Seed Challenge

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I haven’t started vegetables from seed in many years.

Local nurseries have inexpensive plants ready for the garden. A good neighbor has a large vegetable garden and shares his produce all summer. Local growers have great vegetables at nearby farmer’s markets.

I turned the vegetable bed into a flower garden years ago. I only grow a few vegetables in the flower garden now.

But this year, a gift of grow lights and free pepper seeds came as a challenge.

Never one to dodge a challenge, I planted a few ‘Early Sensation’ pepper seeds on March 11. I used dampened seed starting mix, slid the container into a plastic bag and put them on a radiator cover for warmth. When the plastic became too wet I opened the bag to let it dry.

The seeds germinated in a week or two. I removed them from plastic bag and put them under the lights. I watered them with a spray bottle at first. As they got a little bigger, I used a weak fish emulsion fertilizer about once a week.

When the plants had four sets of true leaves, I carefully planted them in their own peat pots using potting soil/perlite/peat moss mixture (3-1-1/2).

Now, the plants are outside hardening off. I’ll plant them in the garden in the next few days. The seed packet says 73 days to harvest. I made a note to fill in the end of this story then.

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I rose to the challenge and now I'll taste the fruits of my labor if the rabbits don't get them first.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Growing from seeds requires daily attention.

Local nurseries have inexpensive plants ready for the garden. A good neighbor has a large vegetable garden and shares his produce all summer. Local growers have great vegetables at nearby farmer’s markets.

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(More information from Purdue University Extension, “Starting Seeds Indoors”.)
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