The only seedlings that remain in the house are the three primary warm-weather vegetables: tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. They will begin their hardening off tomorrow as they journey to the hoophouse by the middle of next week.
The peppers have done extremely well, not showing any sign of stress since they began germination on April 10. They now stand three inches tall, are sturdy and have good color.
The tomatoes now stand from three to twelve inches tall, depending on the variety. They were dropping lower leaves earlier this week but for the most part that has stopped. The stems are bulking up and I think they, too, will do well this season.
The eggplants have shown signs of stress most of all. At times, they have had weak stems and pale, thin leaves that look scorched by the growlights. Right now, however, they show improvement and I am optimistic.
This coming weekend I would like to sow more warm-weather crops, the ones that require four weeks before planting in the garden. Those include okra, cucumbers, green beans, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, watermelon, corn, etc. It would be so much easier if I direct sowed these plants, but I always worry that birds or animals will play havoc with the young seedlings.
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