Well you win some, you lose some. I knew this project wasn't going to be as simple as putting seeds in dirt and watching them grow. Of the 4 original plants only one is left alive. So time to look over the data from this one and start round 2.
Things that went wrong the first time around. 1. Too cold in our house for seeds to sprout. 2. Our house is really dry and its hard to keep soil wet. 3. These plants don't like to be disturbed and will shrivel up and die if extreme care is not taken when transplanting. So, how do I remedy these problems for Round 2? 1. Keeping plants near sunlight, near a heat source and away from drafts. This is also getting easier because it is almost 70 - 80 degrees warmer outside then when I started these first seeds back in January. 2. Keep seeds and young plants in a plastic shoebox until they are well established or outgrow it. Then move them into an old fish tank. The first time I did this transition the plants dried out very quickly. So to help with the humidity in the tank I filled the bottom with water and set the pots up out of the water on a rack. What I'm using currently is actually an old bottom to a under gravel fish tank filter. You could also use racks such as cooling racks. 3. Do transplant these plants into a bigger pot they will go directly into a larger biodegradable pot without disrupting any of the roots that are already developed. I started 2 more seeds about a week and a half ago that are starting to sprout. I will also be starting another 2 seeds as back ups. I would rather have too many plants in the end then none at all. And starting them 2 weeks apart at a time allows me to make adjustments as we good to better the chances with the younger plants.
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Did you know loofahs grow on a vine and not in the ocean? I didn't. I have a passion for always wanting a new challenge when it comes to growing plants. I've grown and propagated African Violets since I was about 10. I've grown a small avocado tree from an avocado pit and a wide variety of other house plants. Growing up we always had a large vegetable garden. So when I learned that loofahs grow on a vine and that they can be a challenge to grow, I just had to try it. Problem number one about growing loofahs is that they need a long growing season. Here in snowy Minnesota we have anything but a long growing season. So my solution to this problem was to start them indoors. Photo Source: https://www.reneesgarden.com/products/gourd-bath-loofah Step one was to soak the seeds in water. I did this by placing 4 seeds into a glass jar with a small amount of water. Every day or so I would change the water in the jar, rinsing the seeds before adding fresh water. I left them like this for over a week. I expected to start to see the seeds sprout but that never happened. I finally decided to just plant them and see what happened. The biggest problem I ran into is that I tried to start these while it was -33 F here in Minnesota at the end of January and our house was anything but warm. Averaging 60 F in our kitchen where the seeds were sitting in the jar it was just too cold for them to want to sprout. My normal plant shelf that holds the repurposed fish tank I was going to use as a green house is next to a large glass door that also happens to be very drafty. I looked into getting a seed starting heating pad, but being the thrifty person I am, didn't want to spend the $20 on one. So I took a plastic shoebox, the kind you can get at Walmart or the Dollar Store for $1, set the seed pots inside and set the box next to our wood stove. This helped incredibly fast! Within 2 weeks 3 of the 4 seeds I started had sprouted and are growing fast! And not long after the others the 4th and final one did pop up. Seeds I bought: https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/gourds/squash-gourd-ornamental-luffa-prod000721.html These are heirloom seeds, so I plan to save seeds this fall from the loofahs I harvest to plant next year. After shipping my total for 25 seeds was just over $6.
The seed starting pot I am using I found at our local Goodwill for $0.99 |
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April 2019
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