AMKuska's 2023 Garden

[AMKuska]

Pepper growth! They are so big!

 

[ducks4you]

You are So Organized!

 

[Branching Out]

Let me know how the strawberries get on.

So the Rainbow Treasure strawberries are about a month old, and are now going for field trips outdoors to give them some air and natural light. Yesterday our weather was perfect for this, with no wind, overcast skies, and about 10C(50F). Only about half of the seeds germinated, but some cells have a second tiny sprout just starting. And while I like this Lee Valley seed starter with capillary mat, the water reservoir keeps the soil moist at all times and encourages fungus gnats to move in. If there is one thing I hate, it's fungus gnats. So I will have to pot on the seedlings into something else; in the interim I am lifting the tray off the capillary mat, so that the soil can dry out a bit.

 

[AMKuska]

So the Rainbow Treasure strawberries are about a month old, and are now going for field trips outdoors to give them some air and natural light. Yesterday our weather was perfect for this, with no wind, overcast skies, and about 10C(50F). Only about half of the seeds germinated, but some cells have a second tiny sprout just starting. And while I like this Lee Valley seed starter with capillary mat, the water reservoir keeps the soil moist at all times and encourages fungus gnats to move in. If there is one thing I hate, it's fungus gnats. So I will have to pot on the seedlings into something else; in the interim I am lifting the tray off the capillary mat, so that the soil can dry out a bit.

Thank you for the update! They look great!

 

[AMKuska]

Potted up the Trinidad Scorpions today, but I must say...I'm disappointed by the potting soil I got. I bought 3 different bags, all of them advertising themselves as premium potting soils.

There are whole twigs in them. Mostly chipped wood. Water sits on top of it so it is both drowning the plant and dry as a bone.

This isnt potting soil. It's not even compost. It's somebody's chipped up green waste barrel and if it kills my plants I'll be breathing fire on somebody.

 

[AMKuska]

A closer look in natural light. What the heck is this?? A rope??

 

[heirloomgal]

I find that crud in my potting mix all the time. Sometimes I actually pull it out by handfuls into a big bowl and pick the junk out before I use it for planting.

 

[AMKuska]

I find that crud in my potting mix all the time. Sometimes I actually pull it out by handfuls into a big bowl and pick the junk out before I use it for planting.

I'm just irked because this was $10 for a tiny bag. Mulch is $2 for a bag 4x this size. Next time I'll just buy an ordinary bag of potting soil

 

[flowerbug]

rewet it before planting into it. then make sure it doesn't ever completely dry out because then it is hard to rewet it again.

some companies do not want to ship water around so they make their mixes really dry to begin with.

 

[AMKuska]

rewet it before planting into it. then make sure it doesn't ever completely dry out because then it is hard to rewet it again.

some companies do not want to ship water around so they make their mixes really dry to begin with.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.