Seedlings Started - Day 8

I've started my tomatoes and peppers.  I will also buy some other tomatoes for more variety as I can't be bothered anymore to start so many from seed! 

These are peat pellets - 12 rows of 6 pellets.  They are soaked with water to expand and then I put 2-3 seeds into each pellet (3 for older seeds as I don't know they will all germinate). At night, they are on the heat mat.  And for about 16 hours, they are under fluorescent lights which are on a timer.

After only a week, some have already started to sprout, mostly the tomatoes.  I've generally tried to keep each group of 6 pellets to a single type.  From left to right:

1) Jalapenos ... there are 3 pellets each of "Raam" and "M"
2) Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers - this is the only pepper that has sprouted so far (typically, this variety is always faster than any other pepper I've grown)
3) San Marzano tomatoes
4) Ancho peppers
5) Super Red Pimiento peppers
6) Mixed variety - Heirloom tomatoes (first to sprout)
7) Chocolate Cherry tomatoes (second to sprout)
8) Cowhorn Hot peppers
9) Kindle Lettuce - why lettuce in peat pellets, I don't know.  Will see how it works to transplant
10) Feher Ozon pepper
11) King of North pepper
12) Gypsy pepper

Also under lights are those pricey Xanthi peppers. Instead of my usual peat pellet approach, they are being "babied" a bit in their own 4-cell pots.

I've also started parsley (nothing to see yet) and these shallots which are just showing now.

And some lettuce - a mixed blend.

And just a few days ago, I started radish, arugula and peas in the greenhouse.  This is the earliest I've ever planted anything "outside" so we'll see how it goes with the greenhouse plants this early.  Normally, I would wait until later in April to start flowers and such, but I am pretty sure these cold season plants will be okay.

And I'm sure these darn pests are happy for the warm weather ... where do they hide all winter?  I've killed three of these in the past few days.  Squash bugs somehow get inside the house and stay inside all winter but I never see them until the spring.  And then they go outside and ruin my crops.  Sigh.

Okra Seeds - only 2 days to germinate!

This single Annie Oakley Okra seed was only planted two days ago in jiffy peat pellets which have been germinating on a heat mat.  Wow, that's fast!  Although I don't expect the tomatoes to be far behind.  You can also see one starting to sprout in the pellet just to the right.

But these seeds are larger than your average tomato seed (similar in size to a peppercorn or allspice berry).  In fact, I wasn't sure if they might be too large for these peat pellets and I'll keep an eye out for the 2nd and 3rd seeds in each pellet to sprout.  I'll have to nip any extras early on.  Generally, the larger the seed the quicker the germination which is why squash and pumpkin seeds can usually be seeded directly in the soil when the weather warms up because they grow so quickly.  

The Okra seeds were, by far, the largest I seeded this past weekend but I'll still watch closely over the next few days as others should start to emerge.


I did not have much of an Okra harvest last year, but saw an Okra plant flower for the first time.  They don't take too long .... this picture was taken last year on June 22nd.  I wonder why they sometimes flower??  Does it affect the growth?  Any input is welcome as I have grown Okra only a few years, but the flowering only occurred one year and on just a few plants.