Seedling Sorrows

Maybe I'm just worried over nothing, but some of my thyme and Swiss chard seedlings are acting weird. First of all, they grew really quickly for a very long time, but now they almost seem to have stopped growing. On the other hand, they seem a lot shorter than they were before because I transplanted them. Maybe they are growing, but most of the growth is underground or something. In any case, I got some liquid fertilizer to help them out. That's what we use at work, and plants respond magnificently.

Secondly, one of my Swiss chard seedlings died on the trip back to campus. I looked at it one minute, and it was fine. I looked at it a few minutes later, and it was completely wilted. The next minute, it had disappeared. This was strange. The good parts about that are that A) that particular plant was runty in the first place, and B) there's a seedling attached to it that hasn't surfaced yet, so maybe that one will take its place.

Rest in peat. I mean peace.

The third issue I'm facing is that some of my Swiss chard plants are defying the laws of phototropism. Instead of growing toward the light, they've started growing toward the ground. Or maybe they are bent over for some other reason? I haven't been able to determine the cause of this unusual behavior.

Perhaps I am overwatering these little dudes. I really don't know the appropriate amount of water to give them. All I know is that, at work, we only water seedlings when they're completely dry. That's what I've been doing here, but of course the watering equipment, media composition, and light are different.

The plant in the foreground is one of the few that's still going strong, but as you can see, its neighbor in the background is having trouble.

Here are the thyme seedlings. I know these are slow germinators, so maybe they just grow slowly too. They look pretty much the same as they did a few weeks ago, except a couple seedlings have died and a couple more have shown up.

These are the departed plants. I think I forgot to water these for a couple of days, and then this happened. Since thyme spreads so much, I don't need many plants, though.

Have you ever had a plant die mysteriously before your eyes? Have you ever treaded uncharted waters when it comes to plants?

Next post: hopefully something cheery.

The Latest and Greatest in Chard

I don't recall how many Swiss chard seedlings I had last time I posted about them, but at current count I have ten. There are two sets of three and two sets of two. All the sets are clumped together, and to me the number ten signals transplant time. If any others poke their heads out, they will be removed. I don't need more than ten producing five-color silverbeet plants.

Here are the seedlings before transplanting:

Sadly, two of the seedlings didn't make it. One had a poor root system (maybe I waited too long to move these little tykes), and the other had marginal necrosis on its cotyledons, which indicated poor health to me. So I ended up with eight total plants. I am totally happy with this arrangement. Here is the final arrangement. My camera does not like this chard basket. If you can't see, there are two rows of four seedlings. Hopefully these guys will be happier this way.

So that's what's going on with my chard! I'm excited to see the true leaves when they emerge. Are you transplanting anything fun this spring?

Next post: who knows!

More Chard!

For a number of days, I was wondering if I was only going to have the two swiss chard plants appear. Boy, was I wrong. I had three more spring up in one day! Maybe they're coming in waves, and I'll see a few more pop out over the weekend. I took pictures over the course of a couple of days, so you can see how rapidly they are growing. Nothing I grow seems to grow as quickly as all the plants at the greenhouse, but then again, they use liquid fertilizer daily. I use a slow-release fertilizer. Maybe I should get on that...

Two of the newbies seem to have emerged from the same seed. Here they are when I first saw them, on Tuesday.

And this is what they looked like the next day. Pretty big difference, huh? Right now they're as tall as the first two are below.

This next seedling is the newest of the bunch. It's all by itself. I know you can barely see it in this picture; that small banana-looking object is its pair of cotyledons.

This picture is better, since the little tyke was standing up straighter on Wednesday.

These pictures are an update of what the first two seedlings are up to. If you were wondering, they're busy growing taller all the time. This was taken Tuesday...

...And this was taken Wednesday! Their little leaves look so happy. As you can see, all of my chard appears to have fuschia stems except for one that's whitish or yellowish. That's fine with me. I can deal with hot-pink vegetables this summer.

A couple of other bits of news: my zucchini is saying goodbye tomorrow and going to its new home. I'll miss it, but hopefully it can be outside and flourish in its new environment.

Also, I'm leaving for spring break, so I have to pack up all my plants. Normally, transporting plants is a stressful experience for the transporter and the plants, but I'm looking on the bright side: Scott lent me some boxes so I don't get dirt all over my car, and my house has a southern exposure. This means my plants are basically getting the equivalent of a tropical vacation.

While I'm home, I'll introduce Basil, my basil plant, to the blog. Basil is staying at my house for its better light, but I'm getting it back come summer. Which is exciting.

Next post: Winter in Retrospect.

Little Post, Big News

Yeah, yeah, I know. I said I'd post greenhouse pictures today. And I'm not. Again. But I have marvelous news! However, I may have lied in the title: the news is actually very small. Why am I lying so much on this blog?

My first two seedlings of five-color silverbeet (AKA Swiss chard 'Bright Lights' or 'Rainbow') have sprouted! See those exotic stem colors? Those will become even brighter as the plants grow. Each seedling is around an inch tall right now.

I first saw these Sunday night. They were about half an inch tall then. What's remarkable is that they must have popped up within a two-hour timespan, because they weren't there yesterday evening. Then I watched a movie, and when I came back, ta da! They had made their appearance. Still no sign of any other seedlings (though I'm proud just to have two).

I just checked my basket for new arrivals, and there haven't been any, but these two are actually taller now, and their leaves are bigger. So exciting. I'm growing food in a dorm room!

Next post: spring shows its face on campus.

Spiders and Seedlings and Jade, Oh My!

There have been so many recent developments that I don't even know where to start. I'll arbitrarily follow the order of the pictures I took.

My spinach seedlings are starting to develop their first true leaves! Notice the difference in shape between them and the seed leaves. It's quite the contrast, and it will only become more different as time goes by.

My other spinach plant is trying to do the same thing this one has. It may just need more time. However, it seems kind of limp, and I'm wondering if the stem didn't get injured when I transplanted it. Time will tell.

The next order of business is my zucchini plant. It's still miniscule, but I believe it's trying to flower. I don't know if zucchinis can flower multiple times throughout a season, but if mine goes through with it, its new caretakers are going to have some microscopic fruits. They produce pretty flowers, though.

Now for some really exciting news: my thyme has sprouted! Well, some of the plants have. I may have to thin the ranks at some point because thyme seeds are tiny, so I have no idea how many I planted. But for now, I'm just happy that the seeds germinated! I don't think I've ever grown a plant from seed before, so this is an important accomplishment for me.

As you'll notice, it's extremely difficult to get my camera to focus on something as small as these seedlings, so they are blurry. The green dots are the seed leaves. You can see some of the stems.

Fun fact: when I was little, I thought the lyrics to the Steely Dan song "Reelin' in the Years" were "Are you reelin' in the yeast?/Stowin' away the thyme?/Are you gatherin' up the teas?/Have you had enough of mine?" Yes, I was destined to be a foodie even then.

My chard is still looking like this, though.

Nada.

The biggest news from this front is my two new houseplants that I propagated in class. This one is a spider plant. Spider plants are very efficient at filtering air, and they're pleasant in general. Spider plants are thus named because they reproduce by sending out stalks that have another spider plant-shaped plant on the end of them. They look like little spiders.

My second houseplant is a jade tree, acquired in the same manner as the spider plant. Jade plants are succulent, but they form woody stems eventually. I find them aesthetically pleasing (and mine's putting on new leaves)!

Here's an aerial view.

So this is the new and improved windowsill shot:

Perhaps the chard will soon join this happening array of friends. But until then...

Next post: flowers in my hometown!

University Greenhouse, Part IV: The Spikes Strike Back

In the last installment of University Greenhouse, we primarily explored succulents. For those of you who enjoy that sort of thing, you're in luck: today's post will cover more succulents and cacti (which are a type of succulent--that whole "a square is a rectangle" thing applies). But this time, the majority of the selections are spiny, thorny, and/or prickly.

We begin our journey with Aloe longistyla, which translates as "aloe with peculiarly long spikes." I contend that it lives up to its name. Also interesting is its bluish pigmentation. That seems unusual for its genus.

Ouch!

Our next selection is also an aloe, though it isn't Aloe shortistyla, as the picture would suggest. It's actually Aloe aristata. Perhaps this means "Aristotlean aloe" or "aristocratic aloe."

It does look sophisticated, doesn't it?

Now, sadly, we are done with the aloes. So here's...this thing. It was unlabeled, and, though it appears to be succulent, I haven't the foggiest idea of the family to which it belongs. It's certainly fascinating to look at, though!

These next two plants are the odd men out for this post: the first is campanula. Yes, it sounds like a vampire, but it looks and smells like a sunny spring day in Victorian England.

The other oddball today is a species of Amaryllis. This flower is a showstopper. This bloom was as big as my hand. Also, notice the onion flowers behind it.

Inside of the greenhouse's "desert room," there were these cute pupa containers. There was also a papier-mache beehive! I'm guessing these fauna additions aid pollination.

Here's a better shot of the striking pink flowers behind the pupas. Its structure is called a spike, so I guess this fits in with today's spiky theme.

Speaking of spikes, here are two cacti! The one that's just barely in the frame looks like an Opuntia, and the other is similar to a saguaro, but I don't think it is.

Next is a small cactus with springy yellow spikes that's going supernova. That's a camera issue, but it looks pretty neat!

The last spectacular spines of today belong to this flowery bush. It's pretty, but not exactly a cuddly plant. The spikes are about an inch long.

I also promised to show my planted chard seeds, so here they are! I used the rest of my bag of potting soil to fill the basket, so I'm using the bag as a drip tray/soil catcher.

I planted the seeds half an inch below the surface and gave them a good drink. After soaking in water for a day, some of the seeds felt really soft, which I believe is the intended outcome. We'll see!

Next post: tropical paradise-themed greenhouse pictures.

It Has Begun!

I have a dream. I had a dream. My dream was to plant swiss chard and thyme seeds indoors and make them grow. My dream was is to turn:

(As the packaging suggests, these seeds were from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I strongly recommend them to anyone looking for weird (think blue squash and chocolate basil) or slightly different varieties. They sell vegetables, herbs, and flowers. They're into organic growing, if you're into that. They even sent me a free packet of sunflower seeds for ordering from them.)

 

and

 

Into food.

The "making them grow" part is still a dream (albeit ever closer to reality), but I planted said seeds last night, so I am one step closer to growing my first foods!

The variety of chard I ordered is called "Rainbow" (also known as Bright Lights and Five-Color Silverbeet, as it's a relative of sugar beets). If you look at my blog's (current) header, that's a picture of rainbow swiss chard. I think it's beautiful, and chard is one of my favorite vegetables--definitely my favorite green. And I have read that it can be grown indoors for baby greens. So I'm trying it!

Apparently soaking the chard seeds in warm water for 24 hours before planting aids germination and helps prevent root rot, so I'm soaking them as I type.

I know I'm not sowing very many, but this way I have plenty more in case something goes south with this batch. Once these are done imbibing that water, I'm going to plant them in this (possibly with a tray of some sort under it):

However, I did actually plant the thyme. I planted it in a basket (we'll see how that works as a container) that's sitting on my heater. You see, a heating mat would be nice, but that would cost money, so I just laid some cloth over my heater to insulate it and put the basket on top of that. Here's the cloth (some strips I cut off of some sweats today--I'm DIYing this thing).

And here's the seeds on top of it!

In addition to planting new crops, I transplanted some older ones into better containers. These little seed pots were generously donated by my mother. I was going to use coolie cups, but I'll save them for another time.

First, the spinach. Cameos by Scott's hand.

This one's looking a little leggy. It never hurts to try, though.

Next is the zucchini. It's actually getting a new home in a few weeks, where it can go outside and possibly produce fruit.

I also finally transplanted my wheat into this colander. Maybe I didn't do the best job, but I think it will work. It's crooked because it's been growing toward my window and thus light.

Here's the class photo!

And here's what my windowsill looks like now:

There you have it. My lilliputian bounty is on its way. Have you ever tried growing any of these plants indoors? What are your favorite seed suppliers? Have you ever had to rig a makeshift growing apparatus?

Next post: more greenhouse pictures (plus the planting of my Bright Lights)!