Seedling Progress Report. 2.28.2021

 The seeding mat was a bit too warm, with a brief period up to 100F earlier this week.  For most of the seeds, it does not seem to have hurt them and many are germinating earlier than expected.  Not all are growing yet.  So far, most of the tomatoes, the basil, and French marigolds are growing.  The marigolds were first.  The basil and marigolds were seeds I saved from my plants last fall, and the marigolds were from volunteer plant, so now 3rd generation in my garden.

Basil seedlings.  There are a "typical" basil - not one of the fancy big leaf or Thai varieties.  Last fall I cut off the seed heads, and stored them upside down in a brown paper bag in my home office.  Last week, I crushed the dry seed heads in my hands, transferred to a bowl, used my fingers to separate the chaff.  it was very easy to get a large amount of seed, and the process smelled very nice, like basil.

Tomato Seedlings.  Only two have not germinated yet, one of the Moskovic and the home saved volunteer yellow cherry tomato.

Marigold Seedlings - not pictured but similar to the tomato seedlings.  I still have the original plant, blooming in the sunroom.  It's a nice, reddish brown color with orange edges and centers, only about 9 inches tall after a year.

 

Plus, some of the earlier seedlings are doing very well so far.  First, the shallot seedlings are growing nicely.  Germination was poor, but the plants that did grow are doing well.  I also have a shallot bulb that I planted in the garden last fall.  It will be interesting to compare how they do.

 This container has peppers, on left is Banana pepper and with the reddish-leaf apple seedling is Thai pepper.  Those will get separated when I repot the apple plant.

More seedlings under LED lights.

 

 

Celery seedlings.  I planted them too thickly.  The seeds are tiny and I didn't know how good the germination would be.  I thinned them to a few per cell.  Probably thin to one or two per cell, later.

There are also storage onion seedlings and some of the peppers, eggplants, and apples, on the top shelf under the sunroom top window.

Nepenthesa and Dendrobium Hybrid Revival After Dry Dormancy. 2.28.2021

 I stored several of the Nepenthes and Dendrobium Orchids in a bright window in the garage for most of the winter.  I did not have the ability to keep them watered for a while.  This week I pruned off the dead leaves and rehydrated the growth medium.  So far they are looking good.  The leaf turgidity has returned and there may be some new growth initiation.  A few did not survive, but it's nice to know there are some I can keep in dry dormancy for a while.

Nepenthes sanguinium a week after removing dead leaves and rehydration.

A Yamamoto dendrobium and that Nepenthes after cleanup and rehydration.

Another, larger Yamamoto dendrobium, also stored dry dormant in the garage and reviving this week.

Starting Tomato and Potato Seeds. 2.23.2021

 Recovering from hospitalization, and raining outside, so no outdoor gardening for a while.  I planted some tomato and potato seeds today.

Here are the varieties that I'm trying this year:

Potato Seeds - I never grew potatoes from actual seeds before. I'm skeptical.  However, I like to try new things in the garden.  Potatoes from seeds as opposed to "seed potatoes" that are actual small potato slices, have these advantages:  The seeds store well, so I can buy in advance.  Supposedly not carriers of diseases that the potato slices can carry.  They have disadvantages:  Probably smaller potatoes.  Unknown entity at this time.  Limited selection.  No standard varieties, because those won't come true from seeds and some apparently wont even make seeds.  I'm trying the F1 hybrid "Clancy".  The seeds are pelleted and sold in a vial, in a typical seed envelope.  I've only planted six cells, four seeds each.

Tomatoes - This year I'm just growing one of each variety, but more varieties.  Those "Bodaceous" that I grew last year were awful, tasteless, not productive.  So not this year.  I'm growing some Russian varieties that are supposedly more likely to grow and produce in my cooler, shorter season climate.  Also, I think these Russian tomatoes are not hybrids so are candidates for me to save seeds this fall.  It's too early to start sauce tomatoes, these are just cherry, salad, and slicing tomatoes.

Muscovich - a 4-6 ounce slicing tomato, early (60 days), indeterminate, Russian.  info from Victory Seeds:  "Developed in the early 1970s at the famous N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, Moscow, U.S.S.R"

Golden King of Siberia- a large, oxheart shaped slicing tomato, indeterminate, mid season (80 days), Russian, disease resistant,

Purple Russian - also called Ukranian Tomato brought back from Irma Henkle, according to multiple websites, indeterminate, mid season, 5-7 ounce.  The photos look like a paste tomato.

Lemon Boy - I like this yellow slicer.  I've been looking for seeds for years. Adaptable, disease resistant hybrid, indeterminate 7-8   ounces, midseason (72 days).

Sugar Rush - Cherry tomato.  Indeterminate.  53 days.  3/4" to 1-1/4" fruits.

Braveheart - 1 ounce cherry tomatoes described as crack resistant, which is good because my usual sungold and supersweet-100 crack and split.  60 days.

Unicorn - included free in seed order.  Indeterminate, described as "coctail tomatoes" but look like cherry tomatoes to me, 76 days.

Early Goliath - I've seen these offered and never tried them.  I'm hoping for an early sandwich slice tomato.  Disease resistant hybrid, 8 ounce which is a good size for me, 56 days, indeterminate.

Better Boy - I grow these every year.  Midwest-type big  hybrid tomato that is what I think when I think of garden tomato.  70 to 75 days, disease resistant.

Classic Beefsteak - heirloom 1-2 pound fruit, from Baker Creek.  I got these because they are not hybrid, so if they do OK might save the seeds.  

Yellow Volunteer Cherry Tomato - this was a yellow volunteer cherry tomato in my garden last year.  It didn't get water or plant food and was crowded by other plants.  I thought I would save some seeds and see what happens.  It was a smaller plant, actually tasted as good as any cherry tomato.

This was the vial of pelleted potato seeds.  I've never seen seeds packaged like this before.  Interesting and handy.

Seedling Progress Report. 2.15.2021

 Here are seedling photos for today and a few days ago.  Most are doing quite well.  Some are still germinating, some probably wont.  I always plant extra for that reason.

 

The shallots had lower germination than the onions even though they are related and look the same.  Still, there are some.  I added more seeds to cells that had limited germination or no germination.    The Japanese scallions look good.  The celery germinated over a week or so, now quite good.  Eggplants were uneven but there are enough.  Peppers too.  

The colors are weird due to the LED lights.  For some, I had them too close and the leaf tips dried out.  They will be OK.  Some people cut off the lead tips to encourage growth from below.  I don't get it, but at least these will be OK.  These are the bulb or storage onions.  They are growing faster than the scallions and shallots.

The two celery are from Baker Creek heirloom seeds.  They are Utah and Chinese.    There are various peppers, but so far I have a bunch of Jalapenos, a banana pepper, Serrano, and a Thai pepper. I dropped the cell pack for shallots, so now replanted some.

These are the two apple seedlings so far.  Both are from the same apple, a Calypso pollinated by columnar Golden Sentinel. Interesting, one is red leaf and other is green leaf. I had stratified them, wrapped in moist paper towel, in zip lock, in fridge, since about August.  I had to change the paper towel a couple of times due to mildew.  I planted these seeds in cells that had pepper seeds that did not germinate.  Then in one, the Thai pepper seeds germinated anyway :-)  I can separate them later.

Here is my seed starting setup so far.  I turned off the warming mats, since the seedling have germinated.

The view from outside today.

Some plants I brought in last fall.

This marigold, I dug up in the fall and planted in a container in potting soil.  It was a volunteer and has been blooming all winter long.

I've dug up this geranium every fall for about six years.  Maybe longer.  Sometimes I let it dry out in the garage.  This year I kept it going in the sunroom.  Sometimes it blooms.

The nepenthes have suffered because I've been sick several times this winter, and they need more water than I gave them.  Some are OK.

Apple Ripening Times. 2.6.2021

I decided to label my apple varieties as to when they ripen.  I usually can't remember. If I add a tag, then I can look at that.  I haven't decided on what the tag will say yet, maybe month + week so, for example, if they ripen in Mid Aug, the tag will say A2-3  or something.

The dates and summaries (such as "late summer") depend on so many factors, they are not etched in stone.  In any region, there will be warmer and cooler pockets, different elevations, and effects of large bodies of water, or not.  In any given year, there are warmer and cooler years, some more sunny, some with more or less rain.  How many warm days in a given summer may be an effect, as well as how long the summer days are - longer, but cooler, in the Northwest compared, for example to the Southeast.  Still, a super early apple such as Gravenstein ripens in Aug, and a super late apple like GoldRush ripens in Nov or so.

Sources will be listed below.  I decided to group the apple varieties fairly broadly, and base on as local a list as I could.  But also with info from other sites, because many are not listed in a particular book or site.   The dates after the apple cultivar name are the date that cultivar was created, discovered, or introduced, according to the various sources. 

[Edit - I originally had Winter Banana, a late apple, here.  Porter was my intent, it's early.]

 

Late Summer

Akane [1930s in Japan]- Aug - Mid Sept (Y), Early- Mid Sept (MK)

Gravenstein [1600s] - late Aug (J), Summer (Y), Early Sept (MK)

Porter [ca 1800] - Aug (South)-Sept(N England) (J), Late Summer (Burford)

Pristine [1974] - Summer (B), Aug 25-30 (S), Early - Mid Aug (MK)

Zestar [1990s] - Late Aug (Y), Aug 10-20 (S)

 

Fall

Airlie Red Flesh [before 1960] - Sept - Oct (J), Fall (B)

Fameuse [1700s in Quebec]- Sept (Y)

Honeycrisp [1960] - Aug 30-Sept 15 (S), mid Sept - Early Oct (MK)

Jonagold [1968] - Oct 5-15 (M), Sept-Oct (RJ),  Fall (B), Mid Sept to late Oct (Y), Late Sept to early Oct (MK), Sept 10-15 (S).

Jonathan [1790s] - Early Oct (M), Sept-Oct (J), Fall (B), Mid Sept to Mid Oct (Y), Sept 10-15 (S).

Liberty [1955] - Oct 10-20 (M), Mid Fall (B), Oct (Y), Sept 10-15 (S), Early-mid Oct (MK)

Prima [1967] - Early - mid Sept (MK)

Priscilla - [1961] Early Fall (B)

Rubinette - [1964] Last half of Sept ( ) , Early Oct (Y)

Sutton Beauty [1757] - Fall (B)

Sweet Sixteen [1973] - Sept 19-27 (M), Sept (J), Fall (B), Mid Sept (Y) Aug 30-Sept 15 (S)

Winecrisp [1990] - Sept 30-Oct 10 (S)

 

 

 

Late Fall

Baldwin [1740] - Oct (J), Late Fall (B), Late Sept - Nov (Y)

Black Oxford [1790] - Early November, long keeper (J), Late Fall (B)

GoldRush [1972] - Nov & keeps very well (J), Fall (B), Oct-Nov (Y), Oct 20-25 (S)

Keepsake [1978] - Oct 10-12 (M), Oct & keeps well (J), Late Fall (B), Mid Sept-Mid Oct (Y), Sept 10-15 (S).

King David [1893] - Late Fall (B), Oct (Y)

Macoun [1909] - Sept-Oct (J), Late Fall (B), Late Sept-Oct (Y), Sept 10-15 (S) 

Opalescent [1880] - Late Fall (B)

Winter Banana [1876] - Oct, keep to Dec (J), Late Sept - Oct (Y)

Sources

B = Tom Burford.  "Apples of North America" ( I think East Coast)

 J = Rowan Jacobsen, "Apples of Uncommon Character" (I think East Coast)

M= Manhart.  "Apples for the 21st Century."  W. Washington and W. Oregon resource.

MK  = Moulton and King, Fruit Handbook for Western Washington.  WSU Mt Vernon Northwestern WA Research and Extension Center.  

S = Stark Brother's Nursery, on line information (Missouri)

Y = Roger Yepson.  "Apples" (Possibly NY State?  I'm not sure)

Looking at this list, this is a lot of varieties!  I must be crazy!  However, each year I obtain some scion and graft to existing trees, so each tree is a multigraft.  Some have a half dozen varieties.  Most of the varieties are on 8 dwarf or semidwarf, multigrafted trees.  That does not include the new minigrafts, espaliers, and columnar trees that will be much smaller.  Also not included, because they are such new varieties, are the Cosmic Crisp, or the red flesh, Redlove apples, Calypso, Era, and Odysso.  The list also misses SummerRed, Grenadine, Prima,

Since it's boring to look at an all-text entry, I included some of the USDA Pomological Watercolors for most of the historic cultivars.  Most have been cultivated from 1700s to early 1900s, with the watercolors mostly being in the first three decades of the 20th century.  Required statement:  "Use of the images in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection is not restricted, but a statement of attribution is required. Please use the following attribution statement: "U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705"  The abbreviated years are for the 20th century - ie, 1913, not 2013.