I’m here, I swear! Later in the day than I wanted, but here we are. A few plant related things happened this weekend, so let’s get to it!
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Spring
So I’ve missed writing about both meteorological and astronomical spring. March 1, 2021 marked meteorological spring. Yesterday, March 21, 2021 marked the official start of astronomical spring. Astronomical spring is based on historical annual temperature cycle data, whereas meteorological spring is based on the position of the Earth in the Solar System. SO, it’s spring++ and there is a lot to do!
Seedling Transplanting
It was still fairly chilly in the shade of the carport, but nothing an actual pair of shoes (la chancla isn’t as much of an all terrain vehicle as I’d like) and warm sweater couldn’t fix. Yes, we could have transplanted them out in the sunshine but I didn’t think of that until right now.
Annnnyway, ignoring all the ones that died (read: a lot of them), the larger ones needed to be transplanted into larger pots.
We wrote it all down, but that paper is insider somewhere, and if I leave this chair I’ll go back to procrastinating. I know there were many hot peppers (early jalapenos, puma peppers, ajicitos. That’s less than what I originally planted.), mustard greens, cilantro, tigger melons, yellow beets, and a variety of tomatoes. Because of this I’m going to plant more seeds in another Jiffy tray. I really didn’t like the Pro-Hex because of water issues. If you’d like me to elaborate more, let me know and I will. The Jiffy tray is also entertaining because you get to watch the pods expand like one of those kids toys where you drop the capsule in water, let it dissolve, and out pops an expandable toy (dinosaur sponges! Those were my favorite.). A dirty, coconut fiber sponge toy!
Not all of these deaths were caused by me. Many of them though were my fault. Others did not sprout. For the ones I gruesomely murdered, I had left the seedlings to Ari’s care in his basement office. Very warm, very dry (this time of year), so all the seedlings went to town growing in the heat and enduring wet/dry spells. My bad, guys. Poor things never had a chance.
Here’s the extent of my talent (before you watch this, it’s me going total luddite on the camera. It entertained me enough to put it up. I don’t know if it’ll entertain you, but yeah!):
You’ll never get that 5 seconds of your life back. I’ll never get them back either, so I’ll understand if you resent me. It’s okay.
Subscribe for our special $50 gift certificate giveaway from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds! A fine purveyor of heirloom seeds in the USA. I order the vast majority of my seeds from them, and you should too!
I have to remember to lower the lights closer to the seedlings to encourage bushing out instead of growing all leggy again.
Angel Vine
Angels are coming down from above for this poor plant. Ari tried sunning the plants a couple weeks back during a warm spell. It was windy and a lot cooler than we realized. We lost a lot of seedlings that way as well. I’ve been going through all the stages of grief with this poor thing. My last act of assistance was to remove a lot of the dead bits, trim it (WHAT A MISTAKE), water it, and stick it under the grow lights. I could hypothetically turn on the red lights as well, but I don’t want to promote everything else going leggy.
Grow Light Mod
A simple, yet effective, way to keep it from tipping over:
Ari’s Great Idea: Hang 1 LB (0.45 kg) barbell weight(s) off the tripod to make it less tippy.
My Great Idea: Thread it onto the leg opposite the way the grow lights bend over to prevent it from dangling and swinging as there’s nowhere at the “point” of the tripod to affix the weight. Most tripods have a hook at that point so you can hang weights off it, but the orientation of the grow light’s tripod base versus the extension… It’s a mess, but this fix works really well and took like .2 seconds to attach.
11/10 would suggest doing this if it’s an issue you’re having. It doesn’t have to be a barbell weight, but it should probably weigh >= 1 LB (0.45 kg). Where you place it along the leg also matters, so play with it and see. The explanation takes longer than it’s worth for you to read. Good luck.
Subscribe for our special $50 gift certificate giveaway from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds! A fine purveyor of heirloom seeds in the USA. I order the vast majority of my seeds from them, and you should too!
Before I sign off,
I love you guys, see you on “hump” day!