... grow those growing skills, that is.
2018 was a bit of a fumble. I ran out of time, I STILL have plants in solo cups that are just now (in JANUARY) podding up.
If I've learned something from 2018, and going into my third year of growing (or second of actually attempting more than just 'hey, cheap seeds lets see what I get") it would be to get the shit into bigger pots faster, and get them out in the sun ASAP. I had big plans to try to plant out in ground, but couldn't get the time to spend in the field clearing the roots and such and amend the soil. I also had a moment of thinking that if I planted in ground, Murphy's law would take over and hurricanes would come. This year I'm thinking of maybe going the Walmart-reusable-bag route or something. If I make more bags like the handful I made this year, they will need to be out of better landscape fabric, as the one I had sitting on the ground grew right into the ground. It also performed worse than the one constrained to a slightly smaller bag.
My mom got me a little greenhouse for Christmas (one of these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ogrow-56-in-W-x-29-in-D-Deluxe-Walk-In-3-Tier-6-Shelf-Portable-Greenhouse-OG6834-S/204840639
nothing fancy. Finances, finances.
). I got a black 13-gal ish garbage can full of water to hope for enough heat for our cold nights that if getting below freezing usually isn't for long. I'm open to any other ideas, too! 
Just has my solo-cup guys (that are SCREAMING for more space but flowering and setting pods) and my scraggly Russian Queen tomato with it's one green fruit on the ground for now.
Now, what better way to start off a glog than with a pic of a small harvest from a few days ago:
That pepper with the hole bugs me that I didn't catch it. Ohh well.
Decided to try using coco coir to start, so let's see how much I screw up with it! Perhaps the lack of nutrients will guilt me into potting up sooner.
3 of each variety, in case I need to abort and restart.
Front is (from right to left, because that's the direction I went):
Sri Lanka Chili Red - growdown
Sri Lanka Chili Red from Ella, Sri Lanka from Guru's pod
Bahamian Goat
Bahamian Beast Peach F3
CGN 21500
Coyote Zan White
Back, right to left:
Fatalii (I didn't get any to germinate last year. *crosses fingers*)
Cumari do Para
Legacy
Early Jalepeno (My husband loves jalepenos, so I made sure to include them in first round)
Bolivian Rainbow
Black Pearl
I somehow couldn't find the clear lid, so saran wrap it is:
... and on to the heat mat it went.
I know I will do another round of stuff I do have that didn't go in this round, and I might order a few more varieties. I was near loading up all of my converted ice-cube trays and various other seed starting things, but decided for the sake of survivability I'll leave it at that.
.
Now, the wait.
2018 was a bit of a fumble. I ran out of time, I STILL have plants in solo cups that are just now (in JANUARY) podding up.
If I've learned something from 2018, and going into my third year of growing (or second of actually attempting more than just 'hey, cheap seeds lets see what I get") it would be to get the shit into bigger pots faster, and get them out in the sun ASAP. I had big plans to try to plant out in ground, but couldn't get the time to spend in the field clearing the roots and such and amend the soil. I also had a moment of thinking that if I planted in ground, Murphy's law would take over and hurricanes would come. This year I'm thinking of maybe going the Walmart-reusable-bag route or something. If I make more bags like the handful I made this year, they will need to be out of better landscape fabric, as the one I had sitting on the ground grew right into the ground. It also performed worse than the one constrained to a slightly smaller bag.
My mom got me a little greenhouse for Christmas (one of these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ogrow-56-in-W-x-29-in-D-Deluxe-Walk-In-3-Tier-6-Shelf-Portable-Greenhouse-OG6834-S/204840639
nothing fancy. Finances, finances.
). I got a black 13-gal ish garbage can full of water to hope for enough heat for our cold nights that if getting below freezing usually isn't for long. I'm open to any other ideas, too!
Just has my solo-cup guys (that are SCREAMING for more space but flowering and setting pods) and my scraggly Russian Queen tomato with it's one green fruit on the ground for now.
Now, what better way to start off a glog than with a pic of a small harvest from a few days ago:
That pepper with the hole bugs me that I didn't catch it. Ohh well.
Decided to try using coco coir to start, so let's see how much I screw up with it! Perhaps the lack of nutrients will guilt me into potting up sooner.
3 of each variety, in case I need to abort and restart.
Front is (from right to left, because that's the direction I went):
Sri Lanka Chili Red - growdown
Sri Lanka Chili Red from Ella, Sri Lanka from Guru's pod
Bahamian Goat
Bahamian Beast Peach F3
CGN 21500
Coyote Zan White
Back, right to left:
Fatalii (I didn't get any to germinate last year. *crosses fingers*)
Cumari do Para
Legacy
Early Jalepeno (My husband loves jalepenos, so I made sure to include them in first round)
Bolivian Rainbow
Black Pearl
I somehow couldn't find the clear lid, so saran wrap it is:
... and on to the heat mat it went.
I know I will do another round of stuff I do have that didn't go in this round, and I might order a few more varieties. I was near loading up all of my converted ice-cube trays and various other seed starting things, but decided for the sake of survivability I'll leave it at that.
.Now, the wait.
I still plan to plant at least a few bells for random kitchen use, and quite a few tomatoes. 
