Repotting Zinnias

Since the zinnias are growing so quickly and have a while before they will be planted outside, I decided to move them to bigger containers. After some hunting, I found 4 inch diameter peat pots. When the plants are big enough to go outside (and when it is also warm enough), I can plant the peat pots directly in the ground, because they are biodegradable. It will make it much easier to create my zinnia garden, and it will be easier on the plants since I won't have to risk damaging their roots. I found the peat pots at Lowe's, and they were really cheap ($2 for 22 pots). 

Starting the zinnia transfer

The new setup

All of the zinnias. Now how to figure out which are the California Giants and which are the Dreamlands...

Lupine close-up with poppies in the background.

I've also planted more seeds (delphinium and snapdragon), so hopefully I'll have a lot of new sprouts popping up within the next couple of weeks.

Back From Idaho

Well, I am back from a 5-day visit to Idaho. I left my husband in charge of watering my seedlings while I was gone, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I got back. Some of the seedlings had been underwatered, which I must admit was my fault. I didn't give him very good instructions on watering. I gave him a spray bottle to water them, because I was afraid of overwatering. However, the soil has been drying out much faster than it was before I left, and so I should have told him to water more frequently. Oh well. Good news first. The zinnias are very tough, and I only lost a few. I gave 3 away to a friend, so my zinnia count has gone down even more. I still have lots, though. I even have my first 6-leaf zinnia plant! They are getting really big and should probably be planted in their own, larger containers. They are supposed to be planted outside around 5 weeks of age (2 weeks from today), but I don't know if that is past the last frost here. I will have to find out. 

Zinnias (Day 22)

Tall Zinnia (Day 22)

6-Leaf zinnia (Day 22)

I also have 3 columbine sprouts! I was worried that they weren't going to germinate, because online I have read that the seeds need to be chilled before they are planted. It was a pleasant surprise to find the 3 new sprouts! Columbine is one of my favorite flowers, and I have read that they self-sow very easily. 

3 Columbine sprouts (Day 22)

Close-up of one Columbine sprout (Day 22)

I was also excited to see 3 sprouts of lupine! (Weren't those supposed to take a long time to germinate??) 

Lupine sprout (Day 12)

Finally, I have tons of poppy sprouts. That was somewhat expected, but I wasn't expecting so many! I have to figure out how I am supposed to thin them out. 

Poppy sprouts (Day 12)

Lupine sprouts on left, Poppy in center (Day 12)

Now for the bad news. I lost all of my portulaca. They weren't really doing that well before, though, so I don't know if they would have survived anyway. And the worst news now. I really love William, but he is a little absent-minded sometimes. One day, Callie, our "good" cat, got shut in the guest bedroom (where all the seed trays are). And yes, she did the worst: she ate the leaves off of my single nasturtium. Nasturtium leaves and flowers are edible (to people, at least) and are sometimes used in salads. I guess they are supposed to be spicy. So I guess it's understandable. She didn't just stop there though. She also ate the leaves off of my delphinium plants! And so, Callie has lost a little bit of her "angel cat" status. I will probably grow more delphiniums since I had relative success with them. I don't know about the nasturtiums, though. I have some more seeds that I am trying to get to germinate, so maybe I will get lucky with one of them.

All that's left of the Nasturtium

Leaf-less Delphinum sprout

Hard to believe this kitty could cause that destruction!

A Growth Spurt!

I have to start the blog on my lonely Nasturtium sprout, because it has blown me away! Here is its growth over the past 3 days.

Day 11

Day 12... a little greener, a little bigger

Day 13... WOW

Day 13

Day 13

The delphinium sprout is also doing very well. Below are pictures of it on days 12 and 13. There are also 4 new sprouts since yesterday!

 

Day 12

Day 13

Today was a very good day for seedling growth. I am adding a Sprout Count to the right so that I can track how many of each flower I have, and I will update it each time I post. It is exciting to see the numbers of sprouts go up!

Still watching out for this one... don't let her innocent look fool you.

Day 10: Planting More

I decided to plant a whole tray of seeds that will take a long time to germinate (average time of 20 days). This makes more sense than what I did before... I am learning! I can move the whole tray from the greenhouse to the window instead of having to cut individual cells out. Here are the steps of planting the seeds!    

A picture of the elusive Callie!

                 

Ginnie and Callie sniffing out the seed tray.

Adding the soil to the cells. Kiki is drinking the warm water I set out to moisten the soil before adding the seeds. Callie is eating (you can see her tail in the upper right corner). What else is new?

Lupine seeds

Poppy seeds - I just sprinkled them over some cells because you are supposed to cover them with very little soil.

Columbine seeds

Using a pencil to create the holes for the seeds. If you are taking a picture of yourself using a timer, watch the camera to make sure that a cat doesn't knock it over...

If that certain cat is about to knock over the camera, catch it before it falls, especially if it's a new camera! Ha ha ha

More of creating holes and the elusive Callie

Adding seeds. Notice the background? Someone's camera shy.

After adding all of the seeds, I covered them with soil, re-watered them, and returned them to the bathroom greenhouse where they will stay for the next few weeks until they (hopefully) sprout!

Day 9: Portulaca Sprouts!

I'm up to 18 zinnia sprouts... and 8 portulaca sprouts! I read online that portulaca need light to germinate, so I decided to move them to the window. While I was desperately looking at them for any signs of germination, I noticed that there were TINY sprouts. They were hard to see in the darker bathroom, but once I moved them into the light, I saw many more! 

Portulaca sprouts - hard to spot!

I also transplanted some moved some zinnia sprouts where two sprouts had germinated in the same cell. They need their space.     

Crowding each other

Really long zinnia root - they grow quickly in both directions!

After reorganizing zinnia sprouts. I also rotated the trays yesterday so that the zinnia sprouts wouldn't end up completely leaned over toward the sun.

While I was digging up empty cells to find a new place for the transport sprouts, I discovered many more seeds that have germinated but not sprouted yet. I am going to have TONS of zinnias, but that is ok with me! I may even devote the whole back garden to them!

Day 7: Sunshine!

The sun finally came out today, which was great for my sprouts. I also found three more zinnia sprouts. I was getting nervous about the other two types of flowers I planted in these two trays, so I looked at the seed packet instructions. The petunias should take 7-12 days to germinate, and the columbine should take 21-28 days to germinate.

Zinnias showing phototropism, bending toward the light

Close-up of a big zinnia sprout with a brand new sprout in the same well

I have to keep an eye on Kiki...

As for the seeds in the bathroom greenhouse, after some online research, I discovered that the nasturtiums should germinate after 10-14 days (maybe I should count Day 1 as the day I moved them BACK to the warm bathroom), delphiniums should germinate after 10-14 days, and portulaca should take one to two weeks. So, hopefully I will be seeing lots of sprouts within the next week!

Nasturtiums Make a Move

Upon doing a little more research on each flower I am growing, I found out that the nasturtiums need warm soil. Otherwise, they will rot. My nasturtium seeds were in the same seed tray as the zinnias, so they had been moved out of the warm "greenhouse," so I was worried about them rotting. I checked the seeds, and they showed no signs of rotting. I decided to move them back to the greenhouse so that they can stay a little warmer and hopefully germinate. I cut the nasturtium cells out of the seed tray and put them in plastic containers.                                                           

Thanks for the help, Ginnie!

Then I put up plastic hooks right above the heater in the bathroom/greenhouse and attached the plastic containers to the hooks. Then I turned down the heater a little... I don't want to start any fires.

In the meantime, I have no new zinnia sprouts, but the current ones are growing quickly.

Close-up of the zinnia leaves

In other news... it is snowing.

The start of my gardening adventure

On the first day, I collected all of the necessary ingredients, including seeds of zinnia, columbine, snapdragon, delphinium, portulaca, petunia, nasturtium, and oriental poppy. Each seed packet cost about $0.20, so I went a little crazy. These are all perrenial flowers, so they should come back year after year! I also bought seed starter trays at Walmart for $2.00 each. They are biodegradable, and when the flowers are ready to plant outside, you can just cut out the particular well and plant the whole thing in the soil! I also bought potting soil, but overall it was an inexpensive start to my new hobby!

 

I followed the directions that came with the seed cell trays and filled each cell with soil, then wet the soil with warm water. I added two seeds to each well following the directions on the seed packets for the planting depth. I used the eraser end of an old-fashioned wooden pencil to make the holes, and then just dropped the seeds in. Then I watered again with warm water. 

Little did I know that Kiki would later develop a habit of chewing on the cardboard seed tray.

I put the seed trays in the bathroom, which is the warmest room in our house. Then all I had to do was wait!                                                         

Five days later, I had 7 sprouts, all of which were Zinnia. I moved these two trays from the bathroom to the guest bedroom window, where they can get some sun (even though it has been raining and cloudy ever since they moved).

 

Here is a close-up of a Zinnia sprout.                                                   

Another close-up of two Zinnia sprouts.                          

I will continue to water the soil with warm water when it gets dry. Now I just have to do some more waiting and hope that the sun comes out soon!