(Boom..) Tomato slips, struggling to produce beyond cotyledon. Belated peppers, their companions, refusing to take the high road.
(Boom..Boom) Beans and peas are thriving and reaching for anything they can attach to.... I read an article that they loath transplanting, but prefer to be interred directly in their seasonal home.
The actors are arrayed; the course is laid; failure seems inevitable. How will I combat these odds and salvage my efforts? Go to Home Depot, of course!
Some things are in my favor. The weather, for one, is predicted to be steady for the next two weeks. Which is two weeks closer to the last danger of frost. Some of the seedlings are looking robust, such as the afore mentioned beans and peas, along with the squash and cucumbers. Temptation is strong to go ahead and transplant; to trust in my greenhouse domes to sufficiently protect them. This is a gamble I decided to take. I transplanted the yellow squash, zucchini, green peas, sugar snap peas, green beans, and some plants from Home Depot I bought this morning: green cabbage, red cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.
I cut some light supports for the beans to give them something to grab hold of instead of reaching out to hold hands and getting tangled together. After planting, I covered the rest of the Sq. Fts. with the construction plastic and attached as before. The cedar boards were not holding the plastic as secure as I wanted, so I bought pavers for .39 cents a peice and used these instead.
I think that the rest of my seedling problems are due to a lack of light and possibly over watering. The second round of peppers that I had on the AGA sprouted in a week - proving that they do, indeed, like 83 degrees. I also let them dry out more than the other trays before watering.
My blase, buck-up or back-out attitude toward my first try at seedlings seems to prove a poor farming method. Next year I will approach things with more careful attention, possibly purchasing a florescent light, heirloom seeds, and letting the AGA babysit again.
However, if my greenhouse domes are able to keep the temps friendly, and if the weather continues to be friendly, then I have good hopes for the new transplants as well as the new seedling that sprouted very soon after planting last week. Also, the sun came out this afternoon and warmed up the greenhouses before evening.
That is all I have for you this week. Here are some pictures of other things that are doing some growing of their own.
Have a great week!
