Friday, April 29, 2011

Loofa Seeds Die

I went to check on the loofa seeds and they are all dead. I'm assuming due to the sudden hot weather in my area the greenhouse got too hot for them. Unfortunately, I don't have enough seeds to redo this experiment. So I'm going to grow my 3 remaining seeds in a paper towel then transfer them to pots. Their growth will still be documented. I will be attempting this experiment next year.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Loofa Seeds Already Sprouting

It's only been 2 days and 5 of the loofa seeds have sprouted to the point where they need to be transplanted into the seed trays. I have planted all 5 sprouted seeds into the seed tray. I'm going to give the 6th one another week. If it doesn't sprout after a week I'm going to use another seed in the paper towel.




Sunday, April 24, 2011

Growing Loofa From Seeds

I'm growing loofas and I"m doing more experiments. I had 12 loofa seeds soaked overnight. Using my 12 compartment seed trays, I placed 6 seeds in the seed starter and the other 6 in a paper towel. The seed tray is outside in a makeshift greenhouse while the paper towel is in a plastic bag on a warm surface (the top of my cable box). We'll see an about a week or so which one is faster.


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Growing Asparagus From Seed

I'm doing a little experiment with growing asparagus. Last night I soaked 12 seeds in water. Today I planted 6 of them in seed starter and the other 6 in a wet paper towel. We'll see which one is faster and if it makes any difference.

Update: White Pitcher Plants, Venus Fly Traps


White Pitcher Plant & Venus Fly Traps

Last time I said that I thought I saw 2 white pitcher plants growing, one of them even had a seed attached. Well the one that had a seed attached was actually a Venus Fly Trap. Another plant started growing in the same compartment and a seed started growing in the Venus Fly Trap section. The plant that was growing last week matches the one in the Venus Fly Trap.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Update: Lotus and Pitcher Plants

White Pitcher Plant

That grass like thing that I showed a few months prior is still here with no change. However I have noticed something with the other 2 white pitcher plants. I see a little green stem coming out in both compartments, one of them also has a seed attached. I tried to take a picture of them but they are too small. Hopefully in a few weeks they'll be big enough.

As a side note I will be spraying the pitcher plants and Venus fly traps with my homemade fungicide.

Lotus
One lotus plant already has one leaf that has opened completely. The other plant, the leaf is almost completely open. Both plants appear to have second leaves coming in.

Lotus Leaf

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Update: Lotus

The lotuses are now peeking above the water. Hopefully in a few days the leaves will show.

Lotus Plant

Other Lotus Plant

I have noticed a minor mosquito problem since I started growing the lotuses outside. On top of that, I've noticed a lot of bugs (probably mosquitoes) floating on top of the water. I bought some gold fish and placed them in the bucket with my plants. The bugs in the bucket have gone down so hopefully so will the mosquito problem.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Vegetable Garden

A few weeks ago I started the seeds for my vegetable garden. I'm growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, several different types of squash and several herbs.

I have a few experiments planned for the tomatoes. I do have several experiments planned for next year for the other vegetables.

I will be showing pictures of my garden though.


Friday, April 1, 2011

Replanting Kiwi Seeds

As you might recall, our kiwi plants died in the great heat die off. Well today I replanted them, just in a different matter.

Last time we scattered a bunch of kiwi seeds over seed starter and they virtually all grew. This time we are using the 12 compartment seed tray again but planting 2 seeds per compartment. The plants will be thinned later on.

Last time it only took 2 weeks for the seeds to grow. Let's see how things go this time.