Temperatures here on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast continue to vacillate between spring and winter. Indoors,
though, I am enjoying cut flowers, blooms growing, and seeds sprouting.
An amaryllis bulb, one
of two our Georgia tribe gave me for Christmas has bloomed—two blooms on
Monday, a third on Wednesday and a fourth on the same stalk Saturday. It is my first pure white, a happy addition to the solid reds, reds
with white streaks and white with red streaks that my late mother and aunt passed along to me through the years.
We also have seeds
sprouting inside, thanks to Husband Walter. He rigged up a couple shop lights
and an easy way to raise them higher as seedlings grow. He also planted some of
the seeds that I had ordered earlier online.
My part was labeling little paper cups so we could identify the different veggie plants at
transplanting time. I already had the cups. A relative has had success with
them; plus they were less expensive than peat pots.
Future okra plants
We are still learning. And one thing I have
learned is that seedlings are like pets. You can’t just up and leave home without
making provisions for them. Ours were sprouting and unfurling those first
little leaves.
The baby plants were bright green, sturdy and straight. That was
the night before we took off on a jaunt to visit our Georgia grands and their
parents.
We left them on our
porch where they would be protected and receive at least some sunlight. When we
returned five days later, they were a bit leggy and not as happy looking. If we
choose to start our own seeds in the future, we will need to fine tune the scheduling of our travels.
i used to watch daddy's seedlings. he made a box in the back yard about 12 inches high and the size of two french doors, he put the french doors on it and that was his seed bed...he grew our whole garden from the seeds he planted in that box...yum on the okra... but i want someone else to cut if for me...
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful sight of an almost Spring.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting the fever also.
When you do this again, set up a timer on your grow lite. Also you can automate the watering. gardener's Supply online has some interesting items, as does Seeds of Change. Plus your MS state AG folks will have ideas. I used to raise plants from seed, but have run out of room on my tiny lot?
ReplyDeleteDianne, thanks for tips, especially about automatic watering and online garden supply.
ReplyDeleteI do love amaryllis and I propagated enough to sell them on Craigs List...
ReplyDeleteI'm always happy to hear gardening adventures! I love using cups for seedlings, too. Can't.Wait.For.Spring!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great use of those paper cups! I wish you all the best with your garden this year. :)
ReplyDelete