Week 2

After two full weeks since being planted, there is much to report on the thyme, basil, chard and squash.


When the thyme first started sprouting I was amazed by how quickly the seedlings started shooting up from the soil. The same is true of the basil. However, after what appeared to be quick progress in the first days of sprouting, both the thyme and basil seem to have stalled. Below is a picture of the thyme. Not much has changed in the last couple days.


The same holds true for the basil. The rapid growth in the first few days of germination led me to believe that the seedlings would develop into thicker and sturdier plants in a matter of days. This certainly has not been the case as you can see from the picture below:


One thing I'm quickly learning is that seedlings are very delicate and much care must be taken when watering. Initially, I was using a spray bottle to water all my plants but that quickly became ineffective as my plant's watering needs increased. I thus switched to a watering can, which is more effective because it allows you to water your plants more rapidly with it's more powerful streams of water. The downside is that if you're not careful, you run the risk of crushing your seedlings with the powerful stream of water. I learned this the hard way. Both the basil and thyme seeds were flattened the first time I watered them with the can. Luckily, they proved to be quite resilient and bounced right back the following morning. The swiss chard however, may not have been so lucky. As you can see below, many of the seedlings remain flattened. My guess is that watering with the can may have damaged the stems.



When the chard seedlings first began to wilt I assumed that like the herbs they would eventually perk up. However, it has now been three days and most of them continue to lifelessly lay sideways. I have been very careful when watering them, making sure not to use too much water yet things have not improved. They don't necessarily look like they're dead or dying, but I am also not quite sure this is totally normal. Hopefully the next few days will provide some answers.

The squash has been puzzling me as well the last few days. Up to this point, only one seedling has sprouted. When the other plants first started sprouting at least a few seeds of each sprouted within days of the first one, yet for the squash it has now been three days since the first seedling sprouted and there is no sign that any of the others will follow suit. I am wondering whether it has anything to do with the fact that this is a larger seed and thus a larger plant. Perhaps the pot is not big enough to hatch multiple seedlings?



On a side note, only one week after being planted, the snow peas are really starting to sprout. If you click on the picture below, you can see quite a few little green sprouts. I am surprised by how many are popping up at once. This is one of the plants where I used the second type of soil, so i'm wondering whether that has anything to do with the rapid growth or whether it's just the nature of this type of seed. Either way I am quite pleased with the results thus far.