I didn't feel too well this morning. Must have been all that food my parents cooked and brought last night. But I finally made it outside.
In the hoophouse, I had started my cool weather veggies. I transplanted red/green cabbage, carrots, and lettuce to the rear bed in the backyard.
Since I had the hoophouse open, I took some photos of what's inside. Not everything is actively growing. Some of these were cuttings that I rooted this past fall. There are gardenias, confederate jasmine, euonymous, roses, and privet. Some are stuck in sand or soil that I'm trying to root now like Japanese Maples, dogwood, redtwig dogwood, double mock orange, etc. There's more I know, but I didn't take the time to make a list. Instead, here are some pictures of the plants.
I have 32 Black Eyed Susans that I started from seed in October. I'm hoping they will bloom having been through a cold spell out in the hoophouse. I did the same with Shasta daisies, but they didn't all make it. I've also got 15 coreopsis "Early Sunrise" divisions from a single plant I purchased last spring. Most of these will go into the plant sale in early April. You'll notice I use plastic cups instead of nursery pots. Two reasons, I can get them locally and they don't take up as much space while providing lots of room for deep roots.
I also have plants growing inside under lights. I've got zinnia, pineapple sage, brugmansia, and other tender perennials and annuals.
I started some more seed yesterday in one of my bottom heat contraptions. This one has 1 set of 150 Christmas Lights buried in 2" of sand. I mist the sand with a spray bottle to keep the humidity level high. The lights warm the sand to just over 80 degrees. That warms the cups to about 75 degrees. I have been trying to germinate yellow datura now for 2 weeks. I think my seed have rotted at this point. I'll leave them a few more days to be sure. There are annuals like petunias and zinnia as well as a whole container of different tomatoes. I want to use the cloning machine to propagate enough plants to sell at the farmer's market this year.
I've also got rooted figs, lady banks roses, and confederate roses. These were cuttings received in trades for other plants that I have/had. It still amazes me that I can stick a twig in dirt and have it grow into a new plant within a few weeks. The areochamber will get a nice workout this summer propagating softwood cuttings.
baby figs!
I can already see and taste the fruits of my labor. Spring is just around the corner.
5 comments:
Wow you really are! How long ago did you root that fig and how often do you get figs so soon? Great job!
I really like how you recycle and reuse materials like the plastic soda bottles and plastic cups. I also admire your entrepreneurial streak. I can't start my seeds for another month, yet.
The us/reuse of the plastic cups is brilliant ... and colorful. I'm awed by all you have going, too. I have a friend that has a fig tree. He gave me a potted cutting but it never made it.
Catherine: Those fig cuttings were stuck on Jan 7. I started with a baggie method. You wrap the fig in paper towels, dampen them, put them in a ziplock until roots form. After 3 weeks, I still had no roots, so I moved some of them to soil. Those have rooted now. The ones in the baggies have rotted. I took more cuttings about 2 weeks ago and placed them in sand to root.
Jill: Plastic soda bottles are free. They're about the size of a standard nursery pot too. And the top helps control moisture for rooting things like roses and figs.
Gardeness: This has been an ongoing process since early last spring when I first discovered propagation by cuttings. It's been a fun learning experience.
You DO have a lot going on! What a variety, and the cups allow them to stay there longer without getting too leggy before you plant them...what a clever idea. I hope they will all hold up so you can get them planted:) And then of course, that they will grow and bloom for you! We will watch and see your progress!
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