Seedling Update

So it is two days later than my last update and technically day 6 of SeedWatch with a small burst of activity.

The previously sprouted Bok Choi has continued to develop, while over on the right the Swiss Chard have begun emerging, and even a single lone Spinach sentinel.

The main purpose of this record is to create a time log of how and when things happen.  I'm hoping that by documenting what I see now, I will be able to reference it in the future.  It gives me a baseline for what is normal.

Bok Choi, a close reading

Here I can see that my bok choi jumped right up in less than four days, despite being listed as 10 to 21 days to germination.  And this is from two suppliers, Burpee and Gurney, and the Gurney seeds were a mix of varieties.  None of this seemed to matter, as  all of the seeds germinated within a day of each other.

You can certainly see some variation among the seedlings:  the purple variety on the right seems to be doing very well, and even looks to be starting some true leaves.

I wonder if the top left cell is smaller because of a poor seed there, or if it is simply on the periphery of the seed tray, and may not be getting the same amount of water and nutrients.

I tried to plant 3 seeds in each plug, and in most cases, all of them seemed to germinate. Now, I'm faced with the task at some future point, of eliminating at least one stem from each cell, to give the other two a better chance to thrive.

The Latecomers: Spinach and Chard

On the other side of the seed tray, the Chard has definitely begun to emerge by day 6, while the  spinach is still lagging behind.  And both of these are listed at 7-10 days to germination, so I still have several days to watch them.  Perhaps it is too warm for the spinach to germinate easily.

It isn't surprising that different plant types would emerge from seed at different times, but at about the same time as each other.  Yet it is still interesting to see the process unfold.

I also like the fact that the purple bok choi variety above shows its color from its earliest days, as does the red legs of the chard.

The Minimalist Gardener

I also note that I have not been required to do anything for these seeds in the last week.  I don't worry about water levels, or fiddle with light timers, or fret about damping off or mold growth.  Not yet, anyway.  I've simply been free to watch the seeds unfold.

On the other hand, outside the temperatures have been in the 70s, with today's high projected at 78 F.  That's too high to keep things under plastic row covers, so I open the ends during the day, and close them up in the evening.  This is contrary to the tenets of minimalist gardening, so it troubles me a bit.  Perhaps agribon row covers would not have this problem?