pepper update, April 28

[edenfalling]

[[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*)

Comments

[branchandroot]

A bumper crop of seedlings! Mixed metaphor, but who cares. Go, little pepper plants!

My showy primrose is also quite vigorous, so perhaps this is just a good-seed year.

[edenfalling]

*cheers your primrose on*

[via_ostiense]

The leaves are so cute!

[edenfalling]

Tiny plants apparently trigger the same "eeeee, adorable!!" reaction in me as kittens, puppies, and other baby animals. :-)

[transposable_element]

Awwwwww! Who has cute little cotyledons? You do!

[edenfalling]

Hee! :-D

[marmota_b]

I don't exactly follow the pepper saga, but I also love the tiny plant effect. Having spent a considerable part of my childhood with my hands in dirt, I pity anyone who hasn't, and this sort of thing feels just right. It's so thrilling and nerve-wracking to wait for them!

[edenfalling]

I think by next weekend the March 15th batch may be ready to transplant into their permanent pots! Which means I need to buy some more pots and potting soil, to say nothing of getting my back porch ready. (Oh god, it needs to be scrubbed, and maybe sealed/stained if I have the time and spoons, and then sprayed down with squirrel-be-gone. So much work.)

[marmota_b]

But hopefully worth it!
Squirrel-be-gone - now there's something I'm not familiar with. Our pests were birds and neighbourhood cats. And one memorable year, our own rabbit: the grass has never been shorter, not to mention the things that were not supposed to be short.

[edenfalling]

Well, it's technically a general animal-be-gone spray, but the specific animals I am trying to discourage are squirrels, so. *sigh* Last year I got very tired of having my plants dug up or knocked over, and then later having their fruits bitten off.

[marmota_b]

We had an agreement with the blackbirds about the cherries. They could nest in our spruce trees, safe from the cats, and eat the cherries we did not manage to pick.
Of course, they never knew that was the agreement. And it got nullified once a tiny abandoned kitten landed on our property and we accidentally became cat people.

[heliopausa]

It's great to hear the latest in the pepper saga. :)

[edenfalling]

Possibly there will be more pictures on Monday... :-)

[joyeuce01.livejournal.com]

It's apparently important for peppers to have lots of potassium if you want lots of fruit. You can help them by burying banana skins beneath/by them.

[edenfalling]

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. :-)