Birdseye Chilli in detail

So for a few weeks now I have been muttering and complaining about the bad progress of my Birdseye Chillis and the other day I managed to knock one of the leaves off using the mighty power of a drop of condensation from the lid of the heated propagator.

So this morning after being woken an hour early due to day break (but not sunlight) streaming in through the window I decided to take some detailed photographs of these seedlings and see if any of you lovely people may have some advice as to why they are doing so badly..?

So, here you are:

This is the Birdseye seedling which lost a leaf to condensation drippage; you can see the leaf under it to the right. The surviving leaves are all a bit crinkly and feel dry to the touch; not soft as leaves should be but stiff...

The other Birdseye seedling is in an even worse state with curled up leaves which are turning brown in the middle.

Another shot of the first Birdseye though this makes it look healthy! It isn't.....

Both Birdseye seedlings in this picture; each is only about 2-3" tall (contrast with the Crossley Specials which are all about to about 8-10" and have lots of leaves)

This is the second Birdseye and you can clearly see the brown on the leaves, with the completely shriveled leaf dangling down in front.

I have put this one in just because it is arty farty and I lied the picture.

One final picture of the more unhappy of the two Birdseye seedlings.

I really would like some advice/suggestions about this so please don't be shy.

By way of contrast these are the Ghost Chillis which are thriving, in the propagator box sat right next to the Birdseyes which leads me to believe it is not a problem with the amount of light they are receiving or the temperature at which they are being kept.

Finally, and slightly off topic, while taking these pictures I spotted the following little fella poking his way out through the compost:

This is the first pepper seedling to appear. Not bad only a few days after they were planted :) here's to the other three showing very soon too.

Thanks for reading and please do send me any advice.

Globe Artichoke in detail, plus a full progress report

Life is, currently, getting in the way of me blogging as regularly as I want to.

Thankfully plants don't really need to be photographed every day to grow, nor do they need that much time out of your day (particularly when you're only growing the small amount which I am now.

I had a concept for this blog post; the Globe Artichoke plant is putting on a show at the moment with its large leaves opening and closing depending on the time of day. Unfortunately I have not been able to really capture the variety of leaf positions that I have been observing so you'll just have to take my word for it, and enjoy the two pictures that did come out of the fifteen or so I took.

 This is taken at night and you can see that the leaves are closed up...

... and this was taken the next morning and you can see that the plant is opened up and presenting more surface area to the light.

You managed to avoid an update with purely photographs of the Globe Artichoke but you are not going to avoid the rest of the pictures I have taken just now with some excellent progress for you. So here goes:

First of all this is a Bromeliad; a new flower we just bought from Tesco. It is tropical (so may not do that well up near Mankychester like I am) and you have to water it through the flower, and never directly onto the soil. I just love the bright colour and the contrast with the lovely rich green leaves. This will be a favourite I think.

The other recent purchase isn't quite as exciting but is tastier; this is a shop bought Parsley plant sat on the kitchen windowsill. I need to report this very soon I think.

Moving on to seedlings that are old friends by now, this is the Moneymaker Tomato which has been knocked onto the floor twice so far; as you can see it is very much alive and very much thriving.

The other Moneymaker Tomato is bigger and better established as it hasn't been on the floor at all.

I haven't taken pictures of the blank compost which is both my Gardeners Delight Tomato attempts; for some reason neither seed has germinated and pretty soon I'm going to re-purpose the planters for something else.

The Mint plant is getting back to being a bushy plant, after Sassy ate almost all of it the day she got onto the window sill.

The six Crossley Special Chillis on the front window sill are going great guns and putting more and more leaves out. Pretty soon I may have to consider staking these up as I am sure they will suddenly shoot upwards soon. Quite excited as per last year.

The two Ghost Chillis are looking very healthy indeed; while they aren't going upwards, they are developing a very strong looking set of leaves. They are still in the heated propagator as they are tiny and there is no point in moving them until they start to need more space.

By contrast the Birsdeye Chillis are still very small and haven't even really put out any second leaves; I'm hopeful that this one may have a little nub of a bud and this might indicate some fast development.

The Parsnip seedlings still inside (but maybe going out this weekend?) and showing some signs of sadness. There are also some impressive looking fungi growing which is probably perfect evidence of how much I over watered the poor things when they were in the toilet rolls.

The Carrots are in a similar state of unhappiness and have even bigger fungi. Much props to anyone who can identify the fungus.

The smaller Geranium seedling is now catching up with the first one to appear. I can't wait for this to flower.

Since I have started watering the Foxglove they have really started to thrive so there is a lesson learned; Foxglove does need to have more water than any of the other plants I am growing.

The seed Potatoes are still chitting and I really should get around to planting them soon; the weather does seem warmer now. Hopefully I've not left them too long.

The earlier photographs of the Globe Artichoke were taken at the end of last week, this was taken today; this plant is growing so fast and free. It is just outside the bedroom and I get to water it and appreciate it every morning.

My seed grown Coriander is now fully grown and probably ready for potting up into a bigger containers; this one is the most impressive looking but the rest are all growing fast and strong.

The Begonia tubers are all sprouting now (bar one) but this is the most developed of the four which are sending up growth. I am quite proud of this picture.

Of the other plants inside, there is still nothing from the Echinops Ruthenicus, the Kerela and the other Globe Artichoke which is obviously quite a disappointment but you don't win them all.

Outside the Lettuce is FINALLY starting to grow so maybe in the next month or so I can start eating it direct from the garden; I may start a few more Lettuce plants off in the next week or two, to see how they compare and also to ensure I have replacements.

The Broccoli is also putting on a burst now the weather has improved a bit; I have no idea what to expect from this plant so don't know if it is looking healthy or not.

Finally for this update this is the Onions which are now lagging behind badly. I really do hope these start to shoot up soon because I really love how my Onions last year tasted; they were SO much nicer than any I have ever bought.

So there you have it; a blog post finally and apologies for the slight slacking from myself.

I have some ideas for some other blog posts, including some more about my whisky and an idea I've had for drying chillis.

Thanks for reading.

Chillis and Begonias amongst other things

Wow it has actually been a long time since my last post (for me during a growing season, that is). I have many reasons and excuses but the one I'm going to deploy is that there wasn't much to show you and just continually posting nearly identical pictures might be boring you....

.... so anyway, I am posting because the progress is significant enough to show, even if I haven't actually done anything since the last post; this weather really is screwing with my planting schedules. I haven't even put the potatoes out yet!

However, as I have said, there is progress for you and I will not delay any more.

The Mint plant is a little smaller than it was last time you saw; this is because Sassy the rabbit got out and onto the window sill and ate half of it! It is still alive and is slowly getting back to growing again.

The Crossley Special Chillis are particularly enjoying being right in the front window which gets lots of sunlight and stays nice and warm through the day.

The two Ghost Chillis are fully established and, while they aren't growing upwards, they are looking very healthy and established with quite a good number of leaves.

By contrast the two Birdseye Chillis are not really established yet, both of them with only two first-leaves and still a bit spindly. I am keeping my eyes on these and checking them every day.

This is the Moneymaker Tomato which has now been on the floor twice (once my fault, once Sassy's) but as you can see it is still alive, still thriving and amazingly looks like it will become a healthy plant.

The other Moneymaker Tomato which is taller and more established than the one which has been on the floor twice, which is as you'd expect I suppose. Both of these plants are really proving the worth of the self-watering planters.

This is the first Carrot plant which has developed it's second leaf and this is now showing how a Carrot leaf looks; that very distinctive serrated edge.

The Parsnip box with several seedlings in it, though none are showing second leaves yet.

This is the smaller of the two Geranium seedlings and, as you can see, it has really started to get bigger and putting on more leaves. Very satisfying to see, and definitely one of my best successes so far this year.

This is the other big success of this year so far.... the single Globe Artichoke seedling which sprouted. It is now sat on a windowsill at the top of the stairs and is putting out it's third set of leaves.

The seed grown Coriander is sat on a front windowsill and gets so much sun I am having to water it twice a day, and every time I go to it the soil is dry again. The left most plant has slightly yellowed leaves but all the others are looking very healthy and happy.

This is the most exciting of the news I have for you in the blog, however. This is one of the Begonia tubers with a sprout showing. Three of the four other tubers have also got some sprouts showing. I am very pleased that these appear to be have settled in and are growing now.

The egg shells with the chitting Potatoes in them; it is too cold for me to plant these (and I have not done the threatened photo-diary of chitting progress you will be happy to hear) so they will stay like this for another week or so before the spring finally springs and I feel happy to put them outside.

Talking of going outside, I've got pictures of my early plantings and, really, evidence that planting so early really hasn't worked for me. Where I was hoping to get an early harvest, it does just look like they showed green and then stopped growing full stop. This is the Lettuce and you could  be forgiven for saying "what Lettuce I don't see anything?"

Even worse, though, is the Onion which is almost invisible among the mold and left-over hay from my aborted attempt to protect from the snow.

Last but not least the Broccoli are still looking the most established but are also struggling a touch to put on a growth spurt as the spring is delayed.

Anyway, there you have it; a much delayed progress report but as you can see anything in the mean time would not really have been that exciting.

Here's to spring arriving and me being able to actually do some more planting and try some more stuff out.

Cheers

Planting Begonia tubers

At the weekend another part of my huge seed/tuber order arrived so Sunday morning I decided to plant them out. The packet said "plant immediately" which put a bit of fear in my mind as to what would happen if I didn't.

I am not sure if, post growth, I will be able to re-harvest the tubers and take them with me to my full time homesteading destination (any advice welcome) but hey, if they will die if I don't plant them now I'm not going to put them in my seed-bank to take with me because that would just be a waste.

Anyway, following on from my so-recently learned lesson my first task was to bring in and warm up some compost.

The five three inch plant pots brought in and filled with compost and sat next to the radiator, alongside the Carrots and Parsnips and Geranium seedlings. This surely is final proof that yes, I do learn from my mistakes.

I have never bought tubers before and this is the bag which they came in; it was a very lightweight material and had lots of holes in it to keep the tubers dry and aerated.

This is a Begonia tuber. Yes, I know what it looks like but trust me; it is. I am holding it "hollow side up" which, apparently, is the way you plant them also.

The method of planting which the instruction leaflet said (yes, I know, I read the instructions... How can I ever look my dad in the eye again!) said to put it on the compost hollow side up, carefully push under the surface, and water thoroughly, making sure however to not let water pool in the hollow. So that is what I did...

... I didn't get any pictures of that part of the process so you will just have to trust me when I tell you that this is a picture of the previously shown pots, post compost warming, with a tuber in each one, carefully pushed in and watered without allowing water to collect, yes you guessed it, in the hollow on the tuber.

Bear in mind that I brought the compost in at about 8am on the Sunday morning and then did this planting at about 11pm so this gives an idea that you can decide to plant something in the morning, and have warm enough compost in the evening, so long as you have your heating on.

Finally a couple of pictures to show that the heating of the compost really does work. This is a picture of two Carrot seedlings still standing up strong and tall and not wilting in the slightest. The mildew appears to have reduced also, though the soil still has some moisture in it. This is, I think, a success so far.

The Geranium seedling is also still looking just as it did prior to re-potting, another successful move operation. I did accidentally scatter some compost on the leaves while moving it but I don't think it will stay on there for long when the plant continues to grow.


Anyway, there you are; some more plants ready to start obsessively watching for progress, and some more proof that yes, you really should be aware of the temperature of your compost when moving seedlings from propagator to medium pot.

Cheers