Earlier this week, several of my seedlings reached the top of their little greenhouse, so I decided it was time to remove the top and let them live out in the open. Big mistake. Not only is my home very dry, its also too cold for young seedlings. Overnight, nearly all the seedlings that had not already leafed, shriveled up. Top back on and several days later, they still haven't recovered--nearly all the hot peppers that hadn't progressed beyond the sprout phase have withered and/or died (strangely, the bell peppers are ok, but growing slower than before). But now I have an odd mish-mash of tiny sprouts and larger seedlings pressed up against the tops of their containers. The solution: cut out the larger plants from the tray and move them out of the greenhouse while leaving the smaller ones inside.
I've learned two important lessons from this experience:
1. never take the top off your greenhouse before the plants are really established; and
2. don't plant several varieties of plants in the same greenhouse. We made the mistake of growing bell peppers and several types of hot pepper all together--a problem because each variety grows at its own pace.
When we start the tomatoes in 1-2 weeks, we will definitely keep this in mind!
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Heather, we have learned this lesson the hard way. Planting from seeds is something you do once in a lifetime. After that, you let the nurseries do the hard work, and you just plant the healthy seedlings! Grandma's vote is for tomato plants, not seeds!
ReplyDeleteBut then you are stuck with whatever the nursery stocks! I want to grow all the fun heirloom varieties!
ReplyDeleteHi Heather,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your mom. I have poor luck with seeds....other than sweet peas. (They are just beginning to flower beautifully right now.)But I keep trying! Remember all those protea seeds I brought back from S.A.....they all grew up to about an inch and a half and then dropped dead! Good luck!