Seedling Update - Good News and Bad News

Two weeks ago my seedling tray looked like this:

Seedlings on March 15, 2012

Here are some shots from this morning - going from left to right in the tray - showing four columns at a time.  The full planting layout is here.

First and Second Columns: Tomatoes; Third Column: Peppers;
Fourth Column: Peppers, Basil

Fifth Column: Basil, Rosemary and Sage; Sixth Column: Sage,
Broccoli; Seventh Column: Arugula, Parsley; Eighth Column: Chives

Ninth and Tenth Columns: Chives;
Eleventh Column: Lavender;  Twelfth Column: Parsley

As you can see, the tomatoes and basil are coming up pretty well.  But several of the other pods look completely empty.  Are they dead or just slower germinators?  I have no idea.

Also, the Arugula is either falling over (as you can see from the close up below), or the leaves have become all white and singed looking.

An even closer close up of the poor Arugula:

I'm considering doing a second phase of new seedlings, but haven't gotten around to figuring out what to plant or how to plant it.  I don't think I would use the large jiffy container again, since I don't think it works well for a variety of plants that grow at different rates.  But if I don't use that, I have to get (or find) smaller individual containers and fill them with seed starting mixture.  Will have to give that some more thought.

Started My Seedlings

Yesterday, I finally started some of the seeds I bought last week.  I used the Jiffy 72-cell starter pack. Here is the layout of the seeds I planted.  I had to soak the flat parsley seeds overnight, so I added those today.  I ended up soaking too many to fit in the last remaining cells of the starter pack, so I improvised and planted the extra parsley seeds in some tiny plastic cups.  (We have a bunch of these that the MOTH uses to collect urine samples from Ghost and take to the vet.  This enables us to test Ghost regularly without the disruption of a vet visit.  He is 17 years old and has CRF, along with various other ailments so we like to keep him as comfy as possible in his old age).  Anyway, so I punched holes in the bottom of four plastic cups, stuck in some moist peat that I bought to amend the soil in the veggie plot, and plopped in the extra seeds.  I then put the four cups into an old Chinese food container that I use for storing leftovers and covered it with a plastic cover that I bought to cover plates in the microwave, but which I've never actually used.

Here is a photo of all the seeds, taken today:

72-cell starter pack on the right; circle of Parsley on the left

I have ordered a grow light and heat mats from Amazon, which should arrive in the few days.  I probably should have waited for the heat mat to arrive before starting the seeds, but I am keeping them in a warm place for now.  After much discussion with the MOTH, we decided to set up the seed starting station in the walk-in closet, since that is the one room the cats are not allowed into.  It is plenty large, so we dragged up an old coffee table from the MOTH's bachelor days (Oh yes, particle board covered with  marbleized laminate and fake brass legs - hands off, ladies, he is all mine).  It may be UCTU (the ugliest coffee table in the universe), but I think it is the perfect size for my seed starting project.  Once the grow lights and heat mats get here and the seeds have started to sprout, I will move them up to the closet.  Pics to come!

My First Seeds

I went to Home Depot yesterday to pick up some more gardening supplies.  I hadn't planned on starting any seeds indoors this season (I figured I would buy transplants and direct sow seeds, since I'm not really set up to start seeds).  Of course, once I got there and saw all the pretty seed packets, I couldn't resist.  I guess I'm a sucker for glossy marketing, even in the gardening department.  So, I bought a bunch of seed packets and one of those indoor seed starter thingies.  I didn't have time to set it up this weekend, so it will probably have to wait until next weekend.

I bought pretty much anything that said it could be started indoors and transplanted later.  I am holding off from buying anything that says "Direct Sow," since I can't do anything with them yet.  I got several different kinds of tomatoes and peppers, so I can see which ones grow best and/or taste best.  Anyway, here is my very first set of seed packets:

My First Seed Packets - March 2012

•  Martha Stewart Brand:
• Basil Genovese
• Basil Sweet
• Chives
• Parsley Moss Curled
• Tomato Beefsteak
• Burpee Brand:
• Rosemary
• Sweet Pepper Carnival Hybrid Mix
• Hot Pepper
• Sweet Pepper
• Tomato - Super Sweet 100 Hybrid
• Tomato - Early Treat Hybrid
• Tomato - Best Boy Hybrid
• Tomato - San Marzano
• Sage, Common (oops, I accidentally bought two packs of this)
• True Lavender