Overview: So I have decided to start gardening. It is still a little too cold outside just yet so I am starting my crops inside. I also live in an apartment so we don't have any land to plant our crops in. Once they start to grow, I will transplant them into bigger containers.
I really wanted to start gardening because it is very interesting to me that you can get so much our such a small seed. Sure it takes some time but after a couple months I can eat FRESH produce for cents a piece.
This is going to be a really fun post because I will only post parts at a time since it take between 2 - 3 month for the vegetable to grow all the way. Since it will take time to see everything grow, please come back weekly to see what has happened and to get the latest updates!
Lime Light: I would like to thank my good friend Jenny B. for her advice and great tips about starting a garden. She helped me a ton! I would also like to thank my friend Travis S. for his tips on growing the vegetables better.
This is going to be a really fun post because I will only post parts at a time since it take between 2 - 3 month for the vegetable to grow all the way. Since it will take time to see everything grow, please come back weekly to see what has happened and to get the latest updates!
Lime Light: I would like to thank my good friend Jenny B. for her advice and great tips about starting a garden. She helped me a ton! I would also like to thank my friend Travis S. for his tips on growing the vegetables better.
My wife suggested that I start the seeds in egg cartons because we had some and two they work just as good as anything else. Talk about recycling!
I cut off the lip and the top and placed the top underneath the bottom to help the water not to go everywhere when I water the plants.
I bought six packets of seeds for fairly cheap at the local farming store and even the grocery store! I bought Carrots, Peas, Tomatoes, Peppers, Radishes and Cucumbers.
I marked the egg cartons separating each packet to get 4 slots each.
I then put some potting soil in each slot and buried each seed to the depth that the packets told me to. The depths varied from 1/4", 1/2" and 1" deep. I then watered them and put them inside an aluminum foil boat I made to help even more for holding excess water.I placed them on the window sill and we shall wait 7-14 days to see them all sprout.
I will post more pictures when the vegetables start to sprout! Happy growing!
7 Days Later!!
So I am trying something new that my friend taught me. He puts normal office fluorescent lights above his seedlings and the seeds actually grow. I tried it out with this little one that I haven't been using and they actually started growing! I just put the egg cartons on my floor with aluminum foil underneath of them and water them twice daily. The trick is to put them very close to the soil so that it warms up the soil. Check out the results so far below.
So not to be mean to the radishes but they are the easiest to grow it looks like. They are the 4 in the top right corner that have sprouted really well. They actually started sprouting after 6 days. The peas are the next ones that have sprouted and they are the ones on the very bottom that you can see if you look closely.
14 Days Later!!
I usually have kept all the plants inside due to the cold temperatures outside but today being Easter Sunday, the Sun has decided to show its face and so I put the plants outside to catch some rays instead of only fluorescent light.
So as you can see, the peas are doing amazing! In front of the peas are the tomatoes and to the right are the cucumbers which my wife is very anxiously awaiting. I put the piece of paper behind the plants so that you could see them better.
Pictured above, the radishes on the right are doing well. The carrots have sprouted and are in the front. The bell peppers are in the back and should start sprouting this week.
Lesson Learned: I learned this week that as I kept watering the plants daily, the egg cartons started to really smell bad because they were not drying out. For this I would suggest using Styrofoam egg cartons because they won't smell.
21 Days Later!!
So my seedlings were outgrowing their container so it was time to transplant them. Click here to see how I made a very easy planter box.
I decided to perform a test on my seedlings. The top half of the planter box as pictured below, I used a mixture of potters soil and peat moss and transplanted my seedlings. On the bottom half as pictured below, I made layers of hay and peat moss. I first mulched the hay by running over it with a lawn mower to chop it up. I then made layers with the first being peat moss then a layer of hay and then peat moss and then hay. I continued this until I got to the right height. Then wherever I was going to put a seed or a seedling, I scooped out a handful of the layers and put potting soil for the seed to germinate. I tried this out because my friend at school said his Father did this and he got a lot more produce from it. We shall see. After all the seedlings were transplanted I then watered them and stuck them in some sun!
This is one day after I transplanted them.
On the left are two peas and then the other four are radishes.
On the left are two peas and then three radishes. One died. :( Can you tell which ones are more full and producing more leaves? Yup the plants with the hay/peat moss mixture are producing more so far.
7 Days Later!!
So I am trying something new that my friend taught me. He puts normal office fluorescent lights above his seedlings and the seeds actually grow. I tried it out with this little one that I haven't been using and they actually started growing! I just put the egg cartons on my floor with aluminum foil underneath of them and water them twice daily. The trick is to put them very close to the soil so that it warms up the soil. Check out the results so far below.
So not to be mean to the radishes but they are the easiest to grow it looks like. They are the 4 in the top right corner that have sprouted really well. They actually started sprouting after 6 days. The peas are the next ones that have sprouted and they are the ones on the very bottom that you can see if you look closely.14 Days Later!!
I usually have kept all the plants inside due to the cold temperatures outside but today being Easter Sunday, the Sun has decided to show its face and so I put the plants outside to catch some rays instead of only fluorescent light.
So as you can see, the peas are doing amazing! In front of the peas are the tomatoes and to the right are the cucumbers which my wife is very anxiously awaiting. I put the piece of paper behind the plants so that you could see them better.
Pictured above, the radishes on the right are doing well. The carrots have sprouted and are in the front. The bell peppers are in the back and should start sprouting this week.Lesson Learned: I learned this week that as I kept watering the plants daily, the egg cartons started to really smell bad because they were not drying out. For this I would suggest using Styrofoam egg cartons because they won't smell.
21 Days Later!!
So my seedlings were outgrowing their container so it was time to transplant them. Click here to see how I made a very easy planter box.
I decided to perform a test on my seedlings. The top half of the planter box as pictured below, I used a mixture of potters soil and peat moss and transplanted my seedlings. On the bottom half as pictured below, I made layers of hay and peat moss. I first mulched the hay by running over it with a lawn mower to chop it up. I then made layers with the first being peat moss then a layer of hay and then peat moss and then hay. I continued this until I got to the right height. Then wherever I was going to put a seed or a seedling, I scooped out a handful of the layers and put potting soil for the seed to germinate. I tried this out because my friend at school said his Father did this and he got a lot more produce from it. We shall see. After all the seedlings were transplanted I then watered them and stuck them in some sun!
This is one day after I transplanted them.
On the left are two peas and then the other four are radishes.
On the left are two peas and then three radishes. One died. :( Can you tell which ones are more full and producing more leaves? Yup the plants with the hay/peat moss mixture are producing more so far.
you've got a green thumb now!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome, Danny! It makes me want to grow some things as well!
ReplyDeleteaw so cute! =) it's like a third grade science project but bigger...
ReplyDeleteMan! You're actually growing little plants! Way to go!
ReplyDelete