Hello my fellow gardeners of Hive! It has been a long time. To long in matter of fact. It has been a whole month since my last post, and I did not think that I would be standing by waiting to start my garden. For the past few years I have always talked the weather of Salinas Valley up for how well things grow here. Yes that is true. We have such a great environment to grow many things. But this year is the coldest that I have ever experienced. So this cold weather has stopped me in my tracks to do what I wanted to do. This is mainly because I wanted to start my seed outside like I did last year. But if I wanted to get started, indoor was the only way I could of gone.
Before I begin on what is happening now, let me take you back a few weeks. With the weather setting me back, not a whole lot was happening. Yet some curveballs was thrown my way. One being a Gopher coming for my Garlic!
Last year I was sure I would be battling these fur balls, but thankfully I had zero issue with them. Knock on wood. So when I came upon my garden one morning, my heart sank to see these dirt mounds. I though forsure one was gone. Luckily it did not get to it. All I did was dig up the tunnel, and destroyed it. My hopes is to spoke it into going to another part of the yard. So far it seems to have worked.
Something good did come out of me digging up the Gophers tunnel. I made a new friend!
If you remember my last post, I was planning to plant Marigolds along the edges of the garden. Well due to the cold it was a fail. So now since it is warmer I am trying it again.
This time I am planting a mix of flowers. So far the weather has been in my favor, and the forecast is looking great. So these should come up. Unlike the Marigolds, which actually where starting to sprout in a few places, but then the nights hit 37 degrees in a week in a row! Another thing that happened was the Nasturtiums I planted got devoured by some snails. So that was another fail!
So that is everything that has happened since last post. Really not a whole lot. Another thing that just happened is I decide to give a try on growing a couple Autoflower cannabis plants on my balcony. In order to get started, I have to start the seed indoor. You can see that post here. So since I have dug some things out of storage, I figured I might as well stop pronasicating, and get something going for my garden at work.
The way I like to get my seeds started is by putting in a wet paper towel between two plates. This way they can sit on the heat mat, and stay nice, and warm.
I am starting off with 5 seeds apiece of each seed pack I picked up. ALso since space is limited, I am going ahead, and putting different seed with each other.
Also since I ran out of plates, I improvised, and used some bows for the tops instead. Oh, and I made sure to label what seed I had in each.
I am using a reg old desktop lamp with a LED bulb for the seedlings. Pictured here is the Cannabis, and some Radishes that my son started at school.
I am teaching him how to garden this year. He helped me transplant his Radishes into Jiffy Pots.
Which is what I am using for all the seed starts this year. I had having to transplant. Also since my space is very limited, I have no choice but to start in small pots. So it is going to be nice to just throw these into the ground once they are ready.
Another thing I am doing to get my seedlings going, is putting them in the sun for a few hours in the day. After each day more sun is shining too! So that will mean I will gradually set these seedlings out for longer as well.
So now things really are going to start to pick up. This time I mean it! LOL My compost is about ready too. So before I am able to put my seedlings in the ground, I will work some compost into it. I may pick up some more plants from the nursery, but one thing I really would love to have is Pumpkins. Which I already have started. If anything perhaps I will pick up some Habanero, and Jalapeno. We will see because I know Melons take a lot of space in the garden. One thing is I am going to have lots of fun doing it!
