Everybody in this shot started more or less at the same time. The big guy in the middle took a strange detour. After not making the cut during potting up, I set him out in the real ground under a milk jug for about a week. When I needed to turn that bed over for the upcoming sweet potato experiment, I took pity on him and gave him a pot and brought him back in under the lights.
Meanwhile, the others went from initial sprouting in store-bought seed-starting mix to 2-inch cells filled with a combo of that mix and some sandy garden soil I bought cheap from some guy a couple of months ago. They were under lights 24/7 except for a few 70-degree overcast afternoons that just seemed perfect for seedlings. Puny and yellow.
So what up with that?
I feel like there are too many variables in play to say for sure. The thriver has done great since I brought it indoors, so I think my lights are fine. The suspect soil mix doesn't seem too terrible to me -- pretty light and the plants have grown decent roots in it. The only other possibility is a feeding I gave them with a weak solution from a sample bottle of LadyBug liquid fertilizer.
Anyhoo, here's my plan for next year.
1. Wait to pot them up until the second leaves are good and sprouted. I yanked these as soon as they put out little nubs and I suspect they weren't quite ready for the move.
2. Go straight from there to 4-inch pots. I like the 2-inch cell tray because it's easier to handle, but I don't think it really helps the plants.
3. Stick with fresh starter mix the whole way through. I always get too smart for my own good and think a little garden bacteria will keep them healthy, despite the fact that every guide and expert says otherwise.
4. Play it safe with the feeding. Hold off until maybe the second watering after potting up and then keep it weak.
So maybe better luck next year. It's cool though. I've got at least one viable plant (a mystery variety that has done great every time I've grown it). And reinforcements are on the way this weekend.
4 comments:
Heyyy, sweet potatoes. All right! Very curious to see how that turns out.
On the tomatoes, it does sound a little hard to tell what happened, though I have to say that from looking at your picture, they don't seem bad enough to catch up once it's consistently sunny and warm. I've never experienced decent growth inside trying to mimic nature with my warming mats and grow lights. My only suggestion might be to not feed them at all until transplanting in the ground. Your starter mix really should have all the nutrients they need until then.
Well, something went right because the seedling you gave me is doing awesome in my garden. Thank you!
K and LJ, I ended up with about 8 good ones -- they turned around after I moved them to 4 inch-pots with pure starter mix. And yes, it seems like getting them into real ground with good weather will fix just about anything.
I do notice that they seem to be very late to put on blossoms compared to the other varieties. I wonder if it's a genetic trait.
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