The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Let's start with the bad - Germination thus far has been pretty sporadic. About a week and a half ago, I seeded a couple of trays with beans, beets, broccoli and zucchini. Last weekend I started the Asian greens and peas. Making a semi-decent show of it are the beets (left) and Asian greens (right). I re-seeded some cells last weekend with more beets and they are just starting to push through the surface to join the others. The Asian greens have been by far the most vigorous (I sowed these seeds on Sunday). The lesson I've learned here is not to be so stingy when it comes to the number of seeds you sow per cell. I started out sowing 1 beet seed per cell and have since sowed 2 more in the cells that showed no signs of life after 7 days - a bit of a waste of time if you ask me.

Next, the ugly - The beans, broccoli and zucchini have been a bit of a catastrophe if you ask me. Two out of 8 beans and 1 out of 8 broccoli plants have emerged. The first (and I suspect only) zucchini plant is just starting to break the surface. I can only partially blame the weather. When I sowed the beans, I had coated each seed with a bit of inoculant. NOT A GOOD IDEA WHEN YOU ARE SOWING IN TRAYS!!!! Maybe it was a combination of weather, too much moisture and inoculant that did it, but when I dug up some cells to see what was going on, I noticed that the beans showed no signs of germination and would disintegrate upon the slightest pressure (the insides oozing out and releasing an awful smell). When I investigated the peas, I discovered the same thing. Coincidentally enough, the two bean seeds that did sprout were ones that I had chosen not to coat with inoculant. As a result, I spent this evening disposing of and reseeding my beans and peas. If anyone out there has had success with inoculating legumes started in seed trays, please let me know. Me, I don't think I'll ever do that again. Lastly, I have no idea what's going on with the broccoli and zucchini.

Now let's end with the good- Currently, my meyer lemon and kaffir lime trees are both experiencing a major flush of leafy growth. Given the fact that this summer has been so mild and rainy thus far, I suspect that this is the flush that should have occurred last month. Better late than never I guess. I can't wait to see the end result of this growth spurt!