It’s been 14-days since I started planting indoors using traditional soil. I put down three hot chillies, three bell peppers, two spinach, three iceberg lettuce, and six white onions. With daily watering and some minor rotation for the lighting, I’m starting to see some plants sprout. I’ve noticed a few things in the past two weeks, and it’s time to make a few adjustments & plant some fruit & flowers.
Bell peppers: Not one sprout
Bell peppers continue to plague me. Although I managed to get some sprouting this past summer in the greenhouse, none fruited. So far, not a single seed has sprouted in my pots. I’ve replanted once again, and hopefully, we’ll see something come up in the not-too-distant future.
Getting bell peppers is very important to me. They’re probably the #1 fruit that I enjoy eating. Raw or cooked, I love bell peppers, and I eat at least one every day. Although I’m not sure I’ll bring them to fruit inside if I can get them started, that’ll be great for transplanting later in the season.
White onions: Shooting for the lights
Last summer, I had a great pot full of white onions. I’ve no idea how they tasted, but the raccoons sure seemed to enjoy the pot!
Since onions go well in stir fry, pasta, and even some salads, getting some to full-growth will be pretty important. After only 14-days, the six white onions that I planted are already tickling the grow light I have. As a result, the grow light is at its current max-height, which puts it far too high for my other sprouts.
This means I’ll have to use my other full-spectrum light and move the onions off my shelf. I knew I would have to do this eventually; I didn’t think it would be after only 2-weeks of growth.
Lettuce, chillies, and spinach
All three of these have begun to sprout, although I’m not looking at a perfect grow.
The iceberg is nearly 100% so far. With how often we enjoy our salads, that’s a good start. If I can partially harvest & regrow the iceberg like the salad greens in my hydroponics, we’ll be good for quite some time.
1/2 of our spinach sprouted, and 1/3 of the chillies. These aren’t great numbers, but it’s roughly what I expected. The pots that I put them in are relatively small and would not support what I planted had they all sprouted. However, these small pots should be perfect for the quantity that came up.
Speaking of hydroponics
I’ve made my 3rd salad from the regrowth of the various salad greens growing. It already looks like there’s a fair bit of regrowth, so I’m looking forward to a 4th in another week or two. The Aerogarden system works great for the salad greens, although I wish I could have spaced things out a little further.
The chillies have grown taller, and I’m starting to see some buds form. With any luck, I’ll be able to enjoy some homegrown hot peppers in the not too distant future.
Next to sprout?
In addition to the replanting of bell peppers, I’ve put down three additional sets of seedlings: Regina strawberries, dwarf sunflowers, and some cherry tomatoes.
Instead of traditional soil, I used the expanding jiffy soil that came with a couple of basic kits. I’m hoping the strawberries & sunflowers will remain small enough to keep them indoors. As for the tomatoes, I planted them in a cardboard jiffy pot, so they will need to be adequately replanted at some point.
I’ll need to get a bigger pot regardless, as the tomatoes will need to be transplanted long before I can move it outside.