Monday, Monday

The first chore of the day was to transplant the Dahlia, Unwin's Dwarf seedlings to various sized pots and 4-and 6-pack containters as well as a 4"x8" container for a total of 40 plants.

The leaves on some of the sweet potato slips have formed crystals much like they did when they were sprouting on the tubers. Still no definitive explanation, but my best guess is that it's the plants' response to being overheated. I can gently rub off some of the crystals to save some leaves.

I also potted up the last two potato sprouts into a single container. The leaves are quite yellow compared to the other slips.  Let's see if they darken up when placed in the bay window shelf with the other ones. I now have a total of 12 slips growing in pots.

I moved away from direct sunlight the potted slips to see if that would prevent the crystals from recurring.

A second seedling in the Columbine McKana container finally emerged.  I nearly threw out the container yesterday as having mostly non-viable seeds.  I will transplant these two seedlings in a few weeks.

Postscript #1 - The leaves of some eggplant and Independence Day tomatoes looked diseased.  I snipped them off the plants.  

Postscript #2 - I moved the fig tree to the bay window to get more light.  Leaves are still very yellow. 

Potting Up Slips and My Favorite Flower

The sweet potato slips potted up by my daughter yesterday evening have adjusted to their new home. Two remaining slips with short roots have yet to be potted up. I hope to have thirteen in total.

My favorite perennial flower is potentilla cinquefoil.  The plants have delicate apricot/orange blooms with dark rose centers.  I transplanted thirty seedlings into 8 oz. cups and eight seedlings together into a 3" pot. I am hoping to mass plant them at the far left end of my front yard the perennial bed. 

Six verbena were outpacing their cellmates and becoming spindly.  They received a pinching back of one to two inches. 

The lobelia look much bushier since they were pinched back last week.

 The Salvia Blue Bedder are growing well.

I pinched back the growing tips of a few lavender seedlings.

My concern for the ailing delphiniums has dissipated.  They are looking much better these days.  I snipped off their "baby" leaves.

Pinching off the growing tips of the hibicus was very successful.  You can see in the photo below the many lateral branches that have appeared this past week.  I decided to pinch off the tips of another two seedlings.

I am declaring one container of Rossa di Milano onion seedlings a failure.  The seedlings have been struggling the past ten days, suffering from damping off disease. I am throwing out its potting mix, too.

Weekend Odds 'n Ends #2

The "chitting" is coming along!

Five sweet potato slips growing good roots.

Following is a list of the chores completed this morning:

1. Watered as needed. 
2. Fertilized as needed. 
3. Thinned Independence Day tomatoes and added soil to top of containers. 
4. Thinned broccoli, kale, arugula and all six varieties of lettuce to one each container or cell. 
5. Transplanted three celery. 

Postscript #1 - Germination from the portulaca (sowed March 16, 6 days) and alyssum, Carpet of Snow and Royal Carpet (sowed March 20, 2 days).  The purple alyssum was about a half day behind on germination. 

Dandruff on Sweet Potato Leaves??

It appears that my sweet potato sprouts have developed a case of dandruff!!  Both the top and undersides of the leaves are covered with white, flaky, crystal-like structures!  Do I have a problem with pests or disease?

Internet research indicated two possible reasons, both of which are not related to pests or disease:

• The plants may have developed "secretory colleters", a condition in which the leaves form clusters of swollen, glassy hairs that burst and secrete mucilage that dries to a crystal-like structure. It is thought to be a defense mechanism, a means by which plants protect themselves from drought.

• The second reason could be that calcium oxalates were secreted through plant pores.  Sweet potatoes carry high amounts of this chemical and, supposedly, under certain conditions will secrete excess calcium oxalates that dry to form crystals.  

For more information, see http://beyondthehumaneye.blogspot.com/2013/10/overheating-sweet-potato.html

In either case, it appears I may be overheating the jars of sweet potatoes/slips keeping them near the wood stove.  I immediately moved the sweet potato jars to a cooler location, freshened the water, rinsed off the mildly-affected leaves and disposed of those leaves significantly damaged. Hopefully, this is just a small hiccup in my sweet potato production. 

Harvesting Sweet Potato Sprouts

The sweet potato tubers have been enjoying the warmth of the wood stove the past four weeks and one is now growing many leafy sprouts. The next step in producing slips is to snap off these sprouts and place them into a jar filled with tepid water. Within a week these cuttings should develop roots as they become full-fledged slips.

Here is a link to a helpful article about growing sweet potatoes:

http://outlawgarden.com/2012/04/25/grow-your-own-sweet-potatoes/

Postscript #1 - The first asparagus seedling appeared today (sowed February 15, 16 days). Also germinating was another white hibiscus (sowed February 17, 14 days) and Snapdragons Mixed (sowed February 25, 6 days).

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

The equipment for my seed growing stations have been dug out of the basement and shed.  I'm ready to go!

The kitchen table was pushed against the wall as growing station #1.

A shelving unit was set up in front of the slider as growing station #2. 

Two shelving units were set up in the bay window as growing station #3. 

In addition, I've completed the following chores:

• All pots and trays have been sanitized. 

• Three bags of seed starting mix have been purchased.  Metromix 830, 2.8cf each (79 liters). Contains 60-80% Canadian Spaghum peat moss, composted bark, vermiculite, coarse perlite, starter nutrient charge with gypsum and slow release nitrogren, dolomitic limestone and a wetting agent.

• Databases and germination/planting schedules have been updated.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas): Stop & Shop, 2015. Slips have been started on the wood stove mantel.  I had a
meager harvest two years ago; I hope to do better this year.  I plant to start twenty slips indoors, move them into the
hoophouse in May and then plant out in a raised bed the first week of June. 

The temperature above the mantel is over 80 degrees!