Update

Apparently my plants got an attack from fungus flies. I tried everything to get rid of them but in the end I had to get rid of the soil--plants and all.

:(

My first attempt at container gardening failed. Maybe I will be successful someday with an outdoor garden.

R.I.P. Lettuce Seedling

Oh so sad... My poor lettuce seedling crumpled up and dried (died). :( I have replaced it with one of the spinach seedlings that I hope will fair better.

Also, I threw out the strawberry plant. It had stopped fruiting and grown mold all over its soil...

Day 21

The tomato plants are growing quickly. :) I have removed the netting from around the pot. It seems the cats are more interested in the netting itself than the little tomato plants. In fact, I think Mable is asleep in the netting right now. Also, there has been a surge of small flies around the plants that I am attempting to exterminate with a vegetable plant safe pesticide. It is killing them slowly. There are just so many! One good thing is that they are dumb and slow and so we are able to smack them dead. Yeah!


I have moved the pepper seedlings into their own pot. They are doing well too! The cats don't seem to have any interest in the pepper seedlings so far. Again, I'm not sure if I've planted too many seedlings in the same pot, but we shall see.

The same day I planted the only lettuce seedling that germinated. See the little guy?

Day 15: Tomato Transplant

Here it is: The tomato transplant!

I may have put too many tomato plants in the new pot, but we shall see. Sarra, the cat, immediately dug her paws into the new soil and I'm afraid was going to eat each little seedling. So, here is my cat proofing:

The lettuce, peppers, and spinach are still working on their true leaves. I will try to be patient. :)

Day 12

A few of the tomato seedlings are showing their first true leaves!! I am so excited. The cotyledons look like leaves but are not--they are just a source of food for the little seed. The spinach is also doing well but no signs of true leaves yet. The pepper seeds have sprouted and are doing well. So far, only one out of the five cells containing lettuce seeds have sprouted. Considering they were the last to sprout, I will wait a little while before I deem them a failure. It is interesting to me how very different the plants are even at this early stage. There are obvious differences between the tomato and spinach plants.

Unfortunately, there is a moderate amount of mold growing on the cells. It is the white stuff everywhere (see picture). I read online that it should not harm the seedlings but it still worries me. I have placed a fan to promote air flow and hopefully that will take care of the issue. Also, I have placed the seedlings under an artificial light source while I sleep. They need extra light in order to grow and I am trying to find balance between the water and light--wish me luck!

The basil is growing wonderfully. The parsley is showing new growth but is also having some yellowing. I transplanted the parsley plant from its original plastic container to the larger terracotta pot it was sitting in. I read online that the parsley plant can have a long root system and a smaller pot will inhibit growth. So, we'll see if this does the trick.

Strawberry Pest Update

I looked around online and found that there is a mite that secretes a small, silken thread while feeding. This must be it!! They are incredibly small and appear reddish-brown to green in color. I already had some pesticide approved for use on vegetables (including strawberries) so I sprayed the leaves. Apparently, these types of mites are not concerned with the berries of the plant and so some sources say it is unneccessary to try to control them. However, the leaves are taking a hit and that makes the plant look ugly and sad. Let us cross our fingers and hope I can save my strawberry plant from this awful pest!

The Early Days

Day 1:


I went to the store and bought 4 seed packets: spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, and sweet peppers. I also bought a seed starting kit that included planting cells (25) in a bamboo tray, wooden markers, soil, fertilizer, and a germination sheet. I planted the seeds--2 to a cell--and placed the germination sheet on top. I planted 5 cells each with spinach, lettuce, and peppers. I planted 10 cells with tomatoes. I placed the bamboo tray in my sunroom out of direct sunlight. I didn't expect to see seedlings appear until 7 days had passed.

Day 2: I checked the soil--still moist. I did not water.

Day 3:


The first seedlings appeared this morning!! I couldn't believe it! It was so early. Three of my spinach cells had sprouts! It was so bizarre to me. I uncovered the sprouts and set them apart from the rest of the cells. The instructions from the seed starter kit had said to remove the germination sheet as soon as the first seed had sprouted. Since none of the other seeds (lettuce, peppers, tomatoes) had sprouts, I left them under the germination sheet. By the time I got home from work, it appeared that all five cells of spinach had sprouted. I am amazed at how quickly these small seedlings grow! Although, I am worried that my cats will eat my fragile seedlings. There is not much I can do about it. I will not cage my plants again. Keep your fingers crossed!



Day 4:

The tomatoes have sprouted!!! Can you believe it? 8 out of the 10 cells I planted have visible seedlings. Yesterday there were none, and today there are many! I removed the germination sheet from the tomatoes as I had done with the spinach the day before. Yay tomatoes!!!

So far, the lettuce and peppers have not sprouted. There is one suspicious cell in the peppers that may have something there but I can't tell if I'm just being too hopeful. :)

Yet Another Venture

Claire, a friend of mine, knowing my interest in gardening gave me some herb clippings from her own garden. She gave me basil, mint, and oregano. I did not have any clue how to grow a plant from clippings. I did some research online and found that if I dip the roots in a rooting hormone powder, plant the clippings gently in a pot of soil and cover the clippings with plastic bags, I should have roots within a few weeks. So, here is my attempt:

In the beginning...

Six months ago I attempted to keep alive some herbs in pots. I had parsley, basil, thyme, and chives. I did not water them enough. I blame the wire cage I made for them (to keep them safe from the mouths of cats) for my lack of caring for them. The poor herbs died after my husband and I went on vacation for a week. I was bummed.

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This time around I decided that I was going to be successful. I repotted those four pots with already grown basil, parsley, rosemary, and thyme. They are not caged and they are loving it.

The basil has already grown quite tall. I need to do some research on how to prune these herbs, especially the rosemary. I'm not quite sure how to make it into a bush instead of a vine.

The cats love them too--although I think they miss the chives. Mable (pictured on left) likes to cuddle with the pot of rosemary. They have not been eating them which is good for me because I don't want another 'cage' incident!! So far, all the herbs are doing well. I am keeping up on watering and cleaning them. :) In addition to the four herbs, I bought a hanging basket that contained a strawberry plant. The strawberry plant was already fruiting when I bought it. I just have to maintain it. There is, however, some sort of pest on my strawberry plant that I need to figure out if it is harmful or not. If it is harmful, how do I get rid of it?