It has been a few months since I have done a progress post on these plants. I have made some changes to how the lights are rigged. Now I use a pulley system to get the lights as close as possible to the plant container domes.
In my previous posts I used a chain system to get the lights close, but not close enough. And the seedlings started to grow long and stringy. So I had to start over with new seeds and a better lighting setup.
Once the seedlings got big enough I moved them to some cell containers. And then put domes over them to keep the humidity in.
And a few weeks later, the Thyme was reaching the top of the domes. So it was time to transplant into a pot.
I could see the roots popping out the sides so they surely needed more room to grow.
You could also see a few that had roots growing out of the bottom of the cells, unfortunately those roots broke when I tried to remove. So its important to transplant before they get too big. Otherwise the plant may go into shock if you break the roots while trying to remove them from the cells. I broke a few and had to get fresh plants a few days later as they went into shock.
Using some pots donated to me, I got some potting soil and added the Thyme plants. Some of the pots have holes, others do not.
Not all the Thyme are happy about the transplant, the Lemon Thyme seems pretty upset. But the Common Thyme is doing better.
While transplanting I experienced the smell of these herbs, quite spicy.
One of the bigger pots I had, I put in multiple Common Thyme together to see how they will grow.
I still have a bunch that need transplanting. Curious if I can start them outside this time of year. It may be too cold, but I hear these little plants are quite hardy.
Keeping them in their cells and domes until I find a better place for them.
These are the pulleys I am using, they are meant for grow lights and work great for my fluorescent tubes.
I prefer these now over my chains as its much easier to adjust. With the chains there was always a risk of them falling when adjusting. Not so much with the pulley system, though you still need to be careful with the weight added to the cords as they will drop with gravity when opened.
Once I transplanted my first batch I started new seed trays. And since then have spaced out some of the seedings. I notice the Thyme will try to grow in bunches but I dont want the roots to get tangled up. So I move them once they are big enough to their own little spot in the seed try.
It all looks quite messy, but its functional.
I dont know if Thyme has a low germination rate, but seems half or more of my seeds do not sprout.
At first I thought it was due to how flexible my trays are, and the seeds would fall in crevasses when I would handle the trays.
Its okay though, even if some do not germinate. Every tray has some more coming up.
My plans going forward are to grow the Thyme in pots, take cuttings and root them. This will allow me to propagate plants much faster than by seed. So hoping my potted Thyme will start growing soon once they adjust. They may need a few weeks, and some may not make it so I will replace the weak ones.
Hoping by spring time I have dozens of strong Thyme plants ready to go into the ground. I have a spot for a bunch already, just need to wait for the weather to warm up in a few months and for these seedlings to get nice and strong.
