Hello all! I apologize for my unexpected absence, I have been busy with my art, got a new toy that I’ve been playing with, and have just had a lot going on and haven’t had taken the time to make posts this last week or so.
In today’s post, I wanted to tell you all about a new little project I’ve been working on. I’ve decided to try my hand at a bit of indoor gardening!
I’m not very ‘plant‘ smart, I’ve always considered myself to have a relatively brown thumb, but back at the beginning of July, I decided to buy a couple plants, and I bought two New Guinea Impatients, and they seem to be doing quite well, they’ve doubled in size since then, and I think they look great!
This is the Little Impatient when I bought it in early July.
The Little Impatient as of yesterday.
Above is my small Impatient when I first got it, and what it looks like now. The following pictures are of the big Impatient.
Big Impatient, early July, 2013
Big Impatient, Sept 2013
See how much they’ve grown! I’m so excited that they’ve done so well!
I figured since they were doing so well, I would try my hand at growing some vegetables, and since it’s not really the right season for growing outdoors, I’m going to try my hand at growing them inside! I went to the store and bought some tomato, green bean, dill, and spring onion (scallion) seeds, and a clove of garlic (I’ve accidentally sprouted them on my kitchen counter enough times that I knew the kind you buy in the produce section would work just fine, lol) and a growing light. I planted a few seeds of each on 9-3-13.
Waiting for signs of life…
You’ll notice only a few little ‘flags’ saying what is where, and only plain toothpicks on the rest, and that is because I didn’t feel like making a ton of little ‘nametags’, so I simply made one per type of seed, and the rest are marked by the plain toothpicks, if they’re in the same location as the nametag, it’s the same plant!
Today, when I went to move my little babies from in front of the window to under the grow light, I glanced down and saw A SPROUT! One of my tomato plants had sprouted, and several days earlier than expected, too! I was so excited!
My first sprout!
Look at him! He’s SO adorable! I’m so excited, and he’s early, too! An overachiever already, lol!
I also bought a Basil plant the day I bought the seeds. It’s looking a little ‘leggy’, but I’m hoping it will compact more as it grows.
Mr. Basil – Adopted Sept. 2013
Related articles
- Choosing The Best Grow Light For Your Indoor Garden (fullbloomhydroponics.net)
- Grow light chilis (madmagicmark.wordpress.com)
- A Pocket Full of Seeds (urbangardenguerilla.com)
- The Apartment Harvest: 6 Vegetables to Grow Indoors (realfarmacy.com)
- Pickled Green Beans (vutracy.wordpress.com)
- Grow an Indoor Spice Garden (apartmentguide.com)
- I won’t even Dill with It (Pickles!) (beautifuldaymama.wordpress.com)
- Overwintering Impatiens (quarteracreblog.wordpress.com)
- How To Plant An Urban Garden (proplants.com)
Free, Fun or Interesting 
Well don’t Mother Moon, I’m really proud of you. Xoxo
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Thank you! 😀 I’m very excited about my little plant(s)!
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I just went and looked at them again, and the first sprout has already noticeably grown higher, the leaves of the shoot are already out of the ground now, not just the ‘neck’, AND another one is breaking through the surface of the soil, too!
How exciting!
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Proud Mama lol
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LOL… absolutely! The package said they should germinate within 7-14 days… I planted them 5 days ago!
All of the seeds I got weren’t ‘organic’… I’m sure some of them are GM, but I didn’t want to wait to order heirloom seeds online at this time. My plan is eventually to have all heirloom, non-GMO plants that produce edible food which we can eat or preserve, all year long.
My green beans said they were heirloom, so I’m hoping that means that they aren’t GM, and my scallions (heretofore referred to as ‘Green’ or ‘Spring’ onions) said they were ‘organic’, but I don’t know if ‘organic’ equalls ‘non-GMO’ or not???
But, even though my ‘Mater plants are GM, I’ve been eating GM from the grocery store for years, so I don’t think a few more will do me irreparable damage, until I can get and grow heirloom/non-GM veggies… and even though they’re GM, it’s not their fault, and I love them anyway 🙂
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Ooooof your braver than me pal. I wouldn’t feed GM stuff to a man on death row.
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lol… well, like I said, I’ve been eating it every time I buy tomatoes from the grocery store, and I bet the pickles I buy use GM cucumbers, etc… I will eventually grow my own NON-GM veggies… but at least this way I can make the mistakes on the less important (to me) plants.
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Aw, bless. That little tomato plant is going to go to university a few years early 😛
It always interests me when people who aren’t really plant-literate start growing things, especially when they do it well. I’ll be getting a bamboo plant when I move into uni because apparently it’s good luck in a new home or something, and that will be my first try at looking after something with roots since my cactus collection, may it rest in peace, from about seven years ago. Hopefully the bamboo will do as well as your Impatients!
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LOL… Google, YouTube and myself have gotten quite friendly since I’ve started on this little endeavor! I’m really hoping that they do well, and I don’t kill them, because I’d be really sad, after all the excitement of getting them to grow!
I feel most at a loss because I don’t know what to do to make them grow strongest and healthiest, with a minimum of purchased ‘helpers’. I want to be able to grow strong, healthy plants with natural stuff, be that self-made compost or whatever, instead of a bunch of fertilizer and stuff I’ve got to buy from the store.
I’ve also heard about bamboo being good luck, but if you don’t keep it well watered, it will die. Our housemate bought his son one, and forgot to give it water for a while, and it didn’t do so well.
I was (and still am) a little worried about this, because Aloe Vera plants are supposed to be one of the easiest plants to grow, and I can barely keep the one we have here alive… much less thriving. My grandmother had ‘the touch’ with Aloe plants, but neither my mother nor I do… I really want mine to grow nice and fat and big, but I don’t know why it won’t. Old ‘leaves’ die off, new ones replace them, but they stay small, spindly, and kind of sickly looking, no matter how much or little I water it, or how much or little sun it has. She stays sick looking, and makes me a little sad every time I look at her… although, I’m wondering if I should repot her using some better soil…?
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nothing pleases more than good growth – plants kids projects
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I’m so excited… and I can’t believe how much and how FAST these little guys are growing! The first sprout literally came up last night, barely visible (as you can see in the photo) and it’s already, only a few hours later, almost 1/2 – 3/4 of an inch tall!
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they say our thoughts help plants to grow as also music
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I go in my kitchen and talk to my sprouts several times a day, lol… I should take a radio in there and turn it on so they don’t feel lonely ^_^
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keep doing that and read the secret life of plants – cant remember the author -look up on the internet
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I’ll look for it 🙂 Just posted an update w/pictures 🙂
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I looked up the book on Amazon and was disappointed to see that it isn’t available through Kindle (else I would have bought it immediately!)… I’m going to try Paperbackswap.com, and see if it’s available there, before I try to find it at a bookstore locally. Thank you for suggesting it, I read the excerpt, and it seems full of pretty awesome stuff! Especially the part about what the scientist discovered when he hooked the plant up to the lie detector machine!
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not so difficult lady
the secret life of plants is by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird – you will find a review by Wikipedia – free encyclopedia
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I found the book, it’s just not available as an e-book, unfortunately, which means I either have to order it, or find it in a store… I’m just impatient, and wanted to read it NOW, lol… I did find it at a store a few miles away, but no way to get there today *sigh*
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patience is fortune
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LOL… well, I found it at a local bookstore and they have it on hold for me, I’ll be picking it up tomorrow 🙂 I can’t wait to read it!
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bravo – much there you will find enlightening
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After reading the sample on Amazon, I believe you, and am very excited to get my hands on the book… I really appreciate you suggesting it to me!
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welcome
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Did you see the video I posted last night about the singing plants? It’s really amazing, if you haven’t seen/heard it before!
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shall do thanks
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Basil is great stuff. I have several huge plants and it almost takes on a mind of it’s own.
You’re doing a good job, the plants look great!!
You seem to have a lot of interests and are willing to learn new things…all signs of intelligence for certain:) Hope you had a great weekend.
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lol… remember, I’ve got C.A.D.D. 😉 My interests change with the weather, just about… but at least with veggies, once I get them started, they won’t take forever and a day to take care of, and as long as I water them and stuff, I can keep them up while I’m pursuing my next ‘project’ 😀
I’m upset though, because I just realized that my soil is infested with what I believe are fungus gnat babies… so now I’ve got to figure out how to get rid of them out of the soil before I plant my next batch of plants… because I have a feeling the larvae are going to kill my babies that just came up.
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My Dear Friend K.K.,
I think that it’s Awesome that you have started gardening. I believe that plants help us on a spiritual level too.
Fantastic pictures, Enjoy my friend.
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Thank you! Keep watching for updates! Will try to post updates regularly so that you can all watch my babies grow! 🙂
You wouldn’t BELIEVE how much they have grown in just 24 hours!
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What a good idea to start this project! And even better that you simply broke it instead of “I’ll wait for heirloom or whatever and it takes weeks and…oh, nevermind about the project”.
I did a mini garden in my balcony with Basil, Parsley, Mint and Aloe vera… its the first time I’ve planted anything at all and although I do forget to water them from time to time, they recover really fast!
Just you wait until you start sitting next to them talking to them…what do you mean that you already did? hehe
Have an AWESOME day 🙂
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LOL… I talk to them several times a day, I go into the kitchen for the sole purpose of checking on them, checking for new sprouts, and admiring them! 🙂
Yes, when I get it into my head to do something, I don’t like to wait around, because I *DO* lose interest! Some of my plants are actually heirloom (lucky me that the store had at least one, the other was ‘organic’, which I’m not sure if that’s considered ‘heirloom’ or not… must do some research on that!)
How’s your aloe plant? The one I have here is so pathetic! No matter what I do with it, it seems to just sit there, it makes new leaves, but the old ones die, so there’s never really any ‘growth’… it just stays the same size, and looks all sad and pitiful. It does grow new little ‘baby’ aloes, but they, too, seem to simply stay the same size and just … veg out (haha! I love puns!)
I will be posting an update (with pictures!) of my little babies’ progress, either in a few hours, or later this evening!
Thanks for coming by and offering some encouragement!
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