Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Photo of the Day...Seedlings!


The seedlings are growing fast! We installed 2 small under the cabinet lights, and have the plants under cool and warm bulbs when there is not any sun (like the last several days). Many cells were planted with just 1-2 seeds, but the lettuce greens were sown a little thicker and will be ready to go into a bigger pot shortly!

The boys have been carefully misting with water each day, and checking the progress! Looking good.

We read today about sprouting/growing celeriac in sand to get celery shoots, so we will be trying that soon, and also will be starting a tray of wheat grass to use in our smoothies. Hopefully our green thumbs will continue!

14 comments:

tiff said...

oh this looks so lovely, as we move into darker days. hmmm...this would be fun to take on with my boys'...we wont have to watch them during the day.

love your new header...beautiful!

Sharon said...

I've never had much luck with seedlings under lights (mine have gotten leggy) so I am very interested to see how yours do.

Anonymous said...

great photo

Lynch Family said...

Nothing like little sprouts of green when outside is so dark and dreary! Can't wait to read more about it all!

Stephanie said...

Alright... I'm doing it.
I've just drug out the seeds - I found bush beans, sunflowers, my basil, and spinach.
That should do. (Don't know what will happen with the sunflowers, but they grow fast, and that might please the babes.)
Thanks for the impetus!
Steph

dawn klinge said...

Those little sprouts look so pretty. We like to keep a pot of Wheatgrass on the floor for the cats to eat (it's a digestion aid).

latisha said...

your picts make it look so easy and so inviting! we tried seedlings twice. both failed. first time nothing nothing nothing. second time when it got time to put them outside we did, but didnt realize it was monsoon season in AZ. all got blown away. though we did get some random sprouts of chamomile, parsley, and dill in various places around our yard in a few months later!

mandaroo63 said...

Lovely photo. You've inspired me to do the same...soon.

Lizz said...

I'm SO glad to be back over here catching up with you, Mama Denise, and your family.

Blessings from Oregon.

Anonymous said...

ooh, I love to see growing for the winter. These are looking very healthy indeed. How great that the boys are nurturing them. I can't believe they're graphing the progress! Geniuses.

Jodi Anderson said...

I have been looking for small under-the-cabinet lights for YEARS. Literally!!!

May I ask, where did you find them?! It'd be lovely to have herbs all year long. Plus, the only decent natural light is in locations where the cats can openly gnaw on my plants.

Oh, and to Sharon, I believe that you're supposed to lower the lights (or raise the plants?) to keep them from getting leggy. Gah, I can't clearly recall what I did to eliminate that problem several years back when I started hundreds of seedlings in the basement.

denise said...

Sharon - yeah, that is a tough one. In the basement I have the lights on chains to lower/raise as needed, but under counter .... no. What I did is place the seedling trays on stackable cooling racks (baking racks) so they are just inches below the lights. We've made it to transplant with our seedlings many times, so hoping it will work inside on the counter too! :)

Jodi - We found them at Menards. There are many to choose from. We got small energy efficient single bulb shop lights and mounted 2. Jung has some fixtures specifically targeted for indoor gardening, but they are more $$ for the same thing, basically. You can buy specific grow bulbs to go in the fixtures too, if you like, but I have had just as much success in seed starting the past few years using warm/cool bulb mix as with grow bulbs...we'll see! :)

Jodi Anderson said...

Well, my husband LOVES Menard's, so we'll be sure to pick some up while he is home next week. Thanks! ;)

Dawn said...

Fun! I'd love to do the same but our kitty would be having lettuce for lunch everyday, instead of us!

Love your new header!

:)