WHAT the ....?

Serendipity... while Gardening

ACCIDENTAL ART?

I was doing some work, planting some seeds and generally taking care of my Grow Lights Shelf, when completely by accident, I snapped this pic above! I put my phone down, on the tray:

Above: I snapped the Closeup on One Cell. Out of the 6
Below: The entire 72 cell tray.

Today's work included prepping some soil, for planting in about two weeks. I like to get the soil prepped and moist, in advance, so that the seeds when they go into the trays are not competing for water, with the seed starter they are planted in.

Above: The round seed starter discs, beginning to get water.
Below: Expanding As The Water Soaks In.

The 72 Cell tray came with these little round de-hydrated discs of some type of starter. I always use a specific blend of my own: 1/3 seed starter, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 perlite for starting seeds. So, for me, this was a new adventure.

I kept adding water, every 30 minutes or so, and breaking up the discs. After a while it became clear that the discs were dehydrated coco coir. Coco Coir is the fibrous hair-like substance, found between the hard inner shell of a coconut, and the outer coating, ground up.

People either use Peat Moss, or Coco Coir. Ecologically, there are pluses and minuses to each. Peat used in the US is mainly sourced from Canada and the supplies take hundreds of years to grown. That means, we are using more than can be replaced. On the other hand, Coco Coir comes from Hawaii, and takes a LOT of Carbon, between harvest, grinding, and transportation, to get to the mainland. So, either one is not long term sustainable.

Personally, I've used Peat. While the Coco Coir was ok today, I chose to add in some of the seed starter mix, to give it a lighter, finer grain. The Coir was still too thick and fibrous. So, for this next batch, it will be 1/3 Coir, 1/3 seed starter mix, and 1/3 perlite.

After only 3 days, two of the varieties of Cucumber are germinating.
Above: Spacemaster 80
Below: Straight 8 Pops up!

Above: Peppers doing well!
Below: Onion going so strong, I will cut the tops tomorrow at 3 inches.
This forces them to grow stronger.

Above: Sowing Flowers for Pollinators: Purple Coneflower and Marigold
Below: Common English Lavender Seeds sown.

This was an extremely productive day in the Grow Lights, Seeding area, on top of my regular business attended too.

Do You Enjoy Flowers?
What Are Your Favorite Flowers To Grow?
Let me know, below...

It's time to take control of your own food supply,
your own health and your own lives.

The GroVid22 Challenge:
Grow Your OWN is not just a simple short challenge,
it's about taking control of your future!

Happy New Planting and Cheers,
BluefinStudios

All Photos by Bluefin Studios unless specified.