N & C Midwest: March 2017 Brink of Spring

Land arch, lookin' good!  Wonder what is up with those peppers???  Everything else is thriving.  Did you direct seed those carrots in the first pic last fall?  Did you v=cover over the winter?  They look gorgeous!  Also, the napa cabbage,is it like cabbage?  Loving it, I cannot wait for this RAIN to let up a bit !

Don't know what's wrong...I used a Burpee seed starting mix.  I ordered new pepper seeds yesterday and will start them as soon as they come in but I'll be 4-5 weeks behind.

Carrots were direct seeded late last fall and I have not protected.  

Napa cabbage is also called Chinese cabbage...it's used for Kimchi, stir fry...some use it in salad.  From my experience the dead grows so quickly damage to outer leaves from the cabbage moth caterpillar is tolerable.

landarch wrote: Napa cabbage is also called Chinese cabbage...it's used for Kimchi, stir fry...some use it in salad. From my experience the dead grows so quickly damage to outer leaves from the cabbage moth caterpillar is tolerable.

Huh? Wait...oh. That typo is really funny, landarch! Took me a few seconds to figure it out. Thanks for the laugh.

Good to know about the Napa. I had no idea.

hopefully not dead...new pepper seeds came in the mail today...has anyone ever started seeds in pure coarse vermiculite?

landarch wrote:hopefully not dead...new pepper seeds came in the mail today...has anyone ever started seeds in pure coarse vermiculite?

I started some of my seeds in pure coarse vermiculite last year. IIRC - mache, claytonia, chrysanthemum, orach, and something else, I don't remember what, but it wasn't peppers. It worked pretty well for the first three, but I had germination issues with the orach. I don't think the problem was the vermiculite though, since I don't think I got them to germinate in potting mix either -- so I bought new seeds for that this year.

I had this problem last year, too... had to start over, twice.  Most of the peppers this year have sprouted, just barely, then have completely stopped growing.  They haven't done anything for two weeks, and now one of them looks like it's dying.  None of them have been able to lose their hulls. All the tomatoes I started 3 weeks later are already ahead of them.  I'm about to chuck them all again.

I hope I crack this code pretty soon, I'm tired of wasting seeds and mix on these slackers.

OK, I recognize that Napa Cabbage from stir fries!  Nice!  Kinda bitter, right?  

OK, on the fall carrots, you just put those seeds out there and left them?  They just waited dormant and now are up?  WHAT???!!!!

I have never done the pure vermiculite sowing, I use something from Walmart in a yellow bag.  Cheap.  Organic however.  

About the peppers, must be the seeds.  If your peppers are up and good, in the same mix and same conditions, must be the seeds' viability.  They like heat, so they should all be happy....hmmmm

Kate, damping off?  Or something else?  Still under lights or in a window?

Scorpio Rising wrote:
OK, on the fall carrots, you just put those seeds out there and left them?  They just waited dormant and now are up?  WHAT???!!!!

I've heard of people doing that with carrots, and apparently, it's a pretty reliable way to get them going.  May try it myself, but then I wonder what to do when I need to mix in more compost, which I usually do in late fall, and again in the spring.  Same thing with plants that have to stay in place for more than one season, like strawberries or asparagus.

Scorpio Rising wrote:
Kate, damping off?  Or something else?  Still under lights or in a window?

If I had any idea, I'd know what to change.  They sit under intense indoor light all day, but I took them off the heating pad, where I get them to sprout, to move them under lights.  I've been letting them get a little dry on top before watering, and watering sparingly.

I guess my main suspect is soil temp.  They sat outside today to get some daylight and breezes, although it was overcast and chilly all day, figuring any real daylight is better than indoor light.  I dug out the spare heating pad and set it under the flat when I brought them back in to go under lights.

I've been trying to get them all out into some sunshine, but Mother Nature has been in a bad mood for the last couple of weeks.  The rain has been nice, but right now, we need sunshine more than anything.

If the tomatoes are doing well in the same growing mix, would pH be an issue?

As for sprouting seeds in vermiculite...  I don't really sprout them in vermiculite, but many of my really small seeds are started just on top of the mix in a seed cell - no hole or indention - then I sprinkle a thin layer of fine vermiculite over them to cover them up.  This seems to work pretty well.

Agree.  Peppers like it hot for germination....

Could use sunshine in central Ohio. It's a soggy mess and suppose to continue for another week.
Outdoor activities, forget about it except to check asparagus for new sprouts. Pull early weeds from flower beds in between the rain, pretty easy with everything so wet.
Indoor activities, planted starter ginger in flats, fermented a jar of garlic, start indoor seeds, paint window boxes, make two gallons of kombucha, 1/2 gallon of sauerkraut, and another gallon of lacto fermented ginger ale.  Do once a week check and feed worm farm.  Continue to shop supplies for baby chicks arrival later this month.

llama momma wrote:make two gallons of kombucha,

You have scoobies??? I would definitely trade a piece or 2 of comfrey root for a pc or 2 of scooby. Remind me mid summer, which is when my comfrey shows up.
CC

Yes I can spare scoby's  for comfrey!  Let's think of each other mid summer !! Whoo HOO !

llama momma wrote:Could use sunshine in central Ohio. It's a soggy mess and suppose to continue for another week.
Outdoor activities, forget about it except to check asparagus for new sprouts. Pull early weeds from flower beds in between the rain, pretty easy with everything so wet.
Indoor activities, planted starter ginger in flats, fermented a jar of garlic, start indoor seeds, paint window boxes, make two gallons of kombucha, 1/2 gallon of sauerkraut, and another gallon of lacto fermented ginger ale.  Do once a week check and feed worm farm.  Continue to shop supplies for baby chicks arrival later this month.

Okay, I feel like a total slacker. . .

Sanderson,
I got a couple of those things done.  The list will keep me busy for a week !