What's going on in the Greenhouse

[alp]

@johnny canoe Are you serious? They snow in Japan as well, you know.. and I think acers do well in Scotland too. So you're in the west of Alberta.. Is that right or my geography has failed me. Rocky mountain runs through British Columbia I think.. See that was about 35 years ago that I did my geography.. Need to consult the physical map of Canada.. Those seeds are horrible and I don't even know what they are as they never came with any label.. Shame is that I bought loads of wisteria seeds from Hong Kong and the germination rate is very good.. And they are tough cookies and have survived the winter here..

 

[johnny canoe]

You are a little bit mistaken Alp. The Rocky Mountains divide Alberta and British Columbia. We have about half and so does BC. I was born right in the Rocky Mountains, the town of Banff Alberta, 45min. dive west.

4a is the warmest hardiness zone here, not warm enough for the Japanese Acer. Plus Japan might have snow, but we have a constant freeze and thaw all winter in southern Alberta. Temps dipping to near -40, Japan gets nowhere near so cold.

 

[johnny canoe]

Here's my Alberta Rocky Mountains.

 

[alp]

@johnny canoe Thank you for the geography lesson.. OK, I'll visit you, drive west.. LOL! Haha!

Nice town Banff Alberta .. Must be a very clean area to live in... Love all the lakes, mountains, but not so much snow though.. Do you have a log fire going on day and night in winter..?

 

[johnny canoe]

Tomato seedlings are loving the GH. It's pretty stuffed in there and I still have to bring out Nicotiana, Four O Clock, and some late Petunia seedlings. At least the pots and Zonals get taken out into the full sun during the warm enough days.

 

[alp]

Wow! Look at those perfectly formed miniature plants. I am afraid I am an abject failure.

Look at the good ones

So called good ones

And the Scabious, how weak and pathetic they are!

This is my best - salad leaves

Look at these hopeless ones
In the middle are supposed to be my beloved petunia pirouettes.. I am not buying from them again.

How hopeless are they!

I need a hole to bury myself . LOL! @johnny canoe I've downgraded your greenhouse thread.. Just want people to know why I have lost my Joie de vivre!

 

[johnny canoe]

Hello Alp,
Well don't be tough on yourself. Those first two are perennials you are growing there and they are slow growers. I have the same result with perennial seedlings as you do.

Petunia seeds are always hit and miss with germination. I'm glad I collected my own seeds, they are so expensive to buy. I was able to really over seed my trays, but even at that there were a couple types that were very poor germinating.

 

[alp]

Thank you for the encouragement. But this year has been diabolical. I need to find a good seed compost so as to reduce the fatality rate.. I think the coir in the compost dries up too early and is very poor in nutrients.. Very heartbreaking as it seems to be too late for seed germination.

 

[johnny canoe]

I actually decided to save more money reusing the mix from last year. I've been putting it in large zip lock bags, unsealed, and putting it into the microwave for 3min on high. It's been working like a charm, I just have to fertilize because the old mix has none left but that doesn't apply to germinating the seeds. I do take out bigger pieces of roots and wood.

 

[alp]

That's a clever idea! I will copy this.. I always microwave my compost for air layering and for seed germination.. To be honest, it is so costly to fill up a pot and I have only 6 to 9L pots and the amount of compost I have used is just staggering.. I wasted quite a bit potting up dahlia tubers and then potting them in the ground.. (I know, I was a bit stupid. I was thinking of moving with the pots rather than digging every single one of them up)..

Good idea, Johnny!

 

[Logan]

I like both your GH and lean-to I've just got a lean-to greenhouse that's 5x3ft and the concervatory. Do some pics later.

 

[Logan]

On the top are some Cosmos under fleece to stop the slugs and snails, in the bottom are fuschia cuttings and last year's fuschias and geraniums.

This is the concervatory with

Last year's chilli plants, when their kept from last year, they will flower earlier.
I'll take some more tomorrow, the light isn't very good.

 

[alp]

I reckon I should do that with my fish tank, @Logan

What a brilliant idea.. I have put a tray of salad leaves outside but the box with the tray is inside a plastic bag.. The seedlings really like it there and they are doing very well.. It's mini greenhouse..

 

[Logan]

I reckon I should do that with my fish tank, @Logan

What a brilliant idea.. I have put a tray of salad leaves outside but the box with the tray is inside a plastic bag.. The seedlings really like it there and they are doing very well.. It's mini greenhouse..

That's a good idea.

 

[alp]

It looks quite good. Will take a pic tomorrow.