My plants grows again. The difference with and without grow lights is remarcable. My seedlings litterarly stopped growing between sprouting and the moment I hung a new lamp over them. My amaranth has got new zest for life, the herbs are growing and the tomatoes are thriving to the point it's scary. The two exceptions are the leeks and the carrots, I may have to weed them out early to make place for better vegetables. Normally I'm quite sentimental over my plants but now I have so many fun things on my windowsills that this is easy to do.
One thing I need to do is to refresh my soil. I'm still using that cheap seedling soil that collapses into concrete as soon as it dries. I thought I hade thrown it away, but a finger test in my pots reveals that the soil is hardening. I have better stuff in my cupboards, I only need to sterilise it first and then I mix it into my 'general blend'. It'll be interesting to see if this will have as much ifluence on my plants as the new grow lights.
4 comments:
I'm attempting to grow vegetables from seeds without the aid of a grow light or a heating pad. I have my fingers crossed that it works!
N.
http://badhuman.wordpress.com
So am I. I'm convinced you'll succeed, at least during summer months, but count on a period of trials and errors.
As for the heating pad you wont need it if you keep your flat fairly warm. If not, search for vegetables that likes cool or lukewarm weather. Sallads wants some days of cold to grow, and different kinds of cabbages (there are _millions_ of them) can be so hardy they survive snow.
The light might be trickier. If you have some windows to the east you'll have enough light during the summer half of the year (~April <-> October). The part around December is worst - growlights is compulsory if you want something to grow. On the other hand you could go for babyleaves that part of the year. Basically you sow sallats and eat the seedlings when they show up - a kind of advanced sprouting in other words. (I have to admit I never got the hang of it, but there are many who do it, so it can't be that hard.)
Hello from Canada! I am an indoor gardener--houseplants mostly. I grow on a windowsill and under lights. Will be trying vegetables this spring (in containers on outside deck). We are still under snow here--snow, snow, when will it go???
Nice to see you here! In a way I envy you; winter in Uppsala has been warm and almost completely devoid of snow. It's been a pretty weird season actually, only now around Easter the snow last over more than one night...
Post a Comment