Magnolia Blossom snap pea shootNo, I've not been away in some warm sunny place taking a much needed vacation. It's simply been rather busy but boring around here. The weeds are starting to take over, so my primary occupation lately has been to battle them when it's not raining. I really need to turn over a couple of the beds in the vegetable garden but the soil is too wet. However, I have been able to clean out and replant a couple of the large pots that I grow salad greens in. This time around I'm trying Pinetree's lettuce mix in one pot and Tuscan arugula (new!) in another.
Peas, Fennel and Celeriac sown in paper pots
On the seed starting front, the peas in the paper pots are well on their way. All of the Golden Sweet snow peas have sprouted. The Magnolia Blossom snap and Green Beauty snow peas have been a bit disappointing in that only 60 to 65% of them have germinated. I noticed after digging out some of the failures that a number of them had weevils and they just rotted. Today I replanted the rotted seeds making sure that none of the replacements had weevils. You can see the weevil damage in the photo below. The pea on the bottom left has a spot (looks like acne) that indicates the presence of a weevil. Upon closer inspection of an infested pea you can see a spot where there is nothing under the seed coat. When you pry off the seed coat in that spot you open a neat round hole to reveal the weevil within.
Weevil infested pea seeds
Aside from the weevily seeds, the seedlings are progressing nicely. I started them indoors and when there were a number of sprouts I started putting them outside when it wasn't raining too much and then bringing them back inside for the night. You can see below that the roots have already started pushing out of the paper pots. I really must get those beds turned!.
The celeriac and fennel planted pots that are sharing tray space with the peas haven't germinated yet, although I think I saw signs of a couple of fennel sprouts today. Today's activities included more seeding into paper pots, featuring Golden Chard, Cavolo Nero, and di Jesi cauliflower.
Oh, bummer about the weevils! Where did they come from? How to protect the next round from them? Well, your other seedlings look wonderful. I have a question about turning beds - do you think it encourages the weeds? I am reading this book by Linda Chalker-Scott that is really making my head spin - lots of my usual practices she seems to say not to do. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteWow. That's quite a lot of seedlings. Very nice. It's getting so exciting around the garden this time of year. Keep up the good work!!
ReplyDeleteI love that anthropomorphic Magnolia sprout reaching for the sun!
ReplyDeleteGreat post--now WHO sold you the weevily seeds?
Hi Michelle what a pretty and arty picture of a 'snap pea man' reaching for the sky. xoxo Tyra
ReplyDeleteIt's such an exciting time of the year, isn't it? I was interested to see you're going to sow Cavalo Nero because it says sow in May on the packet of seeds I've got - maybe a different variety? Or maybe it would be a good idea to get them started before the weather gets too dry. Do you sow them straight into the ground?
ReplyDeleteWeevils? How disappointing. I wonder if that is what caused my snap peas to fail last year. I'll have to check them out.
ReplyDeleteKaren, Yeah, I was bummed about the weevils. Those seeds came from a SSE member who actually listed them under a different name (corrected on the seed packet). All the weevils that I found were dead, so I suppose they treated the seeds but did it too late. BTW, the easiest treatment to protect your beans and peas from weevils is to freeze them for a few days, just be sure that the seeds are thoroughly dry before freezing them. But the other variety (also from an SSE member)that isn't germinating well didn't seem to have weevils, so I don't know what the problem is there.
ReplyDeleteSo far as turning beds go, I wouldn't normally turn the soil much, however my veggie beds are a soil mix that I had brought in last year and it turned out that it didn't have many nutrients. I was constantly fertilizing with a water soluble fertilizer last season. So as I clean out the beds and get them ready for the next plantings I have been digging in compost, crab meal, potash, humic acid, and a slow release turkey poop fertilizer. I did that when I prepped my winter bed and the plants did great, no liquid fertilizer was necessary. Once I get the rest of the beds turned then future amending will be done by scattering the goodies on top of the soil and then plunging a spading fork into the soil and wiggling it back and forth, raking smooth, and then mulching with compost, no turning. I don't really have an opinion about weeds and digging, I'm more concerned about not messing up the soil structure too much. Are you going to post about the book you're reading, sounds interesting.
Thanks SuburbanGardener, it is exciting this time of year. I'm impatient to start harvesting spring goodies...
ReplyDeleteDaffodil Planter, Pea Man is kinda cute :) And I'm not going to name names... I'm going to let them know about the problem first.
Tyra, thanks! I think those plants are going to turn out to be real beauties. It's going to have bi-colored purple flowers and you can already see that the stems have a blush to them as well.
Chaiselongue, I learned a few years ago to ignore the seed packets and take the advice of local gardeners. I start my kale in pots and then plant them out when they have a few true leaves. The Cavolo Nero that I start now will produce until next February - a full year until it bolts. That's not true for all kale varieties that I've grown, some will bolt when the weather gets warm so I start them in late summer to harvest in fall and winter.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, Isn't it frustrating when that happens? Fortunately, peas germinate quickly so you can sow more before it gets too late.
ReplyDeleteWeevils...blech! 'Magnolia Blossom' is a very attractive name for a snap pea.
ReplyDeleteThose weevils are a nuisance aren't they? I lost most of my seed peas last year, and only harvested a fraction of the seed I needed for this year. Someone gave me a good tip. When you have the dried seeds ready to store, put them in a sealed glass jar and put the jar in the deep freeze for a few days. This will save your stored peas from any hidden critters.
ReplyDeleteChuck, well put, blech indeed. At least I know that the seeds weren't treated with some nasty chemicle.
ReplyDeleteMatron, sorry to hear that you lost so much, I hope you can replace your seeds. The freezer trick works quite well, just be sure that the seeds are very dry before you freeze them.
ReplyDeleteGreat start, Michelle and a dedicated gardener you are, unlike some lazy goose over in the southern part of India. Damn, those weevils seem to have done a great job on their part. ("No weevils, I wasn't appreciating you guys!" - guess they can't catch sarcasm, eh) Yikes! Sorry to hear about them.
ReplyDeleteChandramouli, Hmm, seems to me that I keep reading about a rather busy garden goose in your part of India who has a relly lovely pot garden! But you're right about the weevils, they just don't do sarcasm :) Fortunately, there are enough good seeds left to grow more seeds.
ReplyDeleteYour babies are coming along nicely! I love to see what others are growing, and how their starting them!
ReplyDelete