I took a photograph of my Meyer lemon tree in January and noted it lacked blossoms, which it produces in abundance each spring. Well, the tree now has blossoms, so it must finally be spring. The sun is definitely stronger but it is still chilly and windy outside. On Sunday I stopped at the garden while doing a shopping excursion. It may be spring but the garden looks like tundra.
The only green is from the weeds that overwintered. The soil is still a bit boggy and not really ready to work. And there is more rain in the forecast, so no need to rush things.
There is a bit of green showing in my own garden plot. The garlic looks healthy and just needs a shot of nitrogen to get it really going.
Inside it is warm and the seedlings are doing well under the grow lights. The lettuces, broccoli and cabbages are sown and have germinated. While small now, they are weeks away from weather where it would be safe to plant them outside, so these are on schedule. A couple of years ago I was wooed by an unseasonably mild spring and transplanted early, only to be set back severely by a single hard freeze.
The peppers this year are doing very well. The technique of pre-sprouting with a wet paper towel inside a plastic bag worked really well and all peppers have germinated adequately, and most of the sprouted seeds have emerged from the flats in which they were transplanted.
The tomatoes, however, are a mixed bag and I am not real happy. Usually I have much better luck with tomatoes. I tried the same pre-sprouting technique used for the peppers with the tomatoes. I was really surprised with how long some varieties took to sprout. Currently I am still waiting for Sunkist, Black Beauty, and Jaune Flamme to sprout after two weeks.. I sprinkled a few more seeds on the paper towels in case the original seeds are DOA. These are three varieties I can not buy locally so if they do not sprout soon I will not be growing them this year.
My tomatoes germinated really quickly this time - about 3 or 4 days, so no problems there, but lack of proper sunshine for them is going to be a problem! I find the growlights are only good up to a point... I think it is wise not to start things too early. Some people are just too impatient, they sow seeds in Jan / Feb and then live to regret it.
ReplyDeleteMark, I have a pretty good grow light setup which does the job for seedlings. Once the tomatoes and peppers get potted up, they are ready to go outside (at least during the warmer days).
DeleteHurray for your peppers! This is the first year where my pepper starts have been very smooth - I actually have the correct amount of each variety of pepper and don't need to sub any out! That's too bad about the tomatoes - I usually don't have too many issues with pre-sprouting tomatoes. I'll be starting mine this week, so I suppose we'll see if that holds true this time round. You've hit on another gardening truism - just because you've been successful before with a particular variety, technique, etc, doesn't mean you'll ALWAYS be successful.
ReplyDeleteI too am surprised with the tomatoes not germinating. I think last year I seeded them directly in flats and only used the pre-sprout method for a few troublemakers.
DeleteYour garlic looks great. I'm going to be pulling all of my this week because they are a disgusting rusty mess - no more garlic for me. :-(
ReplyDeleteI'm pre-germinating all my peppers and eggplant this year and so far it is working quite well. I don't generally have problems with tomatoes so those went directly into pots and most of them germinated in less than a week. Two weeks is a long time for tomatoes, I hope your next round does better.
Too bad about the rust. I read an el Nino caused moist conditions in CA that allowed rust to explode, wiping out the Gilroy farmers and giving the Chinese an entrance to the market. The rust has been around ever since then, but Gilroy has figured out how to deal with it, so less Chinese garlic in the markets.
DeleteI do hope you know how lucky you are to be able to grow your own lemons?! Wow, being able to grow citrus fruit would be pretty amazing (I've heard of somewhere in B.C. but nowhere else in Canada that I know of).
ReplyDeleteThe garlic looks wonderful ... how exactly do you give them a shot of nitrogen (i.e. what should I be giving mine this year!?!).
Susie, The lemon is in a pot and spends the winter indoors and the summers outside on the deck. You could grown one if you can find one and having a fairly sunny window in teh winter.
DeleteThe garlic needs some nitrogen in the spring to encourage foliage production. I usually use blood meal but any fertilizer with nitrogen would work.
Your garlic looks fantastic and you're seedlings look nice and healthy.
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes took a couple of weeks to germinate as well. We had an unseasonably cold spell and since we keep it fairly cold in the house, they didn't germinate. Now with just a couple of days in the 80's most of them have sprouted.