Time flies so fast - and I do a terrible job in documenting of this...
1. Chard
Late in December I put together the shelves I use as the planting platform and moved Pooka's Swiss Chard in. It had been rescued from the garden shortly after the first frosts, but placed in the living room where there wasn't enough light. New leaves emerged, but stayed very pale. With 500 watts of fluorescent lights on the bottom level (16 sq ft) there is enough light to get the chard leaves back to their normal mix of deep green and red. Plants are mature, about 6 total.
2. Snow Peas
Not all of the chard survived the transplant, so in the empty space in those pots I planted some old snowpea seeds. With a couple other pots I'm up to 17 plants - but I had to replant to get that many. I'm not sure if the planting depth (package said 1.5"), the age of the seed, or the planting conditions were the dominant contributor to the low germination rate. Current sizes range from 2 to 8"
3. Stevia-potted
It is a weak perennial, but I had a strong second year out of the potted plant a friend gave us 2 seasons ago. Last winter when I brought it in all the foliage died but I kept the roots going... they never really succeeded in sprouting. Last spring I transplanted the roots out to the garden - where it did well in full sun. In the process I found I had three distinct plants. Only two survived, but they had turned into seven by the end of the season when I brought them back inside after the frost.
Of the seven only three still show signs of life, but they seem to perform poorly - growing a bit and then losing all leaves. I may have the light too high? (2400 lumens/ sq ft) Or the wrong kind of light? (Standard fluorescent rather than grow lights.)
Yesterday I placed a screen around each growing area to reduce light to see if it helped.
3a. Stevia starts
I harvested the seed and sprinkled it (not separating seed from chaff) over the top of several trays and pots. Germination has occurred, but I couldn't say the rate is tremendous. Maybe 10-15 starts in 2 trays total? Stevia starts very slowly. Screens were placed over the top of the trays yesterday as well.
4. Basil and flowers round 1
DW planted basil in 1/4 of her 2 half trays of flowers. Most of her flowers didn't germinate, but the basil did. She repotted it all to 1 per plug, so we have almost 60 basil plants 1.5-3" high in February...
Portulaca emerged 100%. (Of course - its nearly a weed!!)
Planted early January (3-10th?)
Basil was the one which displayed earliest the effect of different lighting...
Using 6 3000 lumen 40watt cool white bulbs on one side of the shelf and 8 2200 lumen full spectrum (GE Sunstick 5000K) 40watt bulbs on the other side. DW saw Basil on the cool white side was taller (spindly?) and on the sunstick side had larger leaves and decided she should switch them about 10 days ago. The cool white side is noticeably larger now - but I can't determine if that was due to a btter start or a better current condition.
5. Onions - from seed
Red Globe. Looking for 2 months of development prior to setting bulbs out in another month. Planted early January (1st - 13th?) some before and some after the basil and flowers. 3 per small pot (square biodegradable), some pots germinated well, some didn't.
6. A few Dill plants were put in at the same time. I thinned them a bit and found it very pleasant - like parsley. I will plant more for the summer. Chives planted alongside the last batch of onions did not germinate.
7. Spinach and Lettuce.
Lettuce seeds (red sail) germinated poorly. Need to plant extra next time.
8. Beets, Radish, and Turnips were planted in a pair of long planters - one on each side of hte top shelf where the light experiment is taking place. Hard to say which light color is doing better at this point. Beets are slow starters and probably don't compete well for light. (They may be doing slightly better in the cool white lighting, but I suspect shading effects.)
The radishes are noticeably swelling - they should be ready in about 1 week. (Planted early January.) Turnips - well we'll see if they really produce in another 5-6 weeks. Beets may be on the same timeframe.
9. Narcissus
Grandma gave bulbs for Christmas. Starting them in a jar of water makes a fun experiment - but it takes up pot space in the end. And after the flowers are gone?? How do I get them to go dormant again so I can use them outside in the spring? (They are not hardy this far north.)
10. That vine doesn't count. Though it does appear that submersion for a week or more will kill it - mostly. And a couple of the sections have started to root and grow.
