Corn and beans started sprouting out of the ground today. So far, 80% of the corn has sprouted, and around 70% of the beans. Yesterday when I checked, nothing. Today, POOF! there it is.
I set 15 tobacco plants out a few days ago. So far, 14 of those are still alive, but struggling to get their legs beneath them. I think most will survive, it's just a matter of getting some new roots out into the new dirt, and I suspect most of their growth is going on under the ground at the moment. It's still a far cry from the 60 plants I had planned, but the seedlings started dying off in their tray. it looked a lot like some damp-off going on. I have 8 more plants in pots for experimentation - I'm going to see if topping and suckering them assists in leaf production, or harms it. With commercial tobacco, nicotiana tabacum, it helps. It makes the leaves grow bigger. No telling what it will do to this nicotiana rustica, hence the experimentation. I still have a few seedlings in another tray, but I'll get nowhere near the 60 I had planned.
I've not hit that gardening self sufficiency yet, but every season I learn a little more towards it.
The Afghan Blue poppy looks like it's forming a bud. It's only 11 1/4 inches tall. Should be between a foot and a half and 3 feet when it starts forming a bloom bud. For now, I'll blame the stuntedness on being potted instead of in the ground. But, being the only survivor (the only sprout, really, out of thousands of seeds attempted), I have to baby it until it sets seed, and that means keeping it in a pot so I can get it out of bad weather in a hurry.
My tiny patches of garden will need to be expanded for next year - this just ain't enough room to get enough into the ground. Luckily, I'll be able to do that, but I might need to get a heavier weight of garden weasel. I've bent the prongs on this lightweight one so many times I'm surprised they're still hanging on. Still, it did yeoman's work getting the ground busted that I did, so I'll count that as a win.
When stuff gets big enough to see, I'll throw some photos in.
.
I set 15 tobacco plants out a few days ago. So far, 14 of those are still alive, but struggling to get their legs beneath them. I think most will survive, it's just a matter of getting some new roots out into the new dirt, and I suspect most of their growth is going on under the ground at the moment. It's still a far cry from the 60 plants I had planned, but the seedlings started dying off in their tray. it looked a lot like some damp-off going on. I have 8 more plants in pots for experimentation - I'm going to see if topping and suckering them assists in leaf production, or harms it. With commercial tobacco, nicotiana tabacum, it helps. It makes the leaves grow bigger. No telling what it will do to this nicotiana rustica, hence the experimentation. I still have a few seedlings in another tray, but I'll get nowhere near the 60 I had planned.
I've not hit that gardening self sufficiency yet, but every season I learn a little more towards it.
The Afghan Blue poppy looks like it's forming a bud. It's only 11 1/4 inches tall. Should be between a foot and a half and 3 feet when it starts forming a bloom bud. For now, I'll blame the stuntedness on being potted instead of in the ground. But, being the only survivor (the only sprout, really, out of thousands of seeds attempted), I have to baby it until it sets seed, and that means keeping it in a pot so I can get it out of bad weather in a hurry.
My tiny patches of garden will need to be expanded for next year - this just ain't enough room to get enough into the ground. Luckily, I'll be able to do that, but I might need to get a heavier weight of garden weasel. I've bent the prongs on this lightweight one so many times I'm surprised they're still hanging on. Still, it did yeoman's work getting the ground busted that I did, so I'll count that as a win.
When stuff gets big enough to see, I'll throw some photos in.
.