04/18
What a difference just six days can make!
Transplanted 25 pepper seedlings into medium (18 per tray) pots on 4/16. Will do some more of the same in a few days.
04/19
One last look at the prematurely started cherry tomato seedlings mentioned in the previous post… Unfortunately, they have nearly outgrown the patio environment, and there’s just no way that they can be adequately accommodated another four weeks, until the average last frost date, when they can be reasonably safely transplanted into the garden.
On a happier note, the Opalka and Jet Star tomato seedlings mentioned in the previous post seem to be shaping up nicely, with the Jet Stars clearly taking the lead in that regard. Read online the other day that it’s normal for some tomato varieties to grow weird at first. While I haven’t found anything specific to either of these two varieties in that regard, it has already begun to appear that that is the case, which is a big relief.
04/20
More seeds started (96 cells on heat mat):
12 Chadwick Cherry Tomato (to replace those prematurely started seedlings mentioned above).
6 Fordhook Zucchini
12 Waltham Butternut Squash
6 Buttercup Squash
12 New England Sugar Pie Pumpkin
6 Connecticut Field Pumpkin
12 Tommy Apple Melon Cantaloupe
12 Strawberry Watermelon
6 Marketmore 76 Cucumber
12 Wild Italian Fennel
Final seeds will be started as soon as heat pad space becomes available from 04/20 batch:
6 more Fordhook Zucchini
6 more Buttercup Squash
6 more Connecticut Field Pumpkin
6 more Marketmore 76 Cucumber
Just as with all other vegetable seeds (and herbs to some degree), more are started than will be needed in the garden; to allow for germination rate, for culling of weakest seedlings, and/or for replacement of transplanted seedlings substantially injured or killed by garden pests.