May in the Garden

At the beginning of May, it's time to check in with the outside garden. 

According to the schedule, the Spring garden should be in full swing.  Seedlings we planted in late March and April should now be reaching maturity and in the process of being harvested.

For the Red Romain and Buttercrunch lettuce, that is definitely the case.  I did a series of plantings about a week apart, and the earliest plantings are fully mature and ready for harvest.  In fact, I have harvested outside leaves as well as one whole heads of buttercrunch.  The red and white radishes have been plentiful as well.  Growing beside them, the onions have leafed out and are holding their own.  Their height is allowing them to thrive, even though the lettuce is crowding them at the base.

The other bed was planted later, with Bok Choi, Swiss chard and Garlic.  Despite  later start, the Bok Choi have grown tremendously from their seedling stage and have put on plenty of major leaves in a short amount of time.  Both of these beds have been mulched with grass clippings to retain moisture and help with weeds.

At the far end of the bok choi bed, I've already planted three peppers and two basil.  While they are not suffering at all, they aren't actually growing and putting on any new leaves, either.  The truth is that the weather is still too cool for summer crops, or has been until recently.  While we've had pleasant days in the 70s, we've had just as many days in the 50s and nights in the 40s.  All the peppers can do is sulk and hopefully develop their root structure.

The general guideline is that summer crops like peppers and tomatoes really won't do much in the garden until after Memorial Day.  That's the  marker for putting in tomatoes.

Inside, the summer seeds have all germinated, but they are proceeding at different rates:

The roma and cherry tomatoes have exploded with growth and are ready to be transplanted into pots.   The peppers are taking their time, as are the big boy slicing tomatoes, who wish the roma would go away and give them some light.  On the right, the basil are holding their own, but in between are some seedling big boys.

At the other end, the peppers have sprouted along with the ground cherries, both of which are growing with modest enthusiasm.

Summer Seedlings: day 14

I'm following the summer crops that have been seeded in the Aerogarden seed starter.

We've just reached the 14-day mark, and I've re-filled with water and added nutrients.  We should be good for another two weeks.

Foliage

Here is what they look like on day 14:

Top view:

It appears like there is good solid growth on most species.  I would say that the Nasturtiums are doing less well than the others with yellowing of some leaves even while they continue to produce more leaves.

 Roots

The view from the underside tells more of the story:

Tomato root growth is abundant, as is the growth from the Dill and Basil.  These roots are lengthy and intertwined, possibly reaching the maximum needed for seed starting.  The pepper roots are coming along nicely, but they still have some development left

Tomatoes

The first thing that stands out is that the tomatoes have exploded.  They aren't too leggy yet, and they are not pressed up against the lights, but they have certainly grown effusively.  As I look closely, I can see that most cells germinated 3 and 4 seeds, leading to an abundance of stems.  I knew that I would have to thin, and that moment is obviously upon me.

So I trimmed the tomatoes back to 2 stems per cell and this is the result:

They're not noticeably different, but are in a better place for the future.  All seedlings are putting out their 3rd set of leaflets.  Some of these leaflets are protruding out beyond the grow lights.

 Roots like these are long, branching, and intertwined.  Some rootlets will be broken when separating them for transplanting.

Putting all the information together:

• Weaker stems have been removed, so we are down to the two strongest plants per cell
• Each plant is on its 3rd true leaf.
• Plant height is ample - not quite touching the overhead lights.  This is well beyond all other crops
• Leaves are beginning to extend beyond the lights, where they will probably wither from lack of light.
• Roots are well developed, branched, with fine rootlets.
• Any further root growth will likely be lost when separating the cells, due to breakage.

At the same time:

• the tomatoes will require me to raise the lights soon, even while other plants (like the basil) would benefit from having the lights closer.  
• the tomatoes are beginning to overshadow their neighbors, possibly restricting their growth.
• I am beginning to suspect that the tomatoes are hogging all the nutrients that the nasturtiums would like to use, leading to some yellowing

Taking all this information together, it looks like for the tomatoes, it is time to transplant them to pots under the fluorescent lights.  Any time this week they will be ready to go.  I would like for them to grow another leaf so that they have 4 true leafs before transplanting from the pot to the outside garden.  And some of these are destined for containers.

Herbs

 Meanwhile, the rest of the plants are developing nicely.  Peppers have modest leaf production above ground, and a few exploratory roots below the surface.  These plants look like they are good for another week or more in the Aerogarden.

The dill and nasturtiums are doing well, with good root growth and leaf development that is obviously a little further along than the peppers.  Any time after this weekend (day 21) these will be available for transplant into pots.