Seed progress
1 May 2020 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeThe marigolds I sowed back in March are doing nicely, with sturdy stems that are beginning to look like the little bushes they will eventually turn into. The second sowing of basil (after the total failure of the first) is clinging on but growing incredibly slowly, if at all, with no discernable difference between the seedling that has remained indoors on the sunny windowsill and the ones that went outside for some fresh air, although I've given up bringing in the latter overnight for fear they weren't hardy enough. They all have one small pair of true leaves each.
The dill is also still clinging on to life without any great enthusiasm and has now been moved permanently outdoors. The long weedy stems (with their reluctant handful of feathery leaves) were pretty much beaten down by the wind and rain yesterday, but will probably pick up again if they live. My rocket seedlings, on the other hand, are thriving and really starting to put on new growth, and I had my first tentative picking of baby leaves for salad a few days ago. The coriander seed that was left over in the spent compost I used to top-dress the miniature rose is also sprouting gaily, and I harvested some of that for the same purpose ;-)
The poppies with seed leaves that went red/brown have all turned green again, despite putting out true leaves that were also brown when they first emerged -- very odd. I think it must have been some kind of stress response. They are now starting to put out proper jagged poppy-leaves.
The seeds that drifted across into pots of other plants that have been receiving liquid feed (as opposed to the 'wildflower' trough, which I have kept deliberately impoverished) are dramatically larger and more advanced, so I have weakened and started giving the wildflowers a little feed now and then.
That 'cornfield mix' definitely did contain chickweed seeds, just as I suspected last year! They germinated at the same time as all the rest (despite the soil not being turned over this time), started looking like miniature plants quite early on, and then showed unmistable signs of putting out little star-shaped chickweed flowers, so I weeded them out with a clear conscience. Ironic, given that all the seed in that packet consists of various types of weeds that grow in wheat fields, but they weren't actually supposed to be in there.
I planted the saved seeds from the shoo-fly plant that spontaneously flowered last year, but unfortunately I can't remember where, which means I hesitate to weed out any of the random seedlings that are appearing until I can be more certain of their identity. The additional sowing of basil may have produced one new seedling, though I'm not sure. (It's so incredibly slow that I thought maybe I'd better get a second batch started in advance.)
I couldn't remember if I'd used the red or pink poppy seed harvested last year, so I sprinkled some more of the pink into the wildflower trough, and have had the same result as last year -- zero germination, after the massive burst of activity from the first lot. Either that seed pod really was infertile, or the seed is extremely fussy about the temperature/moisture levels needed to trigger it into life. There certainly wasn't any lack of warmth over that week.
(But I'm pretty sure I tried the red seed as well last year...)
The dill is also still clinging on to life without any great enthusiasm and has now been moved permanently outdoors. The long weedy stems (with their reluctant handful of feathery leaves) were pretty much beaten down by the wind and rain yesterday, but will probably pick up again if they live. My rocket seedlings, on the other hand, are thriving and really starting to put on new growth, and I had my first tentative picking of baby leaves for salad a few days ago. The coriander seed that was left over in the spent compost I used to top-dress the miniature rose is also sprouting gaily, and I harvested some of that for the same purpose ;-)
The poppies with seed leaves that went red/brown have all turned green again, despite putting out true leaves that were also brown when they first emerged -- very odd. I think it must have been some kind of stress response. They are now starting to put out proper jagged poppy-leaves.
The seeds that drifted across into pots of other plants that have been receiving liquid feed (as opposed to the 'wildflower' trough, which I have kept deliberately impoverished) are dramatically larger and more advanced, so I have weakened and started giving the wildflowers a little feed now and then.
That 'cornfield mix' definitely did contain chickweed seeds, just as I suspected last year! They germinated at the same time as all the rest (despite the soil not being turned over this time), started looking like miniature plants quite early on, and then showed unmistable signs of putting out little star-shaped chickweed flowers, so I weeded them out with a clear conscience. Ironic, given that all the seed in that packet consists of various types of weeds that grow in wheat fields, but they weren't actually supposed to be in there.
I planted the saved seeds from the shoo-fly plant that spontaneously flowered last year, but unfortunately I can't remember where, which means I hesitate to weed out any of the random seedlings that are appearing until I can be more certain of their identity. The additional sowing of basil may have produced one new seedling, though I'm not sure. (It's so incredibly slow that I thought maybe I'd better get a second batch started in advance.)
I couldn't remember if I'd used the red or pink poppy seed harvested last year, so I sprinkled some more of the pink into the wildflower trough, and have had the same result as last year -- zero germination, after the massive burst of activity from the first lot. Either that seed pod really was infertile, or the seed is extremely fussy about the temperature/moisture levels needed to trigger it into life. There certainly wasn't any lack of warmth over that week.
(But I'm pretty sure I tried the red seed as well last year...)