Friday, March 18, 2011

More sowing

I always find it amusing that I do my sowing in the room that I sew. Right now the sewing machine is all covered up because of all the dirt flying around. I guess it is better than my old house where I made a muddy mess of the laundry room, but at least there I had a sink to clean up in.

Last weeks sowings are mostly up

I made two more flats of soil blocks this week and filled them all up.

On Tuesday I put in the following:

  • Broccoli: Packman, Piracicaba, Windsor
  • Cabbage: Ruby Perfection
  • Chard: Argentata, Rubarb
  • Chinese Cabbage: Rubicon, Michihili
  • Asian Greens: Chinese Kale and Choy Sum

On Friday I put in:

  • Asian Greens: Fun Jen, Shanghai Bok Choy, White Stem Bok Choy
  • Flowers: Forget-me-nots, Achillea Cerise Queen
  • Herbs: Cumin (30 cells since they go so close together) and Cilantro (two wintersown packs)

Onions enjoy the out of doors

So now I have six flats under my lights and six packs of wintersown plants. In two weeks I will have a lot more to sow. All the peppers will be sown then. I've started to harden off my onions a bit this week as they will be the first plants kicked out into the cruel windy world. Today it got to 70 degrees by 1:40 (as I type). Wow. That is the first time over 70 this year. I hope the onions like the nice heat and the sunshine.

16 comments:

  1. Wow, your plants are all growing so evenly. Onion plants are looking great! What kind of onions are they? How big do they get before the fall?

    Why do you seed the chard inside? I thought they were cool weather loving plants(as per the seed packet) and sowed them outdoors today! I hope I didn't just waste the seeds!

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  2. Fun seedlings!! They look great! I love your soil blocks!

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  3. Everything is looking happy and healthy!! It was at least 75 here today...a bit too warm for this time of year..but, I'm not complaining!!

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  4. Nicely done. Your soil blocks look so much better than mine. Maybe I'll end up replacing my home made one with yours. Looking great!

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  5. Wow, your onions look just amazing!

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  6. Your onions look amazing, when did you plant them?

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  7. Very nice - it's always such a joy to see other's seedlings...

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  8. Very inspiring! I need to start my seeds!
    Stopping by from southeast Mass.

    happy day!

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  9. I love all your seedlings!! I need to learn more about making my own soil blocks.

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  10. Those are some nice looking onions! Lots of seeds being sown in Daphne's "Sewing" room (or should that being "Sowing" room?).

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  11. Daphne, How do you keep track of what's in your mixed flats? I use a flat map. I keep a notebook that reminds me when and what I planted (although the blog might also server for that) and I draw a little grid and label it. I also put a bit of tape or nick one spot on the flat container to give me a reference point.

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  12. RandomGardener, I have four kinds of onions in two flats. Copra, Alisa Craig, Redwing, and Varsity. I have no clue as to how big they will get before fall. In the past I've had issues growing onions, but these are doing so much better than in previous years. I seed chard inside because when I've seeded it outside in the past it never grows well. If I give it three weeks inside it grows wonderfully. So I just got into the habit. I had too many insects that liked them at my last house, but they don't bother them when they get bigger.

    Megan, thanks

    Robin, it was a beautiful day on Friday except for the wind.

    Sinfonian, I don't think I could do homemade ones. They would take so long to make individually.

    meemsnyc, thanks

    Mr. H, I planted them January 21st.

    EG, I love seeing them too.

    marcia, There are starting to more and more MA gardeners. Its nice to see them all.

    kitsapFG, well right now it is the sowing room. Though we call it the nursery because of all the plants.

    Esther, I put tape on the sides of the flats. That way when I move the blocks I can move the tape too. If I have part of the row done in one thing and part in another I put tape on both sides that says 2/6 or 4/6. I tried once to use piece of paper and do a map, but I move them around too much and get confused over what is where.

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  13. Daphne,

    Your onions look great. This year I am trying leeks for the first time in 2" soil blocks but every time it grows a new leaf the oldest one withers and dies from the top down, they are perpetually stuck at 2 leaves. Well everytime means that they are all growing their forth leaf now and the 1st is long gone and the 2nd is turning brown at the tip and wilting down. Is this normal for leeks? Can trimming the tops prevent this? (they are close to the light, but not touching)

    Thanks,

    Brian

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  14. I find that the older leaves die too. I think my onions have about three leaves on them. The rest are gone. I don't know if trimming would help. I trim when they get floppy. Right now they aren't so I haven't been trimming them. I've just been raising the lights.

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  15. Those look great, thanks for sharing.

    Cumin! I hadn't thought about growing it before. I'll have to try that.

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  16. This will be my second try at cumin. Last year I tried but the plants all died when they got planted. I wasn't actually living at this house yet and it was really hot and dry. I didn't water them enough. I only came over about every three days to water and they hadn't gotten a good enough root system yet.

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