour, and the smaller seeds I waited only about 10 minutes. Longer soaking time would have been better for fast #germination, but it doesn't really matter.

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I went back and looked at my spreadsheet, and I am 10% complete in my total goal of #vegetables I want to grow this #summer. More specifically, I have 42 already growing out of my goal of 411. How will all of this fit in my yard? Not sure how many of these I will have to start indoors, but I have a little bit more window space in the next-door room. Wish me luck!
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Many people seem to enjoy my #seedling updates. Hope you found something worthwhile in this post.

Juicy comments can always be found below. Remember, people often share really helpful information in the comments, so be sure to dig through a little deeper if you can spare some time.

See you around!