Hydroponics
My primary Thai Chillies bush is down to less than a dozen chillies, all of them unripened. At one point I had three or four dozen ready to go, so I decided to give them to other people to enjoy. I shared them with a handful of folk, and word spread. People seem to really like my hydroponic chillies.
These same people have also been enjoying my hydroponically-grown Thai Basil, but that continues to grow monstrously.
All my hydroponic salad greens went to seed. This, unfortunately, makes them too bitter to consume, so they’ve come to their end after about a dozen salads. Not too bad in my opinion.
This gives me 4 open slots on my hydroponics. I’ll probably leave 2 of them empty, but I’m still trying to figure out what I want in the other pair. I’ve learned it’s important to leave more space between plants than the system provided, or they block out the grow lights & hinder production.
Potted
I have a second hot pepper plant growing “traditionally” in a pot of soil. It has 2 peppers on it so far, but there’s plenty of flowers so it should start producing soon.
I’ll also be seeding & gifting another pot once it’s started to grow. One of my spouse’s coworkers love the peppers so much they put them in most of their meals. It’ll just be easier if they have their own plant to enjoy. I’ve a spare grow-bulb that will help them manage the growth in their apartment.
My strawberries produced three or four of the smallest (but sweetest) strawberries that I’ve ever seen. I didn’t get the chance to transplant it as early as I needed, so I’m pretty sure the pot was too crowded. It’s been transplanted now, with more than enough space to spread out, but I may be too late to get much from it.
Tomatoes are flowering, onions are growing strong, two small bell peppers have begun forming, and most of my marigolds and cosmos are attracting the bees. I’ve moved all of these pots outside now, as my new home doesn’t afford much space for indoor gardening.
My dwarf sunflowers bloomed about two weeks before the move, and have already withered and closed up. They did not have a very long “summer” — about three weeks. It’s a little disappointing, but it is what it is. The pot & soil are still good, so I’ll give them to another seed.
My iceberg lettuce continues to struggle. I think the issue is lack of drainage. The pot I used was meant to be a decorative outer pot, so I’ll need to look into transplanting soon to see if I can save it. It’s still being grown indoors at the moment, as I don’t think it would survive outside without improving the drainage.
I’ve seeded some bok choy. We’ll give it a few weeks and see if anything comes of it.
6-year old’s plants
My eldest came home with a pair of pots for Mother’s Day. One contained some “wildflower” seeds while the other has an orange seed.
He really wants a small orange tree, despite the fact that they do not survive up here unless it’s kept indoors somehow. I’ll have to look around and see if there’s any kind of tiny citrus tree that works well on a countertop so I can give it a try.
The wildflowers have begun to break through the surface of the dirt. He’s getting excited to see what comes of it.