Today I moved both seed trays over to the window for some extra sun. I also transplanted the last broccoli seedling (that was a slow bloomer and hasn't grown all stringy yet) into the indoor garden tank and dug out an old reptile bulb. I'm wondering if a UVB bulb for reptiles will work as a grow light. I'll continue to use it every day on the last broccoli seedling to see if that is enough to save it. Otherwise, I have spare broccoli seeds and will just plant them directly outdoors once we get the raised bed built.
I was so proud of how quickly the veggies were growing, but I couldn't figure out why the broccoli was looking so stringy. In searching for photos of broccoli seedlings, they don't look like mine. I know it's not a mislabeled plant because I bought the broccoli seeds at the store. Well, a little more research and I got my answer. Apparently, when you plant broccoli indoors, you are supposed to provide the seeds with heat underneath and a grow light above. Failure to do so results in stringy seedlings that won't mature properly and won't produce properly. Oops. Another lesson learned. Today I moved both seed trays over to the window for some extra sun. I also transplanted the last broccoli seedling (that was a slow bloomer and hasn't grown all stringy yet) into the indoor garden tank and dug out an old reptile bulb. I'm wondering if a UVB bulb for reptiles will work as a grow light. I'll continue to use it every day on the last broccoli seedling to see if that is enough to save it. Otherwise, I have spare broccoli seeds and will just plant them directly outdoors once we get the raised bed built. We also discovered another cool aspect of having an indoor garden in a glass tank. As the seedlings continue to grow, their roots are sinking lower and branching out, and with the plants closer to the edges, you can actually see the roots through the glass! An added lesson, and really neat to see. We're considering adding worms to the indoor garden so we can watch them burrow through the soil, but I'm not sure what we'd feed the worms without disturbing the plants. Speaking of roots, the seedlings still in the tray are starting to reach out with their roots. It's definitely time to transplant them! Unfortunately, the weather is nowhere near ready for them to go outside. So I had planned to do container planting temporarily until they could be moved. I didn't get to do that today, but will be doing it tomorrow. I'm hoping to pick up some second-hand containers, more soil, and make a craft project out of creating trellises so the kids have a new project when they get home from school. It should be interesting to see what kind of second hand containers I can come up with. I don't want to leave the pepper plants out - they're now 16 days old and only three of the pellets haven't come up yet. At this point, I'm pretty sure those three pellets are just duds, but I'm going to leave them in the tray just in case.
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