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pepper update, April 28
Apr. 28th, 2015 08:59 pm[[Note: if you are trying to follow the pepper saga in real-ish time, you may want to check out the backdated April 17th pepper status report, which I forgot to crosspost here at the time.]]
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Pepper update! I currently have twenty-nine tiny pepper seedlings, out of thirty-three planted seeds. That's a pretty good survival rate! (It may go down slightly, of course. Watch this space.)
all twenty-nine of my baby peppers on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
All but one of the oldest batch, planted on March 15th, have their first pair of proper leaves, and two are even starting to grow a fifth leaf. You can see the difference in shape and structure between the new leaves and the first pair of seedling leaves, which exist mostly to break apart the seed coat.
the fifth leaf is that little green prong pointing to the left
All but one of the middle batch, planted March 25th, are starting to grow their third leaves -- a couple are even starting their fourth leaves at the same time.
aren't the new leaves so cute and tiny???
And the last batch, planted April 1st, are doing nicely though still at least a few days away from venturing into new leaf territory.
all four of the April 1st batch, growing very nicely :-)
I had two seedlings this year that weren't able to crack their seed coats on their own; I had to help them with some tugging and judicious use of fingernail scissors. The troubled sprout from the March 15th batch now seems to be running on the schedule of the untroubled March 25th sprouts. It is also by far the smallest of all twenty-nine sprouts. But it is finally growing its third leaf, so yay for life finding a way!
the troubled March 15th sprout
I'm a little more worried about the troubled sprout from the March 25th batch. It couldn't crack its seed coat because its seedling leaves failed to completely separate and therefore couldn't get the right combination of angle and force. It's done better on the vertical growth front than its fellow troubled sprout, but given that the first proper leaf pair usually sprouts from between the seedling leaves, I'm a little unsure if this one will even be able to produce a third and fourth leaf, and if so, exactly where they will appear.
the troubled March 25th sprout
(On a highly tangential note, I am pleased that one of the two peppers that is flourishing most of the March 15th batch -- the one in the photograph above -- is in the same repurposed coffee mug as one of my failed plants from last year: the tiny, weirdly dark-leafed sprout that first quit growing and then just up and shriveled away for no apparent reason. I was afraid perhaps there was something inimical to peppers about the mug or its glaze, but apparently that is not the case. Last year it just got a dud seed. *shrug*)
-----
Pepper update! I currently have twenty-nine tiny pepper seedlings, out of thirty-three planted seeds. That's a pretty good survival rate! (It may go down slightly, of course. Watch this space.)
all twenty-nine of my baby peppers on Tuesday, April 28, 2015
All but one of the oldest batch, planted on March 15th, have their first pair of proper leaves, and two are even starting to grow a fifth leaf. You can see the difference in shape and structure between the new leaves and the first pair of seedling leaves, which exist mostly to break apart the seed coat.
the fifth leaf is that little green prong pointing to the left
All but one of the middle batch, planted March 25th, are starting to grow their third leaves -- a couple are even starting their fourth leaves at the same time.
aren't the new leaves so cute and tiny???
And the last batch, planted April 1st, are doing nicely though still at least a few days away from venturing into new leaf territory.
all four of the April 1st batch, growing very nicely :-)
I had two seedlings this year that weren't able to crack their seed coats on their own; I had to help them with some tugging and judicious use of fingernail scissors. The troubled sprout from the March 15th batch now seems to be running on the schedule of the untroubled March 25th sprouts. It is also by far the smallest of all twenty-nine sprouts. But it is finally growing its third leaf, so yay for life finding a way!
the troubled March 15th sprout
I'm a little more worried about the troubled sprout from the March 25th batch. It couldn't crack its seed coat because its seedling leaves failed to completely separate and therefore couldn't get the right combination of angle and force. It's done better on the vertical growth front than its fellow troubled sprout, but given that the first proper leaf pair usually sprouts from between the seedling leaves, I'm a little unsure if this one will even be able to produce a third and fourth leaf, and if so, exactly where they will appear.
the troubled March 25th sprout
(On a highly tangential note, I am pleased that one of the two peppers that is flourishing most of the March 15th batch -- the one in the photograph above -- is in the same repurposed coffee mug as one of my failed plants from last year: the tiny, weirdly dark-leafed sprout that first quit growing and then just up and shriveled away for no apparent reason. I was afraid perhaps there was something inimical to peppers about the mug or its glaze, but apparently that is not the case. Last year it just got a dud seed. *shrug*)
