True confessions of a seed starter

[JRinPA]

My green magic broccoli started heading very early this year. April was so dry and had some hot spells, I think that may be why. Every plant of mine started a small head at least a week back.

My celery started easily in micro soil blocks - lots came up. They took a while though. I started them with herbs, 8 sets of seeds total. On heat and dome over top. First try growing celery. I transplanted them into rain gutter grow pots. Four pots of Celery D'Elne. I should have started them much earlier.

And I confess when I misspelled Celery D'Elne, instead of this:



Google gave me this:

[TomatoNut95]

I've bought Lieutenant broccoli several years ago. First broccoli I ever grew. I only got a few heads. I HATE the stalk part, I only eat the florets.

I've tried growing celery twice. It ain't easy! I never got big stalks, only puny little things that were terribly stringy. I love celery, especially in potato salad, but I wish there was such thing as stringless celery.

[karstopography]

I've bought Lieutenant broccoli several years ago. First broccoli I ever grew. I only got a few heads. I HATE the stalk part, I only eat the florets.

I've tried growing celery twice. It ain't easy! I never got big stalks, only puny little things that were terribly stringy. I love celery, especially in potato salad, but I wish there was such thing as stringless celery.

Celery for me here, I’m guessing I am ~150 miles south of you, is a fall/winter/early spring crop. I pick up my starts at Reifel’s in October and by January the stalks are harvestable. Then for the next eight, ten, twelve weeks or so, cut a couple of stalks as needed per plant, per week or two. Giant/Golden Pascal hasn’t been stringy or strongly flavored so long as I don’t allow it to wilt or dry out excessively.

In my experience, Lieutenant is a poor secondary/floret producer whereas Green Magic is an outstanding floret/secondary producer. I actually prefer the florets to the main event.

[maxjohnson]

It's over. Had three days of 90*F, I shaded them but they're beginning to bolt. Biggest one is 5in in diameter. Will try again this fall.

PXL_20240526_214842632.jpg

PXL_20240526_215329327.jpg

[Tormato]

It's over. Had three days of 90*F, I shaded them but they're beginning to bolt. Biggest one is 5in in diameter. Will try again this fall.
PXL_20240526_214842632.jpg
PXL_20240526_215329327.jpg

If I hit the lottery, it's building a multi-walled clear polycarbonate structure around the plants, along with an air conditioner

[Tormato]

Another confession - I was at an out of town Home Depot the other day, only because it was across the parking lot from WalMart.

I started scanning the potted veggies, but nothing interested me. Deep into the shelving I spotted a picture on a label of an orange cherry. Could it be?
I reached way in, lifted it out of the plastic holder, pulled it out sideways, as it was a larger than normal plant, and YES, IT WAS A SUNGOLD! I put it in the bottom back of the cart, so that no one else would lift it, and searched again. After quickly looking through about 150 plants, I spotted another orange cherry picture, way in the back again. Another SunGold, which was enough. And it was an unknown to me, Memorial Day sale of Bonny plants, $2.50 each. Three purchased plants this year, after a decade without buying any.

Is there a 12-step program for habitual seed starters who've gone off the wagon?

[Whwoz]

Sometimes you just have to be opportunistic @Tormato . Not often does one find a worthy bonus.

[JRinPA]

I have 2 sunsugar and a sungold...from seed. I want to set up a hanging garden for the dogs to eat off of in the backyard. I guess a low CRW arch trellis that they can walk under will end up being the way to do it...that or a hanging pots? I can't figure where though, for either.

I did not hit the lottery, far from it, but I did order a 6x12 4mm polycarb greenhouse. Only 6.5ft high, which I think is important to keep it from blowing down. I plan to put it just a few feet away from the 6ft picket/privacy fence to use as wind break. I was so disappointed in both the "plastic greenhouses" I have, a cloche tunnel used 3 years, and the new one was a 13x7 hoop house I raised at the comm garden. That was lots of work to assemble, no one else used it or helped much, and the seed starting was very poor success rate in. Got too hot, too cold, too much air through the flaps, drying everything out. Peppers and tomatoes were both adversely affected by cold, even when it wasn't really THAT cold out. And the wind, whipped a door flap up and down and destroyed my early tomatoes. I think I will be much better off with something that actually seals, has some insulation, and the walls don't move in the wind.

The wannabe hoop house is probably best for covering some early corn rows, and then put over some okra. I didn't pay much for it, but it cost in time, effort, worry, and seed starting failure.