Just Some Picture Updates

Pineapple


Pineapple in pot

Pineapple #1 with fruit left on

Pineapple #2 with fruit left on


Lemon



Lemon plants. The front one on the right was separated

Strawberry

Strawberry Plants

Close up of Strawberry plants

Blueberry



Blueberry plants

Update: Strawberries, Apples, Lemons

Strawberry
They said it would take 7 to 28 days for the strawberries to germinate. Well it's been 9 days and upon inspection, I found 2 seeds that have germinated. They still have their seeds attached so they don't have their leaves yet, but this looks very promising. We'll see in the next 19 days how many of the remaining strawberry seeds germinate.

Fuji Apples
The Fuji apples are doing exceptionally well. The one in the middle already has 7 leaves while the one next to it has 5. Before long the plants are going to be too big for the minature greenhouse and are going to need to be potted.


Fuji Apple Plants



Gala Apples
So far only one seed has a root but it's still early.

Lemon
The lemon plant now has 2 visible leaves. We also found a bump in one of the other compartments which appears to be a seed so hopefully we will have another lemon plant real soon.



Lemon Plant's First Leaves


Plants To Listen For Soon
Blueberries, Honey Tangerines, Nectarines, Peaches.
In a previous post I mentioned that after we find out with the Gala apples that if apple seeds can grow in room temperature we'll do a comparison with the Granny Smiths. I have now realized that we have about half a dozen Gala apples but only 3 Granny Smith so well be conducting the experiment with the Gala apples. Just like the pineapples I will be comparing days of growth.

Growing Strawberries From Seed

Next up on the list is strawberries.

Getting Strawberry Seeds
You can gently pick the seeds off the strawberry or you can slice up several strawberries and throw them into a blender. Add enough water so they are just barely covered and puree the strawberries for about 10 seconds. Wait a few minutes afterwards. The "bad" seeds and the fruit will float to the top while the good seeds will sink to the bottom. Scoop out the top layer of strawberry. Put a coffee filter in a sieve and the sieve over a bowl. Pour out the remaining seed water mixture. Rinse and repeat with the remaining seeds. Let the coffee filter dry over night. Now you have your strawberry seeds.
Growing Seeds

1. Place the seeds in a folded paper towel then into a Ziploc bag. From what I read online the seeds need to be put in the freezer anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months. A majority of the sites said 1 month so I froze the seeds for 1 month to stratify them.
2. After a month place the seeds in lukewarm water for 1 to 3 days. This softens the outer coating. To keep the water warm place the container on top of a refrigerator or anywhere else that feels warm.
3. We used a 12 compartment seed tray greenhouse. Fill that with seed starter. Over a sink, gently pour the water containing seeds over the soil. Try to evenly spread it. You will also have to rinse the remaining seed out.
4. Place the greenhouse cover and put in a sunny window.
5. They say it takes 7 to 21 days for a strawberry seed to germinate so we'll keep you up to date.

For the seeds being soaked in water we place the container on top of Trevor's computer. At one point it seemed the water was getting so hot that it was evaporating. Getting too hot might have killed the seeds but we won't know for sure for another 7 to 21 days. If these seeds fail to germinate we will be replanting them. Next time instead of soaking them in water we will try scratching them with sandpaper.