Carrots

We enjoyed some organic finger carrots and decided to grow some carrot tops to see where they would go. 

On 8 Jul 2015, the carrots had greens on top, so there was a chance that they might grow.

This was a day after leaving them in water. Sprouting occurs.

On the 3rd day, shoots are seen. About a week later, I popped them into a pot. 

By 31 Jul the carrot tops were lush and green. 

Update 19 Sep 2015:

Nothing much happened to the carrot tops. Read that they should just hopefully bolt and develop seeds and eventually die back. One thing for sure, there would be no carrots.

On 5 Sep 2015, I sowed some carrot seeds in our seeding ice tray. 

By 11 Sep 2015, the seeds started sprouting. 

On 19 Sep 2015, potted the seedlings in soil. This pot is rather small - about 15cm wide and 17cm deep. I kept 2 pots of 5 seedlings each. So that's a total of 10 seedlings to try.

A little update on the carrot tops. It's been about 9 weeks after we grew the carrot tops. They are no longer green and lush. Some of the leaves have even started to turn red but there are no signs of flowers. This could be a lost cause. But they are very fancy and rather ornamental to have around.

Update 26 Sep 2015:

It's been about 3 weeks since we sowed the carrot seeds and a week since we put it in the soil. The distinctive carrot leaves are finally showing up. Such joy!

As for the carrot tops, the filigree leaves are just so lovely, I put them in little pots and enjoy the prettiness on the dining table. Xo

Update 2 Feb 2016:

It has been slightly over 16 weeks (4 months) since we planted the carrot seeds. 

We grow them in thin but tall containers. They are so pretty and resilient. We have been travelling, so we have returned a couple of times to dried up carrot tips, but always seem to revive them with a lot of water.

Recently, due to the rainy season, the leaves have been growing lush and happy. We are starting to spot some carrots peeking out of the surface of the soil too!

Xiao Bai Cai (Bak Choy)

I started a seed tray of 小白菜 Bak Choy on 12 Sep 2015. These are little growing machines! By the next day, little shoots have started to appear.

This is how they have grown on the 3rd day! I have 1 seed in each cubby hole of the ice tray. We are looking at more than 80% success rate. 

Seedlings have grown to about 1.5cm. Now let's pray they keep up the good work!

Update 17 Sep 2015:

On the 5th day, I transferred the seedlings into individual cups. These are mini cupcake cups, around 3.5cm wide. Seedlings are about 2-2.5cm

Update 19 Sep 15:

It's been 1 week since we sowed the Bak Choy seeds. 

Potted the seedlings in a 40cm (l) X 15cm (w) X 15cm (h) trough. Seedlings are about 2.5-3.5cm. I have 2 troughs and about 32 seedlings in total. 

Update 26 Sep 2015: 

It's been 2 weeks since we sowed the seeds and the bak choy has grown.

These babies just sprout so quickly after potting in soil. I use chicken poo to fertilise weekly. Hope this works!

Tomatoes - Rubies on the Vine

Inspired by the bountiful tomato harvests of fellow local gardeners, I decided to jump on the bandwagon of growing tomatoes from seeds - especially since we have organic tomatoes in the refrigerator.

We made a lovely mozerella caprese and saved the stray seeds on the cutting board. The seeds were a little wet, so I left them overnight on the window sill.

I sowed the seeds on 22 Aug 2015. As usual, I like to germinate tiny seeds in ice trays as it means starting on less potting mix. The moisture conditions are also easier to control in smaller areas. I placed a seed in each corner of the cubby holes. Managed to fill 9 cubby holes with a total of 36 seeds.

On the 3rd day, the first sprouts started to appear. By the 6th, most of the seedlings were out.

To be candid, I am still clueless about the variety of tomatoes we will be getting. The label on the box just states that it's organic Rubies on the Vine from Mexico.

I am guessing (and hoping) it's going to be an indeterminate (vine) instead of a determinate (bush). As indeterminate are perennials. But it's a wild guess subject to more research. 

Some growers mention the possibility of hybrid tomatoes flowering but eventually not fruiting. Without much information about this variety, the risk of disappointment is omni-present.

Update 5 Sep 2015:

The seedlings have grown stronger. Some have even sprouted new leaves. So I decided to pot them individually before the roots get too entangled. 

The Welgrow substrate is so well aerated it is not too difficult to separate the seedlings.

Most growers recommend thinning down the seedlings at this point. However, I am too inexperienced to decide which seedling is a better specimen to keep and which one to discard. So I decided to keep all the well formed ones, which is majority and if need be, use them to experiment growing techniques. 

I transplanted the seedlings individually into mini cupcake holders. 33 seedlings made it. Way too many. I would give them away if I am more confident that they can fruit. 

So it's back to research work before I decide what to do with these little lovelies! 

Update 26 Sep 2015:

Almost a month after sowing the seeds. These tomato seedlings are finally putting out more leaves. It looks like these seeds sprout quickly but grow slowly.

Update 3 Jan 2016:

The seedlings grew quickly after potting. Within a month, they grew to about 30cm and started flowering. For the longest time, the flowers just dried off. I read that hybrids usually do not fruit and thought this could actually be one of those.

It is about 4 months since we sprouted the seeds and the 2 surviving plants are about 1m tall.

Yesterday however, a singular tomato was finally spotted on one of the plants. It's exhilarating!

Let's hope there are more to come!

 

Okra

I got a pot of okra from the nursery, thinking it's too much of a hassle to grow from seed. 

But with 3 plants in a tiny pot, I was advised by fellow gardeners that they are too crowded, yet too matured to repot. Leaves start falling off and the new leaves were barely bigger than 5cm. Fruits were also smaller and not tender. 

By fluke, I left the fruits on the plant and let it turn brown because I wanted to observe how long it will take for that to happen. I kept the dried pods and seeds because they were too pretty to throw. Turns out that is the right thing to do to save okra seeds!

The okra seeds in the pods were black and all dried up. 

Unwilling to pay for more okra plants, I decided to try my luck at germinating the seeds. Bearing in mind that I am not too lucky with germinating seeds, I am tip-toeing in this experiment.

I started 9 seeds in an ice tray filled with substrates (Welgro), because I had some lying around.  

We suffered a few nights of torrential rain and the ice tray was literally flooded and overflowing, as the rain managed to splash in. Each time I emptied the excess water, I am certain I lost some seeds, as it's hard to tell them apart from the peat.

On Day 3, 3 seedlings miraculously sprouted. Interestingly they turned up in assorted stages. The tiniest little sprout in the right most cubby can barely be seen.

So I potted the 2 more advanced seedlings in the substrate. 

It's the 5th day since we started growing the seeds. The cotyledons are peeking out from under the shell of the germinated seeds. We are still holding our breath and fingers crossed... 

Will keep this post updated. 

Update 12 August 2015:

1 week after planting the seeds, the seedlings have grown beyond 10cm and the cotyledons are looking healthy. I repotted them in more of the Welgro substrates and increased direct sun to 1-2 hours.

Update 28 August 15: 

3 weeks after planting the seeds, these saplings are more than 20cm and furry leaves have started to develop. 

Update 9 Sep 2015:

I came across a facebook post where a fellow gardener mentioned that he was given an okra plant grown from a sucker. He has no idea how it works and I could not find information online on how to propagate from okra suckers. So it's time to experiment!

On 4 Sep 15, I cut out a sucker that was about 20cm, from our existing okra plants and put it in a cup of water to hopefully root the cutting. Within 3 days, small white dots appeared on the stem. 

An okra sucker is the shoot that grows out from the side of the main stem, usually above the stalk of one of the leaves. I cut the sucker closely where it joins the main stem. 

4-5 bigger leaves were attached to this sucker. They were droopy by the 3rd day, so I snipped them off. 

On the 5th day, roots formed clearly at the base of the stem! Hoorah! I will leave it for a few more days till a healthier root system is established before putting it in soil.

Update 26 Sep 2015:

These are the okras grown from seeds. It's been 7 weeks since sowing the seeds and we are seeing our first flower buds!

Waiting patiently...!