This Weekend in The Garden.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

 Whose woods these are I think I know.
 His house is in the village though;
 He will not see me stopping here
 To watch his woods fill up with snow.

 My little horse must think it queer
 To stop without a farmhouse near
 Between the woods and frozen lake
 The darkest evening of the year.

 He gives his harness bells a shake
 To ask if there is some mistake.
 The only other sound’s the sweep
 Of easy wind and downy flake.

 The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
 But I have promises to keep,
 And miles to go before I sleep,
 And miles to go before I sleep.

Starting Peppers and Onions under LEDs. Update 2.9.19

Here are the pepper and onion seedlings under LEDs. I bought an additional unit.  I think this one was 35 Watts.  I did not realize it would give, in addition to the blue and red lights, some yellow and white.  That's fine, and from what I read, better.  I also have aluminum foil sheets that I hang on side and ends of the plant rack to reflect more light onto the plants.  So far Im very happy with how the plants are doing.

The bottom photo shows my old CFL light.  I got it out for getanium cuttings that I started from last fall's plants, and a couple of orchids.  Those geraniums are growing fast under this light.

Repotting Yamamoto Dendrobiums. 1.29.19

These Yamamoto Dendrobiums kept falling over.  I think I over-nurtured them last summer and fall, and they became top heavy.  Maybe they would have bloomed already if I held off longer on watering and did not fertilize as much.  Still, they are very lush.  Maybe they will bloom later.

These orchids usually prefer being fairly pot-bound, but I don't like having them be so top-heavy and maybe dry out too fast between waterings.  So I repotted them.

Not much to it this time.  I just removed the pots and without much root disturbance, filled in with more orchid bark medium around the original roots.  I watered them in to settle the orchid bark.  They will be without water for a while now, as they settle in.

There is no excess of keikis - new stems with roots growing on top of the old stems.  That can happen with too much fertilizing too.  So I think they got enough, and not too much.  They look pretty happy with the care they got.

Seed Starting. Peppers and Onions. LED Lights. 1.25.19

Germinating Onion and Pepper Seedlings.  1.25.19

 Here are the seedlings so far.  I've been starting them in seedling 6-packs.  I put the 6 packs into a cheap bread-loaf sized plastic bag and sit them on a seedling warmer mat until they germinate.  Then they come out of the bag and are just under the lights.

Despite the weird color when the lights are turned on, the plants seem to be growing normally.  Turn off the lights, and the leaves are a normal green.

Germinating Onions Seedlings.  1.25.19

LED Seedling Set-up/  1.29/18

 I may set up one of the old CFL fixtures, because I don't want to spend too much on LEDs and I have more seedlings to start.

The onion varieties are Red Westerfield, Stuttgarter, and some old seeds from Blush Pink or something like that.  I also bought some WallaWalla seeds that I started a few days ago.

Seeds Planted Today.  1.25.19

 I planted some Tabasco and Thai pepper seeds earlier, which have partially germinated.  The seed warmer mat dries them out a little too fast for me, so I took that out.  If no additional Tabasco and Thai seedlings emerge, I think I have enough.

Today I planted additional pepper seeds - "Craig Jalapeno", a Jalapeno from the store, Banana, Ring Of Fire cayenne-type, and regular Cayenne, and a Korean Pepper. Most are from Baker Creek Seeds.

Above Onion Seedlings, Turned Off LED Lights.  1.25.19

The last photo shows some of the onion seedlings, just turning off the LED light to take the photo.

Nepenthes. 1.22.18

 I can't take credit for these tropical Nepenthes.
They came from growcarnivorousplants.com.  The are very different from American pitcher plants, which stay outside.  I never know if something will grow in my hands, but these will be very interesting.

I hope they grow and flourish.  Right now, most of them are in the sunroom.  The temperatures there vary a lot, nights in the 50s and days into the mid 70s.  In the summer, it's much warmer and they'll have to go outside.