This is my first time glogging, so please be kind and patient with me. I've been gardening for probably five years now, but only got into the good stuff last year when I started half a dozen Bhut Jolokia plants. Let's see how much I can mess up this year!
Even though I'm running later than I would like, I officially started my 2012 season last night by settings some seeds out to germinate. I'm trying something a bit different, based off of pepperjam's Cups vs Bags experiment. I took the pellet tray out of a jiffy starter kit and am using it as one large "cup."
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FGNZkBl.jpg&hash=cde6d8c28c08901f5df9707909bf6557)
In my best handwriting, as you can see, I wrote a small description and drew a box for each cultivar I was starting in the tray. My idea is to wet everything, throw it on the heating pad at 79F, and hope nothing explodes. I've got a collection of pepper and tomato seeds, but unless the tomatoes grow teeth I'll spare everyone the boring details.![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FN0iAGl.jpg&hash=e72beac2645da7f04a3160dc6eb82aca)
This is a closeup of what the final product looks like. I'm actually pretty nervous trying something this drastically new to me. Of course, since I came in about half an hour ago and checked on the seeds, I am feeling a little better:
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F1AeQEl.jpg&hash=60e1a8a3974e990846e91fbd2927a7aa)
I had to "work" the image a bit to make it show up better, but I'm pretty sure I see a radicle starting to poke out of the seed. I don't think that's bad for one day. Now back to keeping my fingers crossed!
-----
Updates:
9 March 2012 - My germination "medium" dried up. I feared for my life.
13 March 2012 - Nevermind. Things are fine. I've got pepper seeds that have popped!
20 March 2012 - Business as usual. Baby plants are growing. Germination is slow, but still happening fine.
5 April 2012 - Plants are larger, trying to get the garden beds ready.
7 May 2012 - I killed a bunch of my plants. Bummer.
20 June 2012 - I'm still here, but losing the weed war.
Even though I'm running later than I would like, I officially started my 2012 season last night by settings some seeds out to germinate. I'm trying something a bit different, based off of pepperjam's Cups vs Bags experiment. I took the pellet tray out of a jiffy starter kit and am using it as one large "cup."
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FGNZkBl.jpg&hash=cde6d8c28c08901f5df9707909bf6557)
In my best handwriting, as you can see, I wrote a small description and drew a box for each cultivar I was starting in the tray. My idea is to wet everything, throw it on the heating pad at 79F, and hope nothing explodes. I've got a collection of pepper and tomato seeds, but unless the tomatoes grow teeth I'll spare everyone the boring details.
- 7 Pod Brain Strain
- 7 Pot Douglah
- Australian Lantern Habanero
- Bell Pepper: Orange, Purple, and White
- Bonda Ma Jacques
- Chocolate Habanero
- Moruga Scorpion
- NuMex Suave Orange
- Peach, Red, and Yellow Bhut Jolokia
- Trinidad Moruga Scorpion
- Unknown Mystery Pepper that moved from its assigned square
- Yellow Fatalii
- Yellow Trinidad Scorpion
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FN0iAGl.jpg&hash=e72beac2645da7f04a3160dc6eb82aca)
This is a closeup of what the final product looks like. I'm actually pretty nervous trying something this drastically new to me. Of course, since I came in about half an hour ago and checked on the seeds, I am feeling a little better:
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F1AeQEl.jpg&hash=60e1a8a3974e990846e91fbd2927a7aa)
I had to "work" the image a bit to make it show up better, but I'm pretty sure I see a radicle starting to poke out of the seed. I don't think that's bad for one day. Now back to keeping my fingers crossed!
-----
Updates:
9 March 2012 - My germination "medium" dried up. I feared for my life.
13 March 2012 - Nevermind. Things are fine. I've got pepper seeds that have popped!
20 March 2012 - Business as usual. Baby plants are growing. Germination is slow, but still happening fine.
5 April 2012 - Plants are larger, trying to get the garden beds ready.
7 May 2012 - I killed a bunch of my plants. Bummer.
20 June 2012 - I'm still here, but losing the weed war.