Garden Update

It has been only 10 days since I planted seeds in my starter kit and already today I am transplanting the Swiss Chard to larger pots. To my amazement, the seeds started sprouting after only a couple days in the "mini greenhouse." Now, 10 days later the seedling are large enough to transfer to individual pots.

As you can see in the photo above, the four pellets on the right have surpassed all others in growth. These are the Swiss Chard seedlings which I will remove from the starter tray for continued growth in individual pots.

Here we see that four seedlings have sprouted in this particular pellet. In order to ensure the best chance at success, only the strongest seedling will be moved to the pot, the others will be cut away and discarded. Seems a bit harsh but such is the way of survival of the fittest.

I took four small pots of various sizes from the greenhouse outside and washed them out and filled with potting soil. I am using the various sized pots as a sort of experiment to determine how much of a difference pot size makes in the growth of these seedlings.

One by one, I trimmed each of the four Swiss Chard pellets so that only the one healthiest seedling remained. I then carefully cut away the protecting netting from the pellet and placed it in the middle of the pot and then gently covered it with soil.

After removing the four Swiss Chard seedlings, I placed the lid back on the starter tray and covered the other pellets. 

As you can see, the seedlings in the other pellets are definitely sprouting but are nowhere near ready to be transferred and so will remain in the starter tray a bit longer. Meanwhile, the Spinach and Swiss Chard seeds I planted in the individual mini pots have also started sprouting.

 

 

 

Spinach 

Swiss Chard