2017 Gardening and Home

[Salsacharley]

Thanks for bringing up lavender here! I bought a pack of Ferry Morse lavender seeds back in December and I stuck 3 of the tiny seeds in a pot and one came up. Here is what it looks like but it ain't lavender. Any ideas what it might be? Thanks.

[MissMoustache]

Definitely a member of the brassicas. Mustard?

[Salsacharley]

Thanks for the ID. I'm sure you are right after looking up brassica. I wonder if it is just a weed. It sure grows like one. It is a bummer not to have lavender after I watched it sprout and grow.

Originally Posted by MissMoustache

Definitely a member of the brassicas. Mustard?

[MissMoustache]

I meant to do these a week ago but I was down with the flu.

The super hots are for selling as plants to some local people who have asked. I'm not brave enough (not would my acid reflux stand it) to try them.

I've got: Red Scotch Bonnet, Carolina Reaper, Smooth Ghost, Blut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpian for super hots. I sowed 6-9 seeds of each hoping for 2-3 plants of each to sell.

Thai hot, Chocolate Habanero (have to plant some regular too yet), Cayenne, Ancho/Poblano, Joe E. Parker, Purple Jalapeño, Jalafuego Jalapeño, Serrano, NuMex Big Jim, Padron, Fish, and Early Jalapeño. I sowed 12-15 of each seed hoping for at least 6-8 plants of each.

Its currently 72-74F in my grow set up. I watered them with warm water to start, since this potting soil seems to have dampening off issues I'll be sprinkling cinnamon when I get home from work (need to purchase more). I meant to buy a heat mat but we had car troubles and there went any extra money. I do have Christmas lights I'm going to try to rig up something with my baker's cooling racks and the lights underneath them to generate heat to make them happy.
I have to go get another tray for my eggplants and the rest of the peppers! My setup is almost full already (I'll be adding some lights and shelves in February)

[MissMoustache]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

Thanks for the ID. I'm sure you are right after looking up brassica. I wonder if it is just a weed. It sure grows like one. It is a bummer not to have lavender after I watched it sprout and grow.

It probably is a weed. Do you have more seeds to start? I over seeded mine in a six cell pack.

The germination is great in one cell and spotty in the rest (sorry for the crappy photo the lights are off I need to mess with the timer settings again so it's on during the DAY like it should be.).

The three times I've grown it from seed I've always had an issue with spotty germination so I use lots of seeds. Can you resow?

[Salsacharley]

If you are in zone 4-5 it seems a bit early to be sowing pepper seeds, unless you have some protected place to keep them until the last frost date.

I do have plenty more lavender to sow. I was just messing around when I sowed the ones I did. I'm not going to sow my pepper seeds (or tomato) until mid-late February because I always end up keeping them in 4" pots too long before transplanting outside.

Originally Posted by MissMoustache

I meant to do these a week ago but I was down with the flu.

The super hots are for selling as plants to some local people who have asked. I'm not brave enough (not would my acid reflux stand it) to try them.

I've got: Red Scotch Bonnet, Carolina Reaper, Smooth Ghost, Blut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpian for super hots. I sowed 6-9 seeds of each hoping for 2-3 plants of each to sell.

Thai hot, Chocolate Habanero (have to plant some regular too yet), Cayenne, Ancho/Poblano, Joe E. Parker, Purple Jalapeño, Jalafuego Jalapeño, Serrano, NuMex Big Jim, Padron, Fish, and Early Jalapeño. I sowed 12-15 of each seed hoping for at least 6-8 plants of each.

Its currently 72-74F in my grow set up. I watered them with warm water to start, since this potting soil seems to have dampening off issues I'll be sprinkling cinnamon when I get home from work (need to purchase more). I meant to buy a heat mat but we had car troubles and there went any extra money. I do have Christmas lights I'm going to try to rig up something with my baker's cooling racks and the lights underneath them to generate heat to make them happy.
I have to go get another tray for my eggplants and the rest of the peppers! My setup is almost full already (I'll be adding some lights and shelves in February)

[Worth1]

I'm looking.

Worth

[MissMoustache]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

If you are in zone 4-5 it seems a bit early to be sowing pepper seeds, unless you have some protected place to keep them until the last frost date.

I do have plenty more lavender to sow. I was just messing around when I sowed the ones I did. I'm not going to sow my pepper seeds (or tomato) until mid-late February because I always end up keeping them in 4" pots too long before transplanting outside.

Yep. It's pretty early (15 weeks to last frost on May 16) but this is me trying to get more mature plants for a good harvest. Someone else mentioned they do this with their hots and super hots and it gets a few extra weeks harvest. I'm going to pinch out the tops after 4-5 sets of leaves and pot up a couple times. Their final place will be buckets (not sure what size yet) or recycled nursery pots and I'll be able to carry them back inside to a spare bedroom if the temps really dip after May 15th. I also bought row covers, bubblewrap, and Wall O Waters to use this year. And I have one of those little four shelf greenhouses against a south facing cement wall. It's not huge but with filled water bottles in the bottom it does the trick to keep plants from freezing. I may buy a second one if these peppers and my flowers do well.

[MissMoustache]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I'm looking.

Worth

Do I have the essential components for good hot sauce Worth?

[Worth1]

You should have.

Worth

[MissMoustache]

I know politics are not allowed here. I'm just talking about my mental health.

The last few days have been hard. I am reading the news and trying to stay informed with facts. And it's taking a toll on my mental health. I was reading about some stuff this morning and I'm having panic attacks thinking about my future.

I'm so glad I can hangout here and kinda put the world aside for a little bit and just talk gardening. I'm supposed to have today off and I was looking forward to catching up on my to-do list, get some envelopes out, plant my eggplants and the rest of my onion seeds, but all I can do is cry and struggle to not scream. I'm taking a social media and news break, snuggling up with my husband and cats, and opening up a good book or putting on a comedy. To he!! with my to-do list...I need a chill out day.

I hope if anyone else out there is struggling that you make time for self care.

Maybe I'll take a nap too.

[Worth1]

I haven't had the TV on in weeks nothing but negative news and nothing we can do about it.
Worth

[MissMoustache]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I haven't had the TV on in weeks nothing but negative news and nothing we can do about it.
Worth

Without talking about politics there isn't much I can specifically say but I definitely believe in being informed and also that people should be contacting their various government officials on a regular basis. It's part of their job to listen to and represent us. The customer is always right, right?

I'm just trying not to have a defeatist attitude and not go well, I'm moving to another country, but it's hard when family members are being directly affected by certain people in power. I kinda wanna just to run away.

In lighter news, I'm watching Bob's Burgers. It's hilarious and fun if you like cartoons like the Simpson's.

[MissMoustache]

I went ahead and started planting some eggplant seeds. The smell of dirt makes me feel calm.

Does anyone else celebrate Candlemas/Imbolc? February 2 for me always means spring is on the way! I'm most excited by the fact that yesterday the sun was still out at five pm.

I'm not excited for the fact it's also rising earlier and the cats now think that breakfast should be served at six am when I've just fallen asleep at 1 am after a long work week.

[Jimbotomateo]

Originally Posted by MissMoustache

I went ahead and started planting some eggplant seeds. The smell of dirt makes me feel calm.

Does anyone else celebrate Candlemas/Imbolc? February 2 for me always means spring is on the way! I'm most excited by the fact that yesterday the sun was still out at five pm.

I'm not excited for the fact it's also rising earlier and the cats now think that breakfast should be served at six am when I've just fallen asleep at 1 am after a long work week.

I think gardening is good for the soul. . Always gives me a sense of peace. Hope everything works out alright for you and your family.. Jimbo