Plant progress
4 April 2026 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodePotted up the ten Roma tomato seedlings, with some difficulty since the towelling on which the seeds were originally held had not yet disintegrated in many places -- I wonder if this was what was holding them back? They didn't have a lot of root; however, at least they now have some drainage.
I think one of the towel-tomato seedlings may be narrowing off at the base of the stem (possibly through mechanical damage, since it has been quite windy while they have been outside), but we have far too many of those anyway. (The second batch of 'good' seed has already got larger than the stalled Roma seedlings which germinated weeks earlier.) We now have lots of chillies, although I think conditions are still really a bit cold for them.
The dwarf peas have been moved out of the mini-greenhouse, where they appear to have thrived; it's hard to be certain, though, since I did after all put the best seedlings in there to start off with while leaving the more dubious peas outside! I tried to find a replacement for the photo-degrading mini-greenhouse, which was after all only a toy (part of a novelty growing kit) in the first place, but the sort of small sized shelf-stand with a clear plastic cover that I had visualised doesn't appear to exist locally -- or indeed online. The local garden centre had some forty-pound antiqued glass and metal model greenhouses that were around the right size but neither practical nor really within my budget; Rovert Dyas didn't have anything larger than a propagator tray, and Argos's idea of 'mini' would cover most of my balcony (and protrude so high as to foul the washing and potentially get blown over into the bargain). The closest thing I could see was Ikea's Åkerbår 18" greenhouse, but the reviews mentioning that it rusts quickly and that the base fills up with water if you try to use it outdoors are not encouraging :-(
(To be fair, you can't lift up my current mini-greenhouse without the top coming off the base, and it *would* fill up with water if rain came in through the now-broken ventilator flap...)
We finally have germination among the coriander, coming up reassuringly in pairs, and we *may* have actual germination among the spring onions to confirm that all the other things that had come up hitherto in that pot were not, in fact, spring onions! (These seedlings look more leek-like, which tends to confirm that there are no chive seedlings in the chive pot.)
Something is germinating in the dill-pot, but it may well simply be from the floor-sweepings that I dusted on top of the winter purslane seed. On the other hand, it doesn't look quite like any of my familiar self-sown seedlings, so it *might* be purslane; there is a double-fronded seedling in there that is almost certainly a California poppy but might just about be dill. Otherwise I think the dill has failed entirely -- not just the date-expired commercial seed, but my own saved seed from last year as well. (Apparently it needs light to germinate.)
There is one California poppy seedling in the pot where I sowed the white California poppy seed, but of course there is no way of knowing whether it germinated from the seed I put in there or was present in the compost anyway :-p
The miniature rose is now looking very dead, and the sweetbriar very alive. No sign of life from the marigolds after three weeks -- I'm not exactly short of seed there but it has of course all been kept in the same sub-optimal conditions, i.e. lying in a heap on the table! I suspect the nasturtiums have simply rotted away and will need to be re-sown, although I have what is probably a very healthy flax seedling in that pot -- the flax that I intended to sow is thriving, and will probably want pricking out soon.
The tulips have now lost their flowers, which is a relief as it means I can now hang washing over that area again for the moment :-p But they made a quite unexpectedly good display, with the exception of the little one that was apparently dwarfed by the proximity of the two garlic bulbs! Lifting and storing them -- as recommended on the packet -- without completely destroying everything else in the trough is going to be very tricky, though...
I think one of the towel-tomato seedlings may be narrowing off at the base of the stem (possibly through mechanical damage, since it has been quite windy while they have been outside), but we have far too many of those anyway. (The second batch of 'good' seed has already got larger than the stalled Roma seedlings which germinated weeks earlier.) We now have lots of chillies, although I think conditions are still really a bit cold for them.
The dwarf peas have been moved out of the mini-greenhouse, where they appear to have thrived; it's hard to be certain, though, since I did after all put the best seedlings in there to start off with while leaving the more dubious peas outside! I tried to find a replacement for the photo-degrading mini-greenhouse, which was after all only a toy (part of a novelty growing kit) in the first place, but the sort of small sized shelf-stand with a clear plastic cover that I had visualised doesn't appear to exist locally -- or indeed online. The local garden centre had some forty-pound antiqued glass and metal model greenhouses that were around the right size but neither practical nor really within my budget; Rovert Dyas didn't have anything larger than a propagator tray, and Argos's idea of 'mini' would cover most of my balcony (and protrude so high as to foul the washing and potentially get blown over into the bargain). The closest thing I could see was Ikea's Åkerbår 18" greenhouse, but the reviews mentioning that it rusts quickly and that the base fills up with water if you try to use it outdoors are not encouraging :-(
(To be fair, you can't lift up my current mini-greenhouse without the top coming off the base, and it *would* fill up with water if rain came in through the now-broken ventilator flap...)
We finally have germination among the coriander, coming up reassuringly in pairs, and we *may* have actual germination among the spring onions to confirm that all the other things that had come up hitherto in that pot were not, in fact, spring onions! (These seedlings look more leek-like, which tends to confirm that there are no chive seedlings in the chive pot.)
Something is germinating in the dill-pot, but it may well simply be from the floor-sweepings that I dusted on top of the winter purslane seed. On the other hand, it doesn't look quite like any of my familiar self-sown seedlings, so it *might* be purslane; there is a double-fronded seedling in there that is almost certainly a California poppy but might just about be dill. Otherwise I think the dill has failed entirely -- not just the date-expired commercial seed, but my own saved seed from last year as well. (Apparently it needs light to germinate.)
There is one California poppy seedling in the pot where I sowed the white California poppy seed, but of course there is no way of knowing whether it germinated from the seed I put in there or was present in the compost anyway :-p
The miniature rose is now looking very dead, and the sweetbriar very alive. No sign of life from the marigolds after three weeks -- I'm not exactly short of seed there but it has of course all been kept in the same sub-optimal conditions, i.e. lying in a heap on the table! I suspect the nasturtiums have simply rotted away and will need to be re-sown, although I have what is probably a very healthy flax seedling in that pot -- the flax that I intended to sow is thriving, and will probably want pricking out soon.
The tulips have now lost their flowers, which is a relief as it means I can now hang washing over that area again for the moment :-p But they made a quite unexpectedly good display, with the exception of the little one that was apparently dwarfed by the proximity of the two garlic bulbs! Lifting and storing them -- as recommended on the packet -- without completely destroying everything else in the trough is going to be very tricky, though...