Salvia, Cleome, and Others Start Now

This is about the correct time to start any plant that takes a long time to flower or fruit if you wish it to be in full bloom (or full fruit) by the middle of the season.

For me, the cleome are already sprouted and under the lights in the cellar, as are the Easter eggplant.  The Salvia farinacea and Salvia splendens are planted and spending a half day each on the heating mat.  Once those are complete, the Melampodium (butter daisy) will begin.

Those cover the flowers I grow that benefit from longer growing periods. 

Once those are complete, we'll be moving into early March and there will be 8 to 10 weeks left before planting.  At that point, the tallest of the fast growers will be started, which this year includes the Envy zinnia, a tall and very chartreuse flower.

First Sprout

It was actually two days ago, but I wanted to make certain it wasn't a weed.  It's difficult to tell the difference when the plant, like the cleome, is very small when it first sprouts.

It's definitely cleome, and most of the cells (I planted 24) have sprouts in them at this point.  The ones that don't are at the edge of the flat, don't receive quite so much heat from the seed sprouting mat, and will be along shortly.

The Easter eggplant began to sprout today as well, much faster and much more reliably than last season.  However, all the current seeds are descended off of plants that sprouted under my care and successfully grew in the garden, so that tends to be typical.

I started the Salvia farinacea "Rhea" yesterday.  They also benefit from a longer growing season before being planted outside.

I'll start the Melampodium (butter daisy) this weekend, followed closely by the red salvia.  While that ends the series that enjoys a longer growing period, the date at that point is late enough that even the short-growth plants can start.

Garden Planting Begins

Yes, we did get nearly twenty inches of snow yesterday, with more on the way tonight.  Yes, I'd have to dig through that to even find the gardens at the moment.  No, I'm not going to do that.

However, it's time to start the plants for spring!  Traditionally, in this household, the cleome begins on Valentine's Day as it benefits from three full months to grow.  I've also begun the Easter eggplant as it would benefit from an extra week more than I gave it last year.

As of right now, both have been pulled in from the garage (where the seeds were vernalizing in near-freezing temperatures) and set on the heating mat, which will raise the soil temperature to eighty in just a few hours.

Cleome benefits from temperature oscillation as well, so I'll turn off the heater tomorrow morning and start it again on Saturday evening.  That process will continue until the seeds sprout, which doesn't take terribly long if they were vernalized.  The cleome should be fully sprouted by mid-week, at which point I'll begin the Salvia farinacea, which also requires a longer growing time before planting in May.

Snow on the Lawn

Since there's currently two feet of snow out there atop the lawn and it's still coming down fast, this comes to mind.  We're certainly not going to be leaving the house tomorrow.

There's very little you can do to prepare your lawn for a heavy snowfall as it will already be dormant by the time snowfalls of that depth occur.  The best preparation is in fall, and to winterize the lawn with about 1 pound of nitrogen per thousand to make certain it has the stored carbohydrates to get through the season.

Similarly, there is no effective treatment.  Shoveling would take a very long time and runs the risk of damaging root systems if you accidentally shovel too deeply.  The problem also arises of where to put the snow.

The only thing you can do is wait out Mother Nature and hold on for spring.  Once it melts and the soil warms, the grass will return and probably be no worse for the experience!

Happy Solar Spring!

February 5th marks the beginning of Solar Spring, the 12 weeks of the year when the daylight period increases the fastest in the northern hemisphere.  Roughly, the period starts with Groundhog's Day and ends with May Day (for historical and calendar reasons, the periods are slightly out of synch).

Although the weather here is definitely still winter, and contains the possibility of significant snow over the next week, at least it's nice to notice the lengthening days!

Vernalization

Vernalization is adjusting seeds to a winter environment, which can be useful for seeds that require a cold period before sprouting.  With the seeds I have, only the cleome benefits significantly from it, while the Easter eggplant finds it mildly helpful but not necessary.  However, since I have to vernalize the cleome, the Easter eggplant goes along for the ride.

The process is very simple.  Place the seeds in their starter trays and moisten them just as you would when sprouting any other seed.  The place the starter tray in a cool to cold environment, by preference one that doesn't regularly freeze.  I use the garage and keep the trays toward the interior wall.  Temperatures may occasionally drop below freezing, but generally stay around 32.

The refrigerator can be another good place to vernalize seeds if a garage isn't handy, and you can put them in a damp, covered glass.

Vernalization generally requires about six weeks in the colder environment.  Post that period, remove whenever you like and grow normally.

Any seed from any tropical or sub-tropical plant will never require vernalization and at best won't benefit from it.  Marigolds, zinnia, salvia, celosia, and most other common summer garden plants don't require vernalization and may not survive in low temperatures.

Lawn and Garden: Early February

Normally I would have posted several shots of the very green grass as compared to the rest of the neighborhood.  This year, that's not going to happen.

When it isn't snowing, it's incredibly cold.  When it's not incredibly cold, it's snowing.  The grass is still amazingly green, but buried under (currently) six inches of snow, with more to come yet this week.

At the very least, I've vernalized the cleome and Easter eggplant seeds.  From Christmas night to now they've been in the garage on the face nearest the interior of the house, experiencing winter.   I'll bring them in around Valentine's Day and begin sprouting both, then start other plants as there's room on my seed sprouting heater.

Here's the current grass and garden photo.  As always, click to embiggen.

2013 Lawn Additions

Lawn additions dropped this year, as I mentioned in the gardening post from yesterday.  At this point, I'm reaching maintenance mode on the soil and no longer need to apply the level of organics that I used to.

A total of six pounds per thousand square feet of nitrogen isn't exactly anything to sneeze at, however.  It's more than enough to assure that the lawn grew perfectly, spread to repair problems, and was a very nice green all year long.

This chart doesn't include sprayed iron, which I only did once this year, earlier in the week.  I also applied calcium lime, once in spring, once in late summer, at a low rate to adjust the soil pH upward a touch.

Date	N	P	K	Iron	Organics	Other Notes
5/15/2013	0.91	0.26	0.13	0.00	13.0	Soybean Meal
7/26/2013	1.05	0.30	0.15	0.00	15.0	Soybean Meal
8/18/13	0.63	0.25	0.00	0.54	12.6	Milorganite
9/9/13	1.05	0.30	0.15	0.00	15.0	Soybean Meal
10/3/2013	1.05	0.30	0.15	0.00	15.0	Soybean Meal
11/6/2013	0.20	0.00	0.02	0.00	0.00	Vigoro 29-0-4
11/21/2013	1.12	0.00	0.16	0.16	0.00	Vigoro Super Green
Total per K ft:	6.01	1.41	0.86	0.70	70.6	706 active organic total

2013 Garden Additions

Garden additions went way down from last year (just as the lawn's did).  I also tapped a very small amount of boron in the form of 20 Mule Team Borax into the gardens in May.

The organic material tests now have the gardens at a very good 9.3%.  I didn't add mulch this year as there was enough left from last year to carry through, so that number might drop a little in 2014.

This table doesn't include synthetic additions.  Once per week, I add 1 pound of 24-8-16 across the entire garden, or about 1/4 the recommended rate.  Adding this to the organics brings the gardens up to stellar performance, but does tend to lower the pH.  I corrected that again this year with the dolomite I added in April, plus a small amount of calcium carbonate-based lime in July.

Date	N	P	K	Iron	Organics	Other Notes
4/20/2013	0	0	0	0	0	Dolomite 40 per K
5/9/2013	1.10	0.00	0.44	0.88	22.0	Milorganite
6/5/2013	0.83	0.23	0.10	0.10	12.5	Milorganite, Soybean Meal
7/8/2013	1.55	0.62	0.00	1.24	31.0	Milorganite
Total per K ft:	3.48	1.29	0.10	2.22	65.5	131 active organic total

That's a Wrap!

This week closed out the gardening and lawn season for the year as temperatures are due to plunge into the thirties (for a high) next week.  Tomorrow is the last day we show a high over fifty for quite some time, although we'll undoubtedly flirt with higher temperatures in December.  We usually do, nowadays.

Yesterday I completed spraying 6 oz per thousand square feet of iron on the lawn.  I'm still drawing off the fifty pound bag of ferrous sulfate monohydrate I bought last spring, but I ran out of ammonium sulfate.  I substituted Miracle Gro 24-8-16, which works perfectly well.  The lawn is now finishing up its color change, from a rather anemic green with a slight yellow overtone to a deep green with blue notes.

This evening I dropped my winterizer.  1.12 pounds of nitrogen, from Vigoro Super Green.  That will help add a bit more iron into the mix, plus some slower release nitrogen for the inevitable warmer periods through winter.

With luck--and temperatures that don't dive under fifteen--the lawn won't go dormant this year at all.

I'll release my charts of feedings for both the lawn and garden for the year shortly.

A Drip of Nitrogen

Although the organics are still feeding the lawn from October, we're starting to spin into the late fall.  Our long-range forecast implies strongly that growth won't stop on the lawn until early December, if even then.

I dropped 0.20 pounds of nitrogen per thousand square feet this evening to wash in during tomorrow's rain.  And this time, it was synthetic as I happen to be out of grains and would rather not make the 30 minute each way trip to get more just for a small feeding.

That should kick in around the weekend and feed the lawn for the next two weeks or so (nitrogen demands are down due to the slowing growth and lower levels of sunlight).

Garden Clean Out

It's that time of year!  We're post first frost, the annuals are dying off, and the perennials are shedding their greenery for the season.

I've cleaned out and composted about two thirds of the garden at this point, and I'm waiting for the compost bin to free up to finish the final third.  I always chop up the plants with the mower and bag the remains, then dump that into the bin.  It decreases the size of the particles, and compresses everything into a much smaller space.

Add some water to the bin and there we go--compost in two weeks (if you turn it a lot).  The current temperature is running at 140° and holding, which means I'm not turning it right now as I'd burn my hands.  In four or five days that will drop to a more skin-friendly level.

The "quick" compost I produce is rough, and not good enough to dig into the soil.  It works beautifully as top dressing, however, and decay continues through fall and into spring, enriching the soil.

Apropos to the Season

I've had a resin pumpkin on hand since the clearance sales last year and finally got around to cutting it.  A few hours with a small hand-saw and you get the pumpkin below.

Resin pumpkins can't have candles in them or they'll burn, and light sources need to be under 5 watts.   I pulled out my electronics kit and whipped up a four AA battery power source to run 4 orange LEDs and 2 warm white LEDs.  It's a bit brighter than a candle flame, and far more constant, but the inside of the resin pumpkin is an orange-brown and benefits from brighter light.


As always, click on the image to enlarge it!

 

The Last Organic Feeding

Or at least for the year.  I dropped the last load of soybean meal at 15 pounds per thousand on the lawn last weekend.  As of today, it was watered in and it'll continue to be watered in during the next few days.

After this, there may be one more addition of Milorganite, but probably not.  The next planned feeding is winterization towards the end of November (or whenever top growth finally ceases).

The gardens are still in good shape, although not as heavily blooming as they were last month.  If the weather clears Sunday I'll try to get some photos.

Lawn Feeding, Soybean Meal

I dropped the third fall feeding today, fifteen pounds per thousand square feet of soybean meal (the first was also soybean meal, the second Milorganite).

That should kick in around the end of September and supply ample nitrogen through October.

The last organic feeding will be around October first, to release toward the middling-end of October and into November.  The remainder of that final feeding will freeze and release small amounts of nitrogen through spring, sufficient to carry me through May and the first of the major yearly feedings.

The absolute final feeding for the year is synthetic, and done whenever top growth ceases.  That's usually around Thanksgiving, give or take a week.  This year, I chose Vigoro Super Green as it was in stock when I went, and the cheapest thing available.