I hear you Kim, “NO” potting it up, feed it like you said.
Thanks Jackie, what you have said makes sense, that was my thinking of potting it up, trying to enlarge it,
Message to self, self do as you are told
The logic is good, David. But only when the plant tells you it would benefit from it. That seems to be one of the hardest things to learn about growing anything. Give it what you know it will need, then leave it alone until it asks for something else. My most pleasant surprises usually come from setting the stage, then ignoring the plant. Most often, I’m excited by what they do while I’m not looking.
Kim, You make that sound so easy, but I have found that for some people ‘doing what the plant asks for’ falls on deaf ears, because either the person is deaf to the language of plants, or hasn’t taken the time to learn the language of plants, and then there are those people (you are probably one of those) who was born with this inner sense that already interpretes plantease language, AKA, having a grren thumb. And just as some people cannot learn to speak a foreign language, or at least with any authenticity, some people just do not possess that plant sense. But most of us who have an innate love of things horticultural coupled with a good sense of observation can and do learn the language of plants. It is not unlike caring for children or pets. The first one is the one that gets to be the teacher and it is not always easy for that child/pet/plant.
Thanks, Jackie. A good friend has always had to leave his rose collection to his adult nephew when he and his wife traveled. The nephew is highly educated and very intelligent, but clueless when it comes to living things. He could be standing in the middle of a field about ready to spontaneously combust and not see any of it. That led to his nickname of “Black Thumb”, which he unknowingly wore for several years. That is, until he discovered it and found it very offensive. That opened his eyes and he pestered my friend until he set him up with roses on his condo patio, which he grows quite well and with every electronic gadget possible to determine when they need water, which type of fertilizer, etc. Black Thumb finally has a proper first name, and live roses at his condo!
But, you’re right, many people just don’t seem to be able to “get it” when told to listen to the plant. They will tell you everything they want or need. It’s just learning to listen with “new eyes”.
This is for David Mears, I transplant my seedlings out of tubes at a very young age and as long as you have enough true leaves forming and by keeping the soil at a constant moisture level these results can be achieved. These are techniques used in a commercial Plant Nursery I used to work in here in OZ. When buying your potting mix find one that you have used before and had good results with, there are a lot of shoddy preparations out there, and don’t go for the real cheap nasty ones, because that is what you will get. Here is row of seedlings at various stages of growth. This is some advice you may take on board or disgard, its up to you mate.
[attachment 1037 Lineofseedlings.jpg]Going from left to right, (1) potted up 3wks ago and now 1ft high, (2) potted up just under 2wks, (3) potted up Monday 20th of this month and the last potted up today. All are in 6"pots planted in premium potting mix from Mitre 10 Hardware.
Warren, this is a bit from your post. “This is some advice you may take on board or disgard, its up to you mate.” Why would I think of disguarding. Your help is invaluable, as of others on this site. There is only one small difference you closer. I thank you very much for your help. This and all posts/threads are placed in a seperate folder thing for reference now and later.
Hi Warren,
I noticed in the picture you posted above that you have small stakes next to the 3 week and 2 week plants.
Is this something that you do for all of your seedlings once they get to a certain stage, or was this just for the picture?
If you do this on a regular basis, how long will you leave them staked and is this done purely to create a strong central leader?
Thanks in advance!