Sunday, September 01, 2013

Beginning of autumn!

Onions, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, rocket, and various asian greens are planted in their containers. I also direct-sowed some Fortex green beans, hoping not to have a problem with rust this year. The first day of autumn (hah!) is duly marked. By the way, we got 1.5 inches of rain here in DeLand last night. Another weird storm--so much energy in the atmosphere at 8pm. Adding... Since there wasn't any of that excellent coir-based seedling mix at Lowes, I got a bag of perlite and am mixing it about 3 parts peat::1 part perlite. That seems to absorb a lot of water while still having the right looseness. Seedlings need water, filtered sunlight, and gas-exchange at their roots. Whatever you use, make sure it doesn't smother the roots. I hadn't noticed that the moss had a little slow-release fertilizer mixed in. No biggie. Generally I hold off on the fertilizer until I know the root structure has formed, and then I prefer to add it very often, but highly diluted. Miracle-Gro is a great product... I love that my moss bag recommends 9 parts moss::1 part perlite, while my perlite bag recommends (predictably) a 1::1 ratio.
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5 comments:

  1. Deltona Gardener5:45 PM

    What size containers and when will you transplant into the ground? Any synthetic fertilizer while still in the containers? Thanks for any info.

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  2. Michael6:04 PM

    i use whatever's handy--right now, there are some yoghurt dishes, old 6-cell plastic cells, and a couple plastic clamshells. the key is to keep them moist for the next month or so--not so easy here. literally one missed watering can mean massive casualties! anyway, i use some weakened miracle-gro when they have their first leaves (true leaves). i will wait until the atmosphere has calmed down a bit to plant them--even the relatively stout brassicas cannot take a storm like the one we had last night!

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  3. Garden Plants7:52 AM

    Iv'e used perlite for some years now and find the same as you it absorbs a lot of the water which is good for my plants

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  4. Wayne Marshall10:10 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. Anonymous3:40 AM

    Is this an organic gardening blog?

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