The plants are getting bigger
22 May 2022 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeI did a lot of potting-up and planting-out today. I gave up on the Demon Red chillies, which after seven weeks are barely starting to get their true leaves and had very little root -- I don't think keeping them in the mini-greenhouse is giving them any benefit. I planted the two larger ones out into different compost, in case they were somehow being retarded/poisoned by the soil they were in, and kept the runtiest in the greenhouse to see how it progresses relative to the others. I have also, far too late, tried planting some of the saved chilli seed from last year, which was far more successful even if not an ideal variety. The extra Red Demon seed I put in on May 8th failed to germinate at all.
The basil experiment was interesting -- the seedlings that I potted up on May 2nd to make room for the chillies failed to thrive outside the greenhouse, and have died or failed to grow. The selection that I removed from the greenhouse on a later occasion because the remainder were getting too crowded have not only continued to develop outside (in the same pot as the earlier ones!) but actually grew bigger than the ones which remained inside. I don't know if this was due to having more depth of soil or whether the humidity/heat in there was getting too much. Anyway, I have now potted up the remainder (and given away six or so spares).
I also potted up some of the calendulas and marigolds that I sowed, leaving the other half in the seed compartments but with more space around them. And spread out some more of my mesembryanthemums into a square tray to give them room to sprawl (where I promptly caught a slug this evening!)
The larger of the two possible-yellow-poppy plants, which has grown tall with many branches and multiple buds, has opened its first bud and proved to be a very large red field poppy, as I had more or less suspected from the shape of the buds. The smaller one has thrown up some rounder buds, and I think that one is indeed the Cumbrian yellow poppy, although it may have been a little crowded out! The dill that was originally intended to inhabit that pot is just about clinging on around the edges... A couple of the oriental poppies are showing buds but are nowhere near dropping their heads yet.
The sage is in full bloom and looking very pretty, and the cornflower is just beginning to open its first flower bud. Both the roses are now out, and the marigolds are just starting to come into bud.
The basil experiment was interesting -- the seedlings that I potted up on May 2nd to make room for the chillies failed to thrive outside the greenhouse, and have died or failed to grow. The selection that I removed from the greenhouse on a later occasion because the remainder were getting too crowded have not only continued to develop outside (in the same pot as the earlier ones!) but actually grew bigger than the ones which remained inside. I don't know if this was due to having more depth of soil or whether the humidity/heat in there was getting too much. Anyway, I have now potted up the remainder (and given away six or so spares).
I also potted up some of the calendulas and marigolds that I sowed, leaving the other half in the seed compartments but with more space around them. And spread out some more of my mesembryanthemums into a square tray to give them room to sprawl (where I promptly caught a slug this evening!)
The larger of the two possible-yellow-poppy plants, which has grown tall with many branches and multiple buds, has opened its first bud and proved to be a very large red field poppy, as I had more or less suspected from the shape of the buds. The smaller one has thrown up some rounder buds, and I think that one is indeed the Cumbrian yellow poppy, although it may have been a little crowded out! The dill that was originally intended to inhabit that pot is just about clinging on around the edges... A couple of the oriental poppies are showing buds but are nowhere near dropping their heads yet.
The sage is in full bloom and looking very pretty, and the cornflower is just beginning to open its first flower bud. Both the roses are now out, and the marigolds are just starting to come into bud.