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Post by Valerie on Feb 24, 2013 14:07:20 GMT -5
The baby plant nursery is much more successful this year! Best ever!
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Post by Cyngbaeld on Feb 24, 2013 15:36:46 GMT -5
NICE!!!
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Post by Valerie on Feb 24, 2013 17:44:38 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm thinking these seed starting trays (self-watering) were money well-spent. There also eggplant, 3 kinds of peppers, cukes, pumpkins, and various herbs and flowers among all that tomato action. Also, those trays have already paid for themselves, if you figure I'd have to spend at least $3 apiece if I were to buy all those plants. I'd skip the flowers, then, but would still want the others. We want lots of tomatoes this year because we want to make sauce, and Brandon eats a lot of salsa.
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Post by Cyngbaeld on Feb 24, 2013 19:28:01 GMT -5
Be sure to root all the tomato cuttings.
Wish I could have a garden now. Not even going to try here. Just want to get moved.
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Post by Granny Smith on Feb 24, 2013 19:49:24 GMT -5
Good looking plants, Valerie! I was looking at those self-watering trays Friday, but didn't know if they were worth the money or not. Guess so! I think I'll pick up a couple this week.
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Post by Valerie on Feb 24, 2013 20:47:51 GMT -5
These ones have the little pellets made of coir (coconut stuff). I like it better than the peat ones with the plastic mesh that never goes away. But it grows a lot of white fungusy looking junk. I put a bit of listerine in the plant water (a Jerry Baker thing) and even dripped some right on the fungus stuff, but it didn't go away. I have the fan going on them, too. Thing is, the white junk doesn't seem to be harming the plants at all. I haven't had any damping off, not even those crazy dills that seem to want to grow sideways. Tomorrow I have to raise the light, for the second time!
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Post by Granny Smith on Feb 24, 2013 20:50:15 GMT -5
Sometimes minerals in the water will cause a sort of white 'bloom' that looks like fungus. Might that be what it is?
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Post by Valerie on Feb 24, 2013 23:13:39 GMT -5
Maybe. I've never seen it before, but maybe it didn't do it on peat or soil. Maybe the pH is different or something. Long as it ain't hurting my plants, it can bloom away! Ya know, maybe it didn't do it before because I always watered from the top, which would have washed it away. These are watering from the bottom.
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Post by Granny Smith on Feb 25, 2013 6:59:18 GMT -5
I think you hit the nail on the head! I generally water my houseplants from below and have seen that white stuff in the dirt often. Like you said, it doesn't seem to hurt them, so I don't worry about it.
Also, I've used the coconut shell stuff in hanging plants, which get watered from the top, and haven't seen it in them at all. It's gotta be the bottom watering.
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Post by Cyngbaeld on Feb 25, 2013 7:23:53 GMT -5
I used coir once and every single thing died. I NEVER had that happen before.
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Post by Valerie on Feb 25, 2013 9:39:57 GMT -5
Kim, this was my first time using it, and I was skeptical. Seems to be doing fine, though.
That's sad that your plants all died. All that work for nothing. One year I had baby plants almost as good as these. They were really nice. I set them out and they were all doing fantastic. And then it started raining. We had TS Flo (I think that was its name) and the entire garden was under water for weeks. Every last thing died, and I was disgusted.
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Post by BigM on Feb 25, 2013 9:50:35 GMT -5
Looks GREAT!!
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Post by Cyngbaeld on Feb 25, 2013 14:08:40 GMT -5
The worst part was that some of those seeds were the very last I had of rare varieties. I had a run of bad years with the garden. In fact, I've never gardened anyplace as hard as here and that includes Alaska and the high mountain desert.
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Post by Valerie on Feb 25, 2013 21:49:39 GMT -5
I think tomorrow I'll move the lettuce, one of the basil, the sage, and maybe a tomato out to the aquaponic bed. I'm a little nervous about that. You have to brush the dirt off the roots, and then swish it in water to get most of the rest off. I don't have the most delicate fingers; I'm afraid I'll hurt the little seedlings.
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Post by Granny Smith on Feb 25, 2013 22:20:07 GMT -5
Seedlings are tougher than most people think. You would probably be shocked at how rough I am when I move them from a cold frame to the garden, yet I hardly ever kill one. I don't even bother to loosen the dirt. I just yank them out, throw them in a bucket, and take them to the garden.
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