Why are tomatoes and peppers so hard to grow from seed? I've heard a few people express some frustration or say that they always just buy seedlings from Home Depot or another nursery.
I planted 36 tomato seeds in a Jiffy professional greenhouse kit (shown below with a misting bottle) and nursed them to seedlings indoors, then transferred the ones that grew at least 2-3 leaves to buckets, bringing them indoors on chilly nights.
About 20 reached the bucket stage. A few drowned in a rainstorm (and this was entirely my fault) and the rest became all long and spindly and their stems broke within a few days after sprouting. Maybe lack of sunlight was the problem?
Of these surviving plants, 14 did well enough to be transferred to the garden, and here they are! I'm just wondering if having two plants using the same stake is a problem. It may be best to replant some of them elsewhere, assuming the roots aren't intertwined already. They seem to be liking the soil and sunshine though!
The hot peppers and sweet peppers were grown using the same process, but had a higher survival rate. I think I only lost 5 or 6 of them. We're going to have sooo much cayenne, jalapeño, and habanero for seasoning! These are either jalapeño or habanero plants:
(If you're wondering why I don't know which, it's because they got mixed up when I transplanted them, so I told my family we'll have to just see what grows and be surprised. Ha.)
And while we're on the topic of seasoning, here's the little herb garden I planted in a separate part of the yard. These aren't from seed, but they were tiny seedlings when I got them. I love the vibrant green of the sweet basil on the right. It looks like it should be growing somewhere in the Mediterranean.
There's almost too much mint to harvest, even if I make tea, a cocktail, and one or two recipes every week. We have peppermint, chocolate mint, spearmint, and sweet mint:
The leaves of one of the sweet mint plants seem to get spotty if I don't harvest them fast enough. There are very few leaves that look like this (maybe 5), so I think the plant is healthy overall, but just in case...
Does anyone know what this is? Is it supposed to happen when leaves get old? Looks suspicious to me...
You all gave me a plethora of good ideas for dealing with cabbage moths after my last post. Maybe I can put the same spray(s) on this plant. I'm off to do research and some weeding. :-)
Cheers!
summersolstice