I got up early this morning and there was still a lot of fog. When I was walking back with the dogs to the covered bridge, it was pretty much gone, but the sky looked as though a storm was on its way. So far, the forecast calls for sunny skies, but I'm not seeing them!!
These are the tomato seeds I planted in the peat pots on April 23rd. Nothing yet.
I planted these tomato seeds the same day but in a plastic pot. These are growing. I'm still going to wait and see if my homemade greenhouse works for the peat pot seedlings, but I'm starting to think the seeds hate those pots!!! Has anyone ever used them? I got them last year at a garage sale. The lady was selling dozens of them in their original packaging for $1 so I bought them. Now I'm thinking, maybe there was a reason why she didn't want them! Anyway, we'll be driving our neighbour to the vet today so I might stop by the garden center for some more of these little plastic pots and do some more experiments. I can't plant outside for another three weeks or so because of frost potential so I have time to try some things out!
For dinner we had the leftovers from Pizza-Ghetti night. We shared some pasta and the last slice of pizza. We are on a pizza kick lately, I think we're having it for dinner tonight again! We'll have to have a big green salad for lunch to make up for it! :)
Hi Rain!
ReplyDeleteI cannot say that I have ever used peat pots...when I was seeding I would keep my toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls and use those to plant my seeds in. Then I would just plant the whole thing in the garden. The cardboard breaks down and adds a bit of compost-y type stuff back to the earth. I wonder if this is a normal thing with peat pots? Very interesting why the pot has started to sprout and the peat ones not.
That pasta looks delicious!! Last night we had pasta too! Today is leftovers for lunch and I think tonight I am going to make a thai peanut soup. Its a quick easy soup for a simple supper. Once again I have a ton of stuff to do this weekend so tonight is a not a night to spend in the kitchen....
We are supposed to get to 15 by Sunday. I can't speak I am so excited! :) The simple things! :) Its sunny today but its the wind - it has a bite to it.
Have a splendid evening,
Dianna
You might wrap the pots in foil or plastic to keep the moisture in. The dirt varies at work and some of it is very hard to keep damp while other gets too wet and the plants rot. A lot of time even plastic pots allow the water to run between the pot and dirt and out the drain holes.
ReplyDeleteThe worst dirt I have seen is in some hydrangeas that we have now, it smells like they mixed poultry waste in with the dirt as a cheap fertilizer, it has the same smell as a dead mouse since there is pieces of dead chickens rotting in poultry waste that comes from industrial chicken farms. Very nasty.
I hate peat pots. Not only do they not hold all the water they soak up, you are supposed to be able to plant the whole thing in the garden. As the season progresses they are supposed to break down and add tilthe to the soil. Not gonna happen in Canada...well maybe on the West coast. Not worth the time or trouble. I use small bathroom solo cups then as the plants get bigger, I use those plastic red beer cups. Been using the same ones for ten or more years. They are recyclable at least here in Manitoba they are. We have same crappy weather the rest of Canada has. Wish the snow would stop and it would get warmer. We are only 7 today and tomorrow will be 11. Happy gardening. BTY I hate digging roots out also.
ReplyDeleteI have never used peat pots ... but I am assuming ubare right that the lady who sold them had a reason for it. Good thing u still have lots of time to start over :)
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, it seems so many of us are having trouble with seed starting this year. Sure wish I knew why that is. My seedlings I lost to damping off were in plastic pots. Now I've replanted in peat pots and so far, things seem to be going better. But I do not plant the whole peat pot in the ground when I transplant as they never seem to decompose as they're supposed to. My peat potted seeds are in a 2" deep tray which I can put water in for the pots to soak up. But I realize you can't do that in your little window sill greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of things for you to consider when watching for the seedlings to appear. Tomatoes can take 7 to 21 days to appear. (Quite a spread, isn't it?) Also, if you believe in "moon planting" the same variety of a seed (tomato, for instance) could take a longer or a shorter time to emerge depending on the phase of the moon on which it was planted. For instance, plants that bear fruit above ground are supposed to be planted during only certain phases of the moon and plants that bear underground (root crops) are supposed to be planted during another phase of the moon. Some people think this is hogwash, but others do all their planting that way. Just something to think about. :o)
Hi Dianna :))
ReplyDeleteOooh 15 degrees! You can't not be happy about that. Yesterday the sun finally came out and it went up to 19 here and I was out on the porch in my shorts, it was really nice for a change!
The peat pots are a huge disappointment for me, but I got some other pots yesterday and I'll be re-seeding today. I feel like I wasted all those seeds, but you know, this is a big experiment for me, I have to figure out what works!
The thai peanut soup sounds really good!
Hi Gill :)) Yuck, that does sound nasty. I was using a seedling/potting soil mix, and it worked really well for the other pots, just not the peats. I'm going to check when the sun comes up to see if anything has happened since I covered them with plastic, but I think I'll be re-planting.
ReplyDeleteHi Jean :)) I actually read that you shouldn't put the peat pots into the ground for that same reason, they don't always break down depending on the climate, also they don't give the roots enough soil to root properly, but that's with cheaper ones. The peat pots made of coconut husks break down quicker and are good for the soil. I have no clue what I have since the labels were taken off...all I know is this is NOT working!! Hope your weather warms up, we got lucky and missed the end of April snow storms this year!
ReplyDeleteHi Nik :)) I know...I still have about 3 weeks before the frost won't (shouldn't) be an issue anymore. I may just do a bunch of planting and put a table by the window and hope the cats don't get at it. But this weekend I might start my carrots, beets and radishes outside anyway in pots. They are more cool-weather hardy so I think they'll be okay. If there are frosty nights, I can take the containers in, I just want to start something! :) I hope I don't regret it! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Mama Pea :))
ReplyDeleteYou're right, I have been reading about lots of folks having seedling issues! Hmmm...I'm glad the peat pots work for you, I guess it is a water issue after all. I even watered them 4 times yesterday and they were still dry like the desert every time I went back. It's kind of a pain to take them all down one by one to the sink...I want this to be just a little easier lol! :)
I DO like the idea of moon gardening actually. I was reading about the cycles. I learned a lot of that from the Farmer's Almanac website. The root crops are during a waning to new moon phase and the above-ground crops are from the new moon to the full moon. So according to the Almanac, if I plant my tomato seeds now, they should fare better. I actually planned on all of that, but I got so carried away with the garden that I forgot about the moon cycles! :)
I used the peat pots, and you have to keep them wet, but will mold. So once they were up, I re-potted to larger pots and they are doing well so far.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristina, most of mine didn't even come up yet, even the ones I planted at the beginning of April so I'm going right to the larger pots I think.
ReplyDeleteJust thought I'd share my experience when I used the peat pots made with (organic, supposedly!) coconut husks a few years ago. I transplanted the seedlings into the garden in the coconut husk peat pots and soon noticed the plants were not growing right. Dug them up to find the peat pots literally untouched so peeled them off the plants and replanted. Threw the coconut husk peat pots into the compost bin. Spread the worked up compost on the garden a couple of years later and tilled it in. Last year I was STILL finding chunks of those coconut husk peat pots in my soil! They will NOT decompose in the least bit!! They are horrible things. Or at least that's been my experience. :o(
ReplyDeleteHi Mama Pea, I'm very surprised to hear that because even at the garden center yesterday, the sales person was going on and on about the coconut husks breaking down and decomposing etc...(I'm guessing trying to make a sale)...I'm off peat though, well, unless it's in my Scotch!
ReplyDelete;)