Surprises - the good kind

I like surprises - the good kind that is. Surprise lillys, that I thought I had killed, are sprouting. A friend gave me these last year. I brought them home, planted, watered, the leaves turned brown and withered away. No flowers. Nothing. Until now...very nice surprise!

And, while I've made every effort to successfully grow peppers from seed this year, I'm still a bit surprised that so many of them are doing so well. Having tried a few times before, and in earnest last year, I've learned this is not as simple as poking some seeds into dirt, watering and walking away. They need attention - DAILY! They need the right potting mix, and light - they need warmth - they need water, but not too much. And good air flow, a spritz of tonic to ward off damping off, and a watchful eye for mold and other issues. Lots to remember - but worth it.

I seem to have 3 groups - A) very vigorous and thriving; B) growing but just not as fast or big as group A; C) Hanging in there - growing very slowly, maybe having a leaf drop or curl. So while I'm having far better success than in the past, there's still a few weaklings in the bunch. No biggee - I'm just thrilled to have some super-babies that should make fabulous transplants come May! I'd say for month-old seedlings they look pretty darned good, wouldn't you?

From seeds and cuttings

The peppers are growing so well! Only 3 weeks ago I started the seed for several types of peppers (all sweet but one) and many of them are getting nice big leaves already. And about that same time I took cuttings from my wax begonia and a couple of curly ivy that I have. Both have rooted and are doing well - so well in fact that one of the little begonia starts has even bloomed! I'll try to get them out of the perlite and into some potting mix tomorrow and hopefully they will really take off then. Unfortunately, I somehow killed one pot of the ivy plants I took cuttings from...so the new ones will really just replace the pot I ruined. Oh well, maybe next year I can get some extras going.

Pepper seeds are in the dirt

Finally – Pepper seed planting time! I have been looking forward to this day since New Year’s, planning it for the last month, and preparing for it all week.

I tried homemade newspaper pots last year, but wasn't too thrilled with them. So this year I found some vintage cups to plant in – mostly old wax coated paper cups, with holes punched in the bottom and sides for drainage and air flow. I filled them with pre-dampened Miracle-Gro potting soil, then placed them in water-tight flats. I plan to water by pouring into the flats, so it soaks up into the cups from the bottom. Until the seeds germinate I've got them covered in plastic wrap. Then as they germinate I'll move the cups to other flats with overhead lighting.

For markers I cut off several of the plastic blades from a broken vinyl mini-blind and trimmed them into 3-5 inch lengths with a pointed end to slide into the potting mix. I marked the variety and date planted on them with a black felt tip pen.

To prepare the pepper seeds, I made up some of Jerry Baker’s seed starting tonic (weak tea, Epsom salts and baby shampoo). I used little plastic bottles from baby fruit juices that my daughter saved for me – cleaned thoroughly, poured in a couple tablespoons of the tonic, added the seeds and marked the bottle with a sticky note to identify the variety. These soaked overnight outdoors since the temps were between 35-50, but could be put in fridge for up to 24 hours.

To give the pepper seeds the warmth needed to germinate, I put one flat on an old waterbed heating pad that has a thermostat controller. The other flat sits one shelf above a food dehydrator I put on the bottom shelf to provide some heat. All of this is located on a free-standing wooden shelving unit I bought for $5 at a yard sale last summer. I placed it in front of a west-facing window, and placed heavy-duty foil on the shelves to help reflect light - all in preparation for when the new seedlings will need lots of light. I will also attach fluorescent under-cabinet style lights to the bottom-sides of the wooden shelves with chains so they can be lowered/raised to the correct distance from the baby plants. I have a timer, so I'll use that too for turning on and off the lights instead of relying on my memory!

While the blustery winds blew and drizzling rain spat, I stayed dry, warm and ever-so happy, planting and dreaming of sunny garden days ahead. :)