biodegradable Pellets

Today was my day to plant some seeds. I have been looking for a seeding kit for some time, and came across a product from Planters' Pride. They are these little thin pallets with a seeding mix inside a fiber membrane. Instead of making biodegradable pots out of Peat moss, Planters' Pride uses fibers like coconut coir.

Peat moss is a great growing medium and widely used, but for the most part it is mined. This rich soil takes generation to create and we are using it faster then it is being made. Peat bogs are disappearing, find out more here.

I found this particular kit, reasonably priced, at Canadian Tire, I'm sure that other retailer also carry this or something similar.

The first step is to add water....

The pellet will expand to 3 - 4 cms tall.

Next is the seeds. Today I planted Marigolds, Cherry Tomatoes, Cockscomb Celosia Bombay Wine and Lavender all from my last Johnny's Selected Seeds and Lupins that I had left over from Pacific Northwest Seeds in Vernon BC. They don't have a website that I can find, but their seeds are available at David Hunter Garden Centres.

I'm growing Marigolds and Lavender for specific reasons. Marigolds help to keep small animals, (like squirrels) and some non beneficial insects away from the garden and Lavender will attract Ladybugs that are a beneficial insect to the garden, they eat aphids.

The Bombay Wine is a bit of an experiment. This is not the environment they were intended for. I think it will be warm enough during the summer that they will do fine and probably be Ok threw the winter, but will unlikely survive the winter so I am growing them as an annual.

I proceeded to place 1 or 2 seeds per pellet, gently pushing each one in. I planted them in rows. The Lupins, Lavender, and Cherry Tomatoes each got one row, the Bombay Cockscomb got three rows, and four rows or Marigolds.

Some seeds are very small and difficult to handle. I used a common butter knife to move the seeds into the pallets.

Last step was to place the clear cover over the top and sit the "greenhouse," in the front window. Are apartment stays pretty warm and lots of light comes through this front window. Now I will let the seeds do their thing. Once the plants start to grow to big for the green house I will put the whole plug into a container and the roots will simply penetrate the membrane.

Soon I will be planting carrots and peas directly into their pots. I will likely also be doing some gardening for my building as we haven't yet hired anyone to do anything. This is part of my plan to create our own community garden. I think that if I start doing the work then it gives me the opportunity to meet some of the people in the building who are interested in helping out with the garden. Step one!

TLC Tomato Loving Care

Yesterday the boy and I got to spend a big chunk of time in the garden.  It wasn't enough but there were jobs that needed doing ASAP.  As mention in my last Blog, I bought 3 tomato plants from the VanDusen Plant Sale a couple weeks ago and transplanted them into these pots.  

The cooking style pot was bought at the SPCA Thrift store for about a buck for this purpose.  I couldn't find any other so the other two went into regular reused nursery pots.

I didn't drill any holes in the new pot hoping that the sun would keep the soil from becoming too saturated, but I failed!  I thought about it instead of doing it.  I've been reading the Organic Sister blog and I am learning from her policy of Doing not Thinking!  You can't see it in this photo the the poor tomato became very water logged, very quickly.  And it became sick, which weakened its immune and made it prone to...

APHIDS!  

Although these three plants are next to each other, only the one has been attacked!  To me this is proof that better gardening methods are a better way to keep away pests then chemical spraying!

These little guys have been feasting, enjoying my tomatoes before I even had a chance.

I drilled three holes into the bottom of the pot and let it drain.

I then topped up the pot with Keefer's Soil Energizer to make up for the loss of soil through the holes, and to compensate for soil compaction cause from the flooding.  

I added a small layer of organic matter, dried leaves, to cover the soil so as to protect from further soil damage from rain, and to reduce evaporation.  I maybe should have waited on this stage until the soil had dried out, but I'd hate to waste more water. 

I will add an organic layer to the other Tomatoes as well as the azalea's to protect the soil from the elements.  This may be another good example of a time to use Organic Sister's Doing not Thinking.

I think that I read somewhere that Marigolds detract pests like Aphids.  I know that cats don't like them but I will try and confirm that.  So I bought a small 2X4" tray from Choices and placed it next to the Pot of Tomatoes.  Until the plant is healthy again I am leaving it in isolation so that the aphids stay off the other tomatoes.  Once they are gone I will return the little guy with his friends and repot the Marigolds into separate smaller pots and boarder the Tomatoes with them.