The Pepper Revolt of 2016

The seedlings have been growing up nicely--except for peppers.  This season is an epic fail straight across the board in germinating and growing peppers.  I have restarted the seeds twice and nothing!  Logic tells me that 8 different varieties bought from at least 5 different sources during 4 different years don't just all get together in my seed box over Christmas and decide to go on strike for the 2016 growing season.

Alas, that is exactly what has happened.  So, now that I have laid awake nights beating myself up and going over what I could have possibly done I have gone philosophical and decided to buy the basic peppers I need to survive the year and order all new seeds for next season. 

Not to be a quitter, next year, I'm throwing every last seed that failed me this year into the ground and saying, "There, prove me a liar!"

Starting from Seed--Waiting for Spring

February 6, 2016

Waiting to start seedlings is hard!  Experience tells me that if I start now, I will be scrambling to find space for all the gangly plant teenagers that just can't leave home to make it outside in the early Wisconsin spring.

I am an over-protective Plant Mother.  Seed starting for me is one part mother nurturing, one part science geek and a big part wanting to know where my food comes from.  Okay, seed starting may have a little control freak thrown in for good measure.

As mentioned, I'm not good at waiting so I pre-sprout all of my seed for early transplanting.  I started doing this because I had some older seeds and didn't want to be surprised when nothing came up.  Pre-sprouting was also a little like a science experiment which relieved the boredom of winter.  Much to my surprise, almost everything I planted sprouted and earlier the packets suggested. 

Over the past five years,  I have tuned up this part of seed starting to make it easier to keep track of what I'm planting but still get that head start you need in the shorter Wisconsin growing season.

This year, I'm sprouting my seeds in a notebook!

I took small squares of paper towels, sprayed them with water, added seeds then tucked them into plastic card sleeves.  Each sleeve had a number and that number went on a list of the seeds I planted.  I set the notebook on the counter in my bathroom and waited.  It was easy to flip through the seeds and check for roots.

Once roots started showing, the seeds went into pots with the same ID number on the side.  That number is going to be the plant's football jersey for the season.  Wherever it goes the number is going to follow and I won't have writer's cramp.

Little Sprouts, Little Pots

Well, the notebook seed nursery worked.  I just stashed it on the counter in the warm bathroom.  Hey, it's warm, near water and the spot gets visited regularly.  It reminded me of the garden experiment my elementary school teacher had us do with lima beans pressed up against the glass in a jar with construction paper.  With a little water in the bottom, the paper wicked up just enough moisture to keep the seed watered and pretty soon, a little root started followed by the first green leaves.  Multiply that by well over a hundred seeds and you have the beginnings of my garden in a notebook.

The carrying the numbers from seed to pot to planting is probably the best garden hack I have come up with.  It's so stupid simple I walked right by it for years.  I'm still just at the seed to pot stage right now so we'll see how it translates to the plants' final destination.

So now comes the tedious part, transferring the sprouted seed to a pot with starting mix to keep the growing going.  My UK friends call this pricking.  A pretty good term for using a teeny instrument to move a seed to a pot.

A little side note here...

I was pretty relieved to find out that a huge number of UK gardeners start almost everything from seed.  I do it because it's cold and boring during the Winter and I love fussing with the plants.

Back to the potting...

Over the years, I have tried to apply my favorite motto, "Work smarter, not harder." to my gardening.  That means I have come up with some streamlined  ideas when it comes to potting a large number of plants.  I have already talked about the numbering system to ID the plants.  I have also changed a few things about how I transfer the seedlings. 

First, I quit using the thin little planter packs that you buy in the garden store.  They are usually organized in 4 packs or 6 packs or worse all one unit of 50 - 72 spaces.  That idea did not mesh with my ID number following a plant from seed to soil.  Small bathroom drink cups fit the bill.  They are just the right size and fit nicely in plastic food trays with a smaller footprint.  That means you can tuck them in wherever there is space, warmth and light.

Simple-you put some mix in the container, number it, poke a sprout in and set it in the tray.  So, I was about halfway through this process when a new garden friend, Craig LeHoullier AKA NCTomatoMan, shared his trick of starting all of a seed variety in the same starter pot and separating them at the next transplant.  Fewer pots, less of the special seedling mix and less real estate. 

A note about seed starting mix vs. potting soil.  It really does make a difference.  Give the plants a fighting chance by starting with the right mix.  I personally try to stay away from the peat based mixes and the little "peat nuggets".  Consistent moisture is a big deal with seed starting and peat makes that a challenge.  I use a Coir fiber (coconut husks) and peat mixture.  It has always worked well for me.  Although I knew to water the seedlings from the bottom only, a new tip I had shared from several sources was to put a thin layer of fine vermiculite on top of the seedling mix in each pot.  It blocks the fungus gnats from getting into the soil and infecting the seedlings.  (look up Damping Off)

That made the job a lot easier.  Now we wait.