Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
12/24/99 - The seeds that I have planted in my "basement garden" so far are Wings begonias, yellow/gold Star zinnias, white Star zinnias, and impatiens. I have transplanted two flats, about 185 yellow/gold Star zinnias. I use a 50-50% mixture of sphagnum peat moss and vermiculite, which can be purchased ready mixed from your garden center, to start and grow my seedlings. I wet this mixture and pack it into the plastic plant trays--the ones I used for the zinnias held eight boxes with six openings each. I put two plants in each opening, twelve per box, ninety-six per tray. If you have enough space, it is probably better to plant only one seedling per opening, but I am limited as to space. The difference is that, when spring comes, I must separate plants when I set them out in the garden.
I plan to transplant the white Star zinnias before Christmas, but it will be several weeks before either the begonias or impatiens are big enough to transplant. It is best to wait until seedlings have at least two sets of leaves. As always in gardening, there is a fine line between transplanting too soon or too late. Too soon and the tiny seedlings are too dificult to handle, and too late and the roots have developed to the extent that you break and damage them. Allow the starter mixture in which you planted your seeds (I use the same one that I use for transplanting) to dry out somewhat. This will make the tiny seedlings easier to handle, since you can shake the roots free. I have two long florescent "shop lights" on automatic timers, and put the transplanted seedlings under them. I set the timers to light between 4:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., which is longer than even a summer day, but artificial light is not sunlight. I keep the boxes of newly planted seeds over a heating pad and under a grow-light, but remove them from the heating pad as soon as germination is complete.
I have taken a great many photographs that I would like to show you, especially of my "basement garden" so that you could see my layout and how my seedlings are doing, but since this is Christmas eve, I decided that I should invite you into my living-room to see my Christmas tree. The tiny fellow on the corner table is a live potted Alberta spruce that I intend, eventually, to put out in the garden. Our lives are reflected in our Christmas trees: when we were first married, we had tiny trees in our small city apartment; then we moved into this home, children came along, and soon, if the tree didn't touch the ceiling, it wouldn't do. Now, I am back to the tiny tree again. This room, incidentally, is a part of our original home built in 1937; to the left of the green chair is a door leading into the den (added after WWII) where I spend most of my leisure time.
12/31/99 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
12/17/99 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
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