Happy 2011 everyone! Great gardening to all. Last year I kept a very detailed garden log with tons of photos and regular updates. I may do the same again this year but I haven’t even finalized my seed selection. I’m in the process of moving and I’ll probably get the rest of my seeds going in a couple weeks.
The new place has a lot more room and sunlight and I can get down and dirty in the soil. I couldn’t wait to start seeds so I planted 24 seeds on 1/16/11. I needed something quick and compact so I picked up a Jiffy 12 pellet unit. I know this isn’t the best, but it sure is easy and I’ve had some pretty good plants that sprouted in them before.
My plan is to grow them up without all the special care that I give my other plants. If all goes well, it will demonstrate how easy and cheap it is to grow enough hot peppers to make a bunch of sauce. Here’s the plan so far:
Jiffy 12 mini greenhouse
Seeds from non-isolated plants - two per pellet
Solo cups for the seedlings
Free 5 gallon buckets for the plants
Recycled potting soil
Leftover and homemade fertilizers
No special lights, just natural sunlight
No special heat, just the top of the fridge
I might change it up a bit later. Those solo cups can spill and I might need to add a bit more light. I may need to purchase some soil amendments, but I don’t see these 12 plants costing much more than $25 by harvest time. The rest of the garden is still being planned, but my goal is to reuse as much as possible from last year and to add mostly local and organic material.
So that’s the plan for these 12 plants. It’s a long time before this gets interesting but I’ll probably get working on a seedling mix soon. I’m aware of all the warnings about reusing soil and everything else I’m planning on doing. That’s a best practice when you make a living with your plants and can’t risk crop failure. I’m going do this stuff anyway and see how it turns out. I think with enough time and hard work I’ll end up with a fine crop. Stay tuned.
The new place has a lot more room and sunlight and I can get down and dirty in the soil. I couldn’t wait to start seeds so I planted 24 seeds on 1/16/11. I needed something quick and compact so I picked up a Jiffy 12 pellet unit. I know this isn’t the best, but it sure is easy and I’ve had some pretty good plants that sprouted in them before.
My plan is to grow them up without all the special care that I give my other plants. If all goes well, it will demonstrate how easy and cheap it is to grow enough hot peppers to make a bunch of sauce. Here’s the plan so far:
Jiffy 12 mini greenhouse
Seeds from non-isolated plants - two per pellet
Solo cups for the seedlings
Free 5 gallon buckets for the plants
Recycled potting soil
Leftover and homemade fertilizers
No special lights, just natural sunlight
No special heat, just the top of the fridge
I might change it up a bit later. Those solo cups can spill and I might need to add a bit more light. I may need to purchase some soil amendments, but I don’t see these 12 plants costing much more than $25 by harvest time. The rest of the garden is still being planned, but my goal is to reuse as much as possible from last year and to add mostly local and organic material.
So that’s the plan for these 12 plants. It’s a long time before this gets interesting but I’ll probably get working on a seedling mix soon. I’m aware of all the warnings about reusing soil and everything else I’m planning on doing. That’s a best practice when you make a living with your plants and can’t risk crop failure. I’m going do this stuff anyway and see how it turns out. I think with enough time and hard work I’ll end up with a fine crop. Stay tuned.
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