Plants Grow.

Plants grow up so fast these days

Well, now that it is Spring Break and I have a little bit of time, I decided to go ahead and transplant some more plants and plant some new seeds. The image above is the updated setup. I transplanted my bell peppers, hot pepper and tomatoes to larger pots.

Instead of going with the florescent tubes, I went with two CFL's that are daylight and equivalent to 100 watts. The bulbs and fixtures are inexpensive and more flexible.

As for the new seeds, I planted Cucumber, Lettuce, Green Beans, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, and Sunflower. I'm going to need to get more pots and lights for all this, since the last frost won't be for a while.

This is one of the Italian Grape Tomatoes in a container fashioned out of an orange juice cartoon.

These are all the plants that I have moved from the seedling tray.

I put the Cilantro in this strange pot I found. Seems to have slowed in growth since the transplanting. (In photo: Indy)

Trans-planting

Well, I've transplanted the Yellow Pear Tomatoes, Cilantro, and one Italian Grape Tomato. I need more light though, before I transplant anymore. I think I'm going to go with a 4' or 3' light fixture with one sunlight bulb (5500K 96CRI) for the blue spectrum and one standard florescent bulb (around 2500K) for the red spectrum. For pots, I used some I found laying around the house, but for the additional pots I will need, I will find them in the recycling bin in the form of orange juice containers and pop bottles. I used an orange juice container and it seems to work quite well. I just cut it in half and flipped the top around to hold soil, which then nests in the bottom, which catches the water.

Indoor Grow'n

Above is an image of my initial setup to start the seedlings off. I have two 2' 20 watt "sunlight" Fluorescent bulbs that put out 5500K and have a CRI of 96, if I recall correctly. This setup is, from what I understand, great for getting seedlings going, but I will need to increase the red portion of the light spectrum after they start taking off. I'll end up expanding to 4' flourescents, or a series of CFL's in a reflective box; I'm still figuring that out.


So, what am I growing? Well, I'm growing Basil, Cilantro, Thyme, Curly Parsley, Chives, Marjoram, Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Black Sea Man Tomato, Italian Grape Tomato, Lollipop Tomato, Organic Yellow Pear Tomato, (rainbow) Bell Peppers, and a mix of hot peppers. Oh and I almost forgot, I planted some Pomegranate too. That's what's in the containers next to the seeding tray in the first photo. I don't really have any idea why I decided to plant Pomegranate. They take 1-4 months just to germinate (although my tomatoes where suppose to take 7-21 days and germinated in 3). They also won't start to produce fruit for three years. Oh, and its a tree. How I'm going to manage to move a tree around, as I am in a nomadic time in my life, is beyond me. Also, I live in Michigan! I guess I'll have to move closer to the equator as they grow larger.

The Yellow Pear Tomatoes have done the best. They germinated the quickest and grew the fastest. Next would be the Cilantro and Italian Grape Tomatoes. I've already transplanted the Yellow Pear Tomatoes, and when I get a chance will transplant the Cilantro and Italian Grape Tomatoes. Going to have to figure out a new setup quick.

Photos from Botanical Gardens Visit

These are photos from the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens visit. (http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/)