Just a quick photo update. So if you recall, last week I planted some seeds in the basement. Within three days, I had some great germination from the kale, broccoli, and cabbage. The stock started germinating shortly after that and now the snapdragons have started to pop up. So far so good! Next week I’ll plant a few more sets so I get a big of staggered crops (hopefully).

Lessons learned, plant seeds that will grow at similar rates together. This will help when they get too tall for the little domes I have over them. For example, right now I have a flat with cauliflower, broccoli, and poblanos. The broccoli is already a couple of inches tall so by the time the poblanos sprout, the broccoli will be too tall for the plastic domes over the top. So next time, I need to put in broccoli and cabbage and kale together (they had very similar growth rates).

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I took a few pictures of my basement set up. Basically, I got a metal shelf from the hardware store. Then, I put down heat mats and grow lights and hooked them up to timers so they are only on during the daytime (7AM-9PM). I water from underneath to encourage deeper root growth and to not wash away all the seeds.

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Some of my seeds were not stored properly and old, so I look forward to seeing when everything else pops up. It seems like I have had a lot of good, quick growth on some of the plants. I will need to think about how to manage them when they get bigger and it is still too cold to plant out. I’ll share what I learn along the way.

In the meantime, I have really been enjoying Huw Richards’ YouTube channel. He focuses on sustainable gardening practices and has great videos on gardening in small spaces.

Until next time, happy (indoor) gardening!