April 27, 2019

Peppers from the Aerogarden Update

I ended up with 18 pepper plants which were started from seed in the Aerogarden. There's definitely different rates of germination, especially with the older seeds taking more time to germinate. The taller peppers are actually starting to form blooms, which I find odd since they're not that tall. The eggplants didn't come up, but they were especially old seed which I'd been putting off throwing out.
I've had a couple seed starting disasters. It started with purchasing what I thought were peat pellets, but were probably coconut coir pellets. There was no information on the tray in regards to the growing medium. The trays got replanted twice, but seedlings kept dying right after germinating.

My husband thought we should try monocropping something that could just be direct seeded. I was thinking Pink Eye Purple Hull peas and some melons. A big patch of sunflowers would be fun, but that would bring out all the squirrels in the neighborhood. Or maybe, just include one row of sunflowers with long beans grown up them. My gardening plans are in a bit of disarray at this point.

We're still getting lots of rain so it'll be awhile before the garden can be tilled. There might be still time to start a few things.

Edited to add 4/30: I spoke to a friend about my seed starting problems and he thought I might've burned them with fertilizer, which is entirely possible. I used the little bottle of nutrients included with the Aerogarden, but they don't have you add any until the plants are two weeks old. I think that's probably what I did, burned their little roots.

7 comments:

Sue Garrett said...

We’re giving peppers and aubergines (eggplants) a miss as they never seem to give us a decent crop until very late.

Phuong said...

That's interesting that you've totally given up on them. I have to admit having gotten really bad years where we got nothing because of the weather, except a late flush of fruit. Your cruciferous or cole crops do seem to do very well for you. But myself, I've mostly given up on growing cabbages or Brussels sprouts.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

The idea of sunflowers and long beans sounds interesting.

Michelle said...

I had a similar seed starting disaster years ago when I watered all my seedlings with softened water, the salts in the water killed off most of the new seedlings. I'm always learning new things as I stumble along making mistakes. I'm wary about growing sunflowers because of the rodents here.

Phuong said...

Hi Sue,
Peppers and eggplants can just be fussy to grow. They don't set fruit when it's too hot, they get stunted when its too cold, they're extra sensitive to herbicides that might be floating in the air from neighbors spraying, etc. I've actually stopped growing eggplants because flea beetles stunt them so badly here. But we have a long enough growing season to still make peppers worthwhile.

Phuong said...

Hi Lucy,
We've had so much rain here most people are just starting to get they're gardens planted now. I'm still planning to try the sunflower seeds with long beans grown up them. Hopefully I can get the timing right, so they one doesn't end up smothering the other.

Phuong said...

Hi Michelle,
I can just imagine the silent internal scream when you found your plants after watering with softened water. There's always so much to learn when it comes to gardening. It took me a long to figure out how to keep birds from killing my seedlings.