What’s been happening – Week ending 13-10-2013

This week I started to see the miniatures in the pot make an appearance out of the soil, I’m not really sure how many I planted to begin with so not one hundred percent sure what else will pop up.

Miniature in pot growing

Giant pumpkin seeds were soaked

I got a new container just for soaking the seeds this year, the Sistema beetroot container does the trick, it is one litre in size which makes working out percentages of additives nice and easy, it also has the inside basket making removal of the seeds quite handy especially when working with very smelly fish/seaweed.

The seeds were soaked in seaweed and fish fertiliser with some humic acid at a 1:200 ratio.  They were soaked a bit longer then they were supposed to have been, so hopefully they are all OK.  Only time will tell.  The idea of soaking is to give them a big boost in growth to get them putting down good strong roots nice and fast.

One litre container with solution in it.
One litre container with solution in it.
A shot showing the handle of the internal container.
A shot showing the handle of the internal container.

 

Seeds having a soak
Seeds having a soak

 

The seeds after being pulled out of the container.
The seeds after being pulled out of the container.

After the soak they got put into their respective pots, the little tiny seed in the photo is the Mitre 10 Mega kids seed.  I also managed to find some more seeds to get started as backups if required.

I used 2 litre pots this year, they are quite large compared to what I have used in the past, my way of thinking is the more room a seed has the more roots it can put out without fear of getting root bound, it does take a bit more soil to fill them up but that is something I am happy with.

I did notice a noticeable difference between the two bags of seed raising mix I was using, both the same brand.  First lot seemed to have a lot of sticks in it but was moist, and the second bag was way cleaner but seemed to be very dry, not consistent at all.

Seeds all potted, waiting for them to appear.
Seeds all potted, waiting for them to appear.
Mitre 10 seed all ready in it's pot.
Mitre 10 seed all ready in it’s pot.

Grow light?

In a perfect world having a grow light would be beneficial to have above the pots to provide “daylight” and to help keep the seedlings nice and stocky instead of long.  I was talking to Tim about this and a cheaper alternative then getting a hydroponic light appears to be getting an aquarium light.

I’m not sure the budget will stretch to a light this year but I was thinking about something else to trial, which I will let you know about later on if it works.

Jiffy peat pellet update

I talked about using the peet pellet a while ago and I used it to start off a giant pumpkin seed which appears to be growing well.  I transferred it to a larger pot and when doing this I ripped the bottom of the peat pellet as I could see the roots their but not breaking through on their own.

Also instead of the seed casing coming up with one of the leaves and falling off, it appears to be stuck down the bottom almost being held in place with the seedling growing right through it, I will need to remove this real soon as it will cause problems of the seedling.

Seedling growing out of the peat pellet.
Seedling growing out of the peat pellet.

Miniatures and sunflowers all planted now

I’ve put down all the various miniatures I will be growing as well as a row of sunflowers at the back of them.  No real method to it, just put them in the ground all with their marker pegs so I can work out what everything is.

The area for miniatures this year.
The area for miniatures this year.

I will update through the season with how they are getting along.

So an exciting week when you can get seeds into pots and into the ground, now the worrying and more hard work continues.  I know I have said it before, but this week I might actually manage to sort out my water supply problem and get it all hooked up, wish me luck on that.

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