Lots of Life

 

As usual I am way behind in planting. I haven’t even ordered my petunia seeds which should already be planted.

Last night Olivia helped me with watering, transplanting some Impatiens and mixing container soil. Little hands are hard on seedlings, but passing on my passion for gardening is far more important. I guess it is good that I over plant.

We broke apart half a sheet of Styrofoam to put in the bottom as these pots are very large. The mix was 2 parts soil, I part peat moss and 1 part sand or perlite (we alternated these two). It took 20-2 pound yogurt containers of material to fill the rest of  the planter (that’s our measuring cup).

Impatiens… currently 129 transplanted and about 16 6-packs to go.

California Wonder Peppers…about 19 6-packs.

Obviously I need to move the Early Girl Tomatoes under a taller light….there are 17 plants.

Sweet 100’s….24 (and a few more peppers).

I have 26 Geraniums left. Lost a few to stem rot. I need to get a far circulating the air.

Cherokee Purple…12 plants.

Impatiens and about 48 6-packs of Carnations seeded. This is my first year trying these, but I did see them growing outside the hospital in Anchorage when I was there last summer with my son so I am hopeful.

A few of the Wave Petunia’s came up in four flats. I used some different seeds and did not have my usual success which is why I’ll make an order today.

I have a total of 40 flats either growing or seeded. The plant room is still a disaster and is frustrating to work in so I seem to be avoiding it this year. I wish I would have thought to get things organized earlier this winter. The key will be to ending the season with it ready to go for Spring. This is hard to move in!

Time to Organize

 

I mixed some soil for hanging baskets the other day. The mixture I am trying is 4 parts soil, 2 parts peat and 1 part sand. It feels really nice, but if you have a better suggestion I am open to ideas. This is just a “formula” I found on the internet. For my seeding mixture I am using 1 part soil, 2 parts perlite and 2 parts peat. So far the seedlings seem to be doing well in it. Again, open for suggestions. If you are wondering, I do not care for my hanging baskets. They are 12-inch and too small. I would also rather have plastic as these dry out so quickly, but I cannot justify the expense of new when I have so many of these. I’ll have to make it work.

Today, I ran out of space to put flats and was forced to finally address the mess.

I didn’t get too far, but at least opened up a few lights for the new flats. Tomorrow I’ll put together a post of all the things I’ve started so far.

I did transplant my geraniums into 4-inch pots. The border scarlet had 14 of the 18 seeds planted germinate, but the Colorama F2 only had 16 of the 30 seeds grow. I don’t mind…for $1.19 I got 16 plants…not so bad (if I can keep them alive). Plus, it just means I can justify ordering some other colors.

Falling Behind Already

 

So I think I will stick to the theory that last year my Impatiens didn’t grow because I did not mix adequate seeding soil. This year about 75% are germinating (I’ll get a more accurate count at a later date).

I have a few flats going, but the plant room is still a mess leaving no room to make progress. I’m not sure how March arrived so quickly with me so unprepared, but hopefully I will get it together this weekend. Before I know it I’ll be shoveling out the greenhouse and will be pressed for spare time.