Kitchen Garden Starts, Potatoes and others. 3.1.2021

 Today I sorted through some of the potatoes that I stored in the garage from last summer.  It was cool and dark, and most of the sprouts don't seem excessive.  They were a mix of types, difficult to recognize.  I usually don't regrow from my own garden, preferring inspected, certified starts.  However, I plant in a different spot each year.  I did not notice any scab or rotting diseases.  There was no significant fusarium wilt.  So I will take a chance.  Last year, I also planted some sprouted home grown and grocery potatoes, and those did fine.

Most looked like the small ones on the right.  I cut up the big potatoes, a yellow flesh type, and sat them in the sunroom for the wounds to dry out.  They can be planted in a week.   If the sprout is a little long, I lay it horizontal or remove it to give the shorter ones a better chance.

Cut potato chunks sitting in the sunroom, with the cut edges drying.  These are yellow flesh, although not necessarily Yukon Gold.  Last year, I had some sprouted yellow potatoes that were from the grocery store, so grew them.  These might be descended from those, or from potatoes that grew on their own in the compost pile.

I also bought some actual tomato seeds ("True Potato Seeds",  TPS) - real seeds, not cut up tubers.  Those are not easy to find.  The variety is Clancy hybrid, an AAS winner.  It's not possible to predict how they will do, and while I have my doubts, it is always interesting to try new things. 

Clancy Potato seedlings.  So far germination is about 30%, which is OK.  Some might germinate later.  It's only been about a week since I planted them, so not too bad.

The marigold photo I forgot to upload yesterday.  Four cells are from the Volunteer French Marigold, and 2 cells are from the Volunteer Yellow Cherry Tomato.  So these are the "Volunteer's Offspring".

 

And one of the tomato six packs.  All of the tomato varieties have germinated.  It's the start of a good gardening year.

Last fall I saved flower heads from chives.  Even though they are perennial and last year's plant will return, I wanted to have some more.  Plus, growing new ones from seeds seems to result in more vigorous plants.  It's easy to separate the seeds.  I did the same thing as I did with basil, storing the flower heads upside down in a paper bag, then crushing them in my fingers to release the seeds, and using my fingers to remove most of the chaff.  A little chaff doesn't hurt anything.  Here are the germinating chive seedlings.  Also, about one week to germination.

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.