Chilli Progress!

Photo progress of my Chilli seeds.. (this a been a seriously fun learning experience!)


Sown 9th Jan 2014:

They sprouted on the 17th of Jan but I didn't get a picture.

Tall leggy seedlings on 27th Jan. They had been left by a sunny window under a plastic bag for a week or so while I went on holiday..... Bad I know.. But they survived!

I re-potted them on the 29th Jan into plastic cups with holes in the bottom, and I buried them as deep as possible to counteract the legginess.

And now on the 3rd Feb they seem to be loving the new arrangement!

I've been experimenting with putting them under a lamp at night....

But I can't tell if it's making a difference, or they are just growing faster since they were re-potted... Either way they seem to be happy. I lost a few of the seedlings that struggled more due to the mold that developed when they were under the plastic, lesson learnt for next time.... AIR FLOW!!!

All in all pretty happy with them, now to just wait a few more weeks and they should be ready for their bigger pots.

Planting Chilli Seeds - Hungarian Yellow Wax and Jalapeno

My seeds arrived today!

Two things I have learnt since beginning my garden:

1. You can't grow everything from seedlings (even though I think it's sooo much easier)

2. You can buy seeds for almost every type of plant on the internet, so why not try something different!? :)

So I ordered some Jalapeno and Hungarian Yellow Wax Chili seeds. It's early Summer here at the moment and quite hot, so hopefully they will do well.

I'm using the bottom half of egg cartons as seedling trays, with old takeaway cartons to hold the water. 

I read that since chillis need to be really warm to germinate, I'm covering them with plastic wrap and keeping them in the hot water cupboard. I'll check them every day and take them out when they start to germinate.

Again, if anyone is reading this and can see something that I'm doing wrong, please feel free to comment below!

Raised Bed Gardening in Auckland New Zealand

For Christmas I was given a raised garden bed frame.

I must have been talking too much about how I wanted to grow my own herbs... Ooops. Oh well if you don't ask you don't get!

I went out and bought some supplies from Mitre 10 Mega.

Two bags of compost and three bags of soil. A fork, trowel and rake, three pairs of gloves, plus some seed raising mix as I plan to grow Chillies. I got everything here for under $50!

I spent about a week peeking outside at different spots around the house to try and see which got the most sun, and decided this sheltered north-facing spot by the hedge will have to do.

In the beginning I was intent on lining the bed with plastic or weed mat, mostly because I think the wood is untreated and I want it to last for a while.

But in the end, and after lots of research, I decided just to lay a few sheets of newspaper in the bottom, to stop too much soil from falling through the holes.

I used the 'lasagne' method, by layering the soil and compost intermittently. I'll probably dig through it a bit before I plant just to mix it more and loosen it up.

This is all I've done so far, I want to let the soil rest for a few days so that the compost can break down a bit and everything can settle.

I really have NO idea what I'm doing! I'm just following my gut, and bits of info I've gathered from the net, and my mum.

If there's anything that I'm doing wrong or could do better, please feel free to comment. Any advice is welcome!