#growing seedlings

[balkanradfem]

Prepairing the soil for the indoor seedlings!

Yesterday, I put many seeds to germinate in a wet paper towel, and I've already used up all of the soil I had stored for spring plants, so, I had to go to the forest on a nice sunny day, and dig out some soil from under a dead stump. I only take soil from already dead and rotting trees, and only take a little, because that soil is now made out of tree-decomposing matter, which is very fertile, rich in nutrients, and basically compost quality. It's also very light and airy and that makes it possible to use in containers, all soil that is used in containers needs to be very light so that the baby plants can stretch their roots thru it.

Other than the forest, I'd been able to find such soil in the areas where the river has flooded and dumped massive amounts of tree leaves, which then decomposed for months, and again, have created compost.

I've planted my seedlings directly into the forest soil before, and they were growing just fine, then for a while I was mixing new forest soil, with already-used-up forest soil, and that was fine too! I also ran some experiments mixing soil with fine sand, and planting half of my seedling in soil+sand mixture, and half in only-soil, and they've both grown equally well, no difference was noticed.

This time, I'm going to mix my forest soil with already-used soil, which I have on my balcony, and I have a bag of fine sand from the riverbank. I'm making this mix because it will increase the amount of soil I can use, since I have a neck injury, it's complicated for me to bring home large amounts of soil home, and re-using soil is effective and easy, and perfectly fine if you add fertilized and nutritious soil in it.

You don't need to go thru this entire process just to grow plants, you can use store-bought soil, or try any kind of soil you have around until something works, I'm doing this just to increase the amount of soil I have and make sure it's easy to grow in!

So I have forest soil, already-used soil, sand, and a bucket to put it all in. Before it gets in the bucket, I want to be meticulous and clean it, because even the already-used soil will have some hard clumps or pieces of bark or something, that might bother the tiny seedlings when they grow. I want to make it the most airy and productive soil ever. This is how the already-used soil looks after it's been clean.

And once it's nice and clean I dump it into the bucket! Now it's time to clean the equal amount of the forest soil, and this one is way more messy. There are leaves, roots, pieces of bark, rocks, seeds, sometimes there's even tiny little bugs I accidentally woke from hibernation, but they are fine and good for the soil, and they generally just keep living in the soil and don't go running around the apartment, so I don't mind them at all.

This is how it looks before and after I cleaned it, I was just brushing my hands thru and taking out anything that felt clumpy and odd. If you had a big sieve you could do this within seconds, but I like having my hands in the soil, so I was having a good time spending 10 minutes picking stuff out.

Now, both of the soils are added into the bucket, and I'm also adding sand in. Sand isn't going to add any nutrition to it, but it is very airy, very light, and very easy for little plants to push seeds thru. It will make the soil lighter, and increase drainage, means the water will run down more easily and the soil will not keep water inside. I've tried to make it about 20% sand.

And I'm loving the result after mixing! The soil is a tad more grey in color, but extremely light and airy, I think the plants are going to love it. It's a bit less filled with nutrients than the pure compost would be, but I will add nutrition when the plants become big enough to require it (when they have more than 1 set of true leaves).

All of the clumps, leaves, pieces of bark and clusters of roots I took out, can be composted, but, I'm going to actually use them for filling the big pots on my balcony. I usually add all of the clumpy soil at the bottom, because it adds more drainage at the bottom, and by the time the plants grow their roots all the way down, they won't be bothered by the clumps, it's only the most fragile tiny roots of baby seeds that are sensitive and need airy and non-clumpy soil.

Since my experiment with mixing went so well, I repeated the process and added once more, a container of used soil, container of forest soil, and a bit of sand, to make a full bucket of soil. Now I have plenty of soil to work with! I'm going to keep this bucket inside of my room, because those baby seeds are used to warm temperatures, and will want to be planted in warm soil. I'm also closing the lid, so the soil remains damp and full of life.

If your soil dries out, then the bacteria and diversity inside of it starts dying off, and it can even become hydrophobic! In case it does get so dry it starts rejecting water, it can still be rehabilitated, by adding more organic soil in it and mixing it all together. I've also seen gardeners add soapy water, because bubbly water has less surface tension and is more easily absorbed by the dry soil. For this purpose, they'd add a few drops of dish detergent in the water.

Here's my bucket of soil! This can fill many containers and cups, and when I run out, I have enough ingredients to make more. In a few weeks, I'll probably have to go to the forest to get some more, but I'll be all set until then.

#soil health #free soil for planting inside #soil mix #soil nutrition #compost #planting mix #diy inside soil #container soil #gardening #growing seedlings #growing transplants

[hanafubukki]

Thinking about falling in love with Malleus.

How it’s such a gradual love that you don’t see coming.

You met him one night.

You might have even thought him weird.

Became friends with him.

Got to know him as Tsunotaro first.

Then as Malleus Draconia.

But never the future king.

There’s tears and wounds as there always are in a relationship of any kind.

But as time pass, so do wounds heal.

And as time moves, so do feelings gradually change.

Until one day, you noticed your feelings had seamlessly changed.

It felt normal.

A given.

How could you not have fallen in love with him?

This fae that held your heart.

He can have it.

For you knew no one else would treasure it as much as he did.

I love you, Malleus Draconia.

#Hana in her soft malleus draconia hours again #it’s about the gradual and seamlessly falling in love with him you know!! #like a slow burn but without the…frustrations #there are issues and trouble to deal with but that’s all relationships #but the love that you two grow blooms from a seedling to a beautiful flower #how precious #malleus draconia #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twst malleus draconia x reader #twst malleus draconia #twst malleus #twst fluff

[geothebio]

today in gardening: found a wild black raspberry bush behind our shed that i never even knew existed

#they’re fucking delicious too #gonna be harvesting these along with my massive amounts of raspberries all summer baybee #i REALLY want to grow luffa gourds but the seedlings are taking their sweet god damn time #geo gardens #that’s my new gardening tag #prepare for photos of vegetables

[wildrungarden]

4/20/24 ~ I found this tree hidden in my gardenia bush out front growing. Anyone know what kind it is? I pulled it up and planted it in a pot for now till I figure out what kind it is ☺️

#trees #growing trees #tree seedlings #cedar trees #pine trees #forestry #indoor garden #sustainable gardening #container gardening #vegetable gardening #starting seeds #growing food #plant life #plant mom #veganuary #homesteading #plant trees #earth day

[elucubrare]

ok herb garden version uhhhh 5.0 let's gooooooo

i'm putting in gravel at the bottom for drainage and only doing things that should be good companion plants (rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley) AND now i actually have decent sun exposure so it should hopefully work this time

#i thought about buying pepper seedlings but then i decided that they give u those free when u buy peppers #(i've had really good luck growing peppers from seeds)

[dearjewels22]

Brace yourself. It WILL get dark. It WILL be hard. It WILL feel like eternity. But don't give up. You WILL come out better, stronger, wiser.

#life #pray about it #pray through it #faith #planted not buried #planted #dirt #buried #hard times #don't give up #stay strong #resilient #bloom #bloom where you are planted #God can move mountains #faith as small as a mustard seed #mustard seed #seedling #flowers #grow #evolution #elevation #affirmation #manifesting #struggle well #wise #be wise #don't worry #inspiration #push through

[semprvivum]

Spider plant seedlings 🌱

#my first time growing them from seed ! my big spidey gave me seed pods for the first time :) #chlorophytum comosum #plants #plant #plantblr #spider plant #seedlings #seedling #horticulture #botany #plant propagation #propagation #houseplants #mine

[growingupgerudo]

Adult Arc: Pages 478-479

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Ayyyyy get it, Beedle

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Read Growing Up Gerudo on Webtoons!

#growing up gerudo #sika #beedle #seedle #link #loz #legend of zelda #comic #webcomic

[kineticallyanywhere]

Tell us more about Doodler Normal Kinetic i beg of you

First thing to note: Doodler Boss Normal would not survive contact with Canon Normal

Cause the thing with this version of Normal, I think, is that the situation to create it is so specific; and in a way that I've never thought about before, for a narrative? I'm sure it exists somewhere, because what story framework doesn't already exist somewhere but like.

this version of Normal only happens in a world where all 4 anchors are broken with violence and not a single other person is questioning that decision by the end. (which I don't think is going to happen! for the record!) in this world, Normal presents himself as a last bastion of empathy, but where in any other story that would look like a shining knight with their Chosen One sword and shield and righteous strength, in this story it looks like a kid ready to turn into an eldritch monster because the eldritch monster is the only other creature he can find that makes any sense to him. a character who, written in words, is a paragon hero who's virtues refuse to crumble. but because of the Ao3 CSS skin of the world he's in, he gets all the style and flair and trappings of a villain.

(which, again, I don't have reason at the time of this writing to think that this situation would happen; that there isn't going to be at least one other person on Normal's side. It's all but impossible to predict any of these kids and I think they all have good hearts, even Scary. Link right now is an unsettled weather vane in a storm, Taylor for all his swagger doesn't seem on the side of brutality, and then like... Hermie???)

that said! In a world where sometimes you can't decide if you want to sit in your disappointment or scream at the top of your lungs, there's falling back on your new frienemy-of-the-family monster bro

(anyone with a writing bug and time, feel free to use any, all, or none of these ^^)

for thoughts on where this AU would end up, anyone can obviously take it anywhere but I know the version I would make would have a happy ending (I am allergic to writing tragedies, sue me). I guess it would be a story where finally snapping and letting out some Oak Anger and not apologizing (because while it's not okay to be cruel it is okay to be angry) is what gets characters to come to terms with each other and better understand each other and meet each other in the middle and even come to terms with themselves and what version of expressing themselves makes them happy and comfortable and best able to love themselves and the people around them.

all of that admittedly wrapped in a gift box with the catharsis of a character saying "I'm not okay with how you're treating me" in a very badass fashion, as we all wish to do one day.

also for those of us who would die for Scary but also want to take her by the shoulders and shake vigorously there's the Rule of 3s for swiping the Goth Crown from Scary a THIRD TIME

all of her put-on apathy and tiredness and lashing out but from a genuine place, simultaneously forcing her in front of a mirror and asking her to reach back for the part of herself that started the day of the debate "bright eye-ed and bushy tailed" so that she could even stand a chance at getting through to Normal??? The ways to talk about Scary skyrocket even higher. to be clear, I don't want this as a form of stealing Scary's narrative, I want it as a way of taking Scary's narrative and hitting the NOS. give her just about everything she wants, for everyone to agree with her and listen to her and think she's right and enforce the belief that she has any power over what's going on and then see if she even likes it. See if she likes herself and see how far she's willing to take the identity of goth punk seeker of darkness. ask her where the line is. show her the road she she's taking and ask her where the line is. canon parallels and connections between normal and scary are a whole other post I can have and will drive to work in the morning writing the meta in my head, the way Normal is a previous version of Scary cranked up to 11 and the way Scary makes herself into a person that Normal has every right to be but isn't becausehe'shumanandflawedbutsogoodatheartandnevergivesuponothersnotevenherandAUGH

#dndads #dndads 2 #normal oak #aus #ask ka #me talking #i... have even more thoughts than i thought #and also more that i dont know how to elaborate on or balance yet #cause figuring out how to finagle this au without doing Link dirty is something I would like to do #problem is we dont know what the other two anchors are or even why he did it yet and like #we are in a pocket of time that's perfect for the seedling IDEA of this au #but we dont have enough content for me to grow it in a way that satisfies my love for all the characters #i know there are others more powerful than me who can take a thing and run canon be forgotten im just... bad a that #and therefore lean on them in these trying times #SPEAKING OF THEM THE NUMBER OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO'VE DRAWN BRANCHES OF THIS/TAKES ON THIS???? #HI I SEE YOU AND LOVE YOU IM BLOWN AWAY #...well dang i had even more thoughts #long posts #i couldnt figure out where to put a readmore and also forgot to

[i-am-a-stupid-robot]

Oh, but I am blessed!

#lizard tales #unconditional napkin love #i am so thankful for the friends God has surrounded me with these last few years #i am a seedling of faith in a garden of tall and flourishing souls that encourage me to grow upward and alongside of them #pocket frens

[balkanradfem]

Alright so, and I promise this is funny, I have been dealing with severe deficiency in 'making plants grow successfully'. It's going worse than any year but I'm also having a lot of fun with it, because I'm no longer discouraged by baby plants dying, I'm already germinating the next batch and I know I'll be just fine.

This year's weather has been so nice, gardening wise! We didn't have a crazy hot February like the last few years, it's been very frosty in fact, so that the trees didn't flower too soon and I love that for us, that is the promise of fruit, and also making me feel a bit more at ease that the weather, for now, isn't hectic.

The middle of March was nice and sunny, and I felt encouraged to put my baby plants outside, just for an hour or so every day, so they would get used to direct sunlight. I also noticed some of my baby plants turning purple, and I thought, AHA! Nitrogen deficiency, I can fix this by fertilizing them, so I did, a bit too much maybe, because 3 days later half of my tomatoes, and a bunch of other plants sadly died. Some of the plants actually showed signs of getting burned by the sun, but only after the 3rd day they were outside! You're telling me sun was fine for 2 days but then the 3rd day it was just too bright and you had to expire??

Some of the plants that did well initially, also ended up outside when it was, a bit more windy than they could handle. And I wasn't even home, by the time I got home, the plants were already lying horizontally, unable to fight the violent weather.

And this is funny because I take all of these risks every single year and I never had this many of them pan out badly, and never had this amount of seedlings die, but truth be told I do plant too many tomatoes every single year and I should maybe tone it down, 70% of my meals are tomato based at this point (it's so easy to conserve), and I should focus more on some beans and pumpkins.

So anyway, since seedlings are not vibing, I finally gather my senses to go to the actual garden one day, because I'm thinking, there will be cabbage savoy there, and spinach probably grew a bit by now, maybe I can have some fresh spinach! Maybe swiss chard grew and I could eat that, maybe there's a carrot that germinated and would make me happy.

So I bike to the garden and as soon as I get there I realize that everything I was hoping to harvest just went to seed. Two weeks I've been too sick and dealing with medical issues, and I couldn't check on the garden, and 2 days of warm temperatures and everything said bYE and went to make seeds?? The rapid change took me completely by surprise, I didn't think things would go to seed while we still had frosts. I stubbornly picked the cabbage deciding to just eat the little flowerbuds and leaves anyway, the flowers didn't open yet so with a bit more prep time, it's all edible. My spinach went to seed as well, the traitor. It's March!!!

As discouraging as all of this sounds, this is incredible for learning, because now I know that every single thing on this list has a good chance of happening this time of year, and I'll be able to make better choices next time. In fact, if all of this didn't happen now, it would probably happen any year from now on and I wouldn't be ready or expecting it. Next time I'll get all those cabbages before the sun touches them. I'll try growing spinach in the fall when it won't go to seed as easy, and I'll think twice before taking 3-4 risks at once with baby seedlings.

The baby seedlings who survived all this are the victors who are strong and resilient and probably can't be killed by any of my bad choices. Even if I have slightly less plants, I'll have the most powerful plants. The last batch I've planted seems to be growing rapidly, because the weather is light and warm now, and I've planted some flowers I've never had before! I'll have tansy on my garden, for the first time ever.

#gardening #growing seedlings #making bad decisions and learning #this is the only way to learn #growing food #learning from experience #this year of gardening is going to be awesome I can feel it

[allthingssoulful-garden]

141 tomatoes in the ground, planted last evening. I was planning to buy and plant them a couple of weeks from now, but someone brought us 3 trays of tomatoes a few days ago and they were big enough, I didn't want to keep them in trays much longer.

The first row are, as always, my tiny colorful heirlooms, but turns out the trays were enough to fill the other 3 rows.

Took longer than expected to plant them, but I'm glad it's a gardening task I can check off my spring to do list.

#home garden #tomatoes #seedlings #planting #gardeners on tumblr #grow your own food #gardenblr #edible gardening #garden #gardenblog #gardening #gardencore

[solarpunkani]

Oh yeah you’ve heard of ‘rambling about wildflowers so much during thanksgiving that my dads side of the family thinks I should start selling wildflowers’

Now get ready for

‘Rambling about vegetable and flower gardening so much over breakfast that my mom’s childhood friend thinks I should start selling at farmers markets’

#out of queue #ani rambles #like they gotta stop tempting me man #i’d be 100% down to start a lil business selling wildflower seedlings/plugs/plants #but I suck too much at growing them from seed to be able to dive in confidently #in other news said mom’s childhood friend also offered to take me to a upick blueberry/wildflower farm if i come around in spring next year #and also have mom summon me for help starting a vegetable/butterfly garden so like #*bites lip* ayeeeee #also on an unrelated note at an unrelated family gathering I was declared The Cool Cousin for writing and drawing #i wield so much power now

[forsythiahill]

Spring Greenhouse Growing Seedlings and Cucumbers

#greenhouse #spring #plants #growing #cucumbers #seedlings #tomatoes #peppers

[defeateddetectives]

they're heeeeeeere!!!

#relentless hunting and scoping out local fruit markets for the past month finally paid off 🥲 #i'm also excited to see if i can grow more seedlings from this batch (and maybe even a shinobu to accompany her bratty 2 y.o sibling)! #fyi my luck started off sour but then turned sweet but i still have a few left so lets seeeeeee #loquats blogging 2k24 and #natsume problems #by extension #on an unrelated note I AM SO TIRED but this day/week is still. going. and i need to power thru so as not to sob during my days off later 😬 #cameraphone adventures

[speedlimit15]

i miss growing weed i miss sticking my head in the tent and inhaling deep and talking to my plants and watching them grow towards the light and bending their branches gently

#but something in the water in this apartment kills seedlings even if i run it through the filter and dechlorinate and adjust ph #and i go through too much water during a grow to be buying it elsewhere #of my last 12 seeds i only got 1 to grow to flower and it was the saddest plant ever