What's in the Yard.. Mint - Garden Balsam - Four o'clock - Chili - Sunflower - Cilantro - Calamondin - Marigold - Eggplant

I have started sowing seeds weeks ago. Some of them are showing some good signs, some aren't (sob). Let me share with you what's growing in the yard. It's pretty exciting for first-time gardeners like me to see these seedlings, especially when they take days, or even weeks to sprout!

  MINT 

Let's start with my mint. I know.. I know.. I'm supposed to start growing my plants from seeds. But unfortunately, there are some seeds that I just can't get my hands on, or it'll be much cheaper to grow them from cuttings, just like my mint. I love to put mint leaves in my refreshing drinks, especially ice-cream soda drink with lemon and mint (slurp!) I usually buy a bunch of them for RM1.00 (USD0.31). But, they always wilt the next day. So, I was basically wasting money (I know it's cheap, but still...)

I was searching online for seeds, then I found an interesting info - I can grow them by simply soaking these cuttings in water. And so, I did. I took a plastic container, filled it with water. I washed the mint cuttings, then put them in the container filled with water. I left them outside my balcony, where they can get early morning sun. I change the water every other day, since it gets disgusting then. After about a week, roots started to appear. On the 10th day, I decided to plant them into the soil. And here they are!

Mint - 26 September 2014

My mint plants are pretty short, I think they generally are. I am waiting for them to grow a little bit taller, then will start pruning, which will make them bushier, and that is what you want. It's pretty amazing to have them in the yard, though I haven't harvested any leaves yet.

Updated on 27 September 2014: I have harvested my mint. Well, basically pruned them and put the leaves into my drink. Really glad to have fresh mint in the yard.

  RED GARDEN BALSAM  

Next, my red garden balsam. Here's how they are now after transplanting them more than a week ago. You can read my blog here.

Glad they didn't die after transplanting them more than a week ago. They seem to be growing happily.

Here's the rest of them which I planted later on.

 

They started growing just 4 days after.

About 7 days after

Here they are now! As you can see, something's up with the seedling on far left. Any idea what could be happening with it? Or I simply need to transplant them into a better home?

  FOUR O'CLOCK  

I was also clueless about this plant when I bought the seeds. But, they seem pretty on the package's photo, and seem to be easy to grow, so I purchased one. I have read from several blogs on how keeping the seeds in a damp paper towel can quicken germination. I did that with my four o'clock seeds. Unfortunately, I ended up with not so good results. Most of the seeds had white molds on them. But, thankfully, seedlings started to sprout from some of them. I didn't throw away the seeds with molds. I sowed them instead. To my surprise, here they are now.

They are getting bigger day by day. Yay!! :)

This one obviously needs help. I have a pest in my yard!

Any idea what could it be? Is it Gary (snail - see Spongebob Squarepants)? I always see them around my seedlings.

I'm sorry animal lovers, especially snail lovers, for I always kill them whenever I see them. I used to enjoy watching them crawl, but after finding out that they can kill my little ones, I've become a cruel person (only towards snails, and other pests though).

So happy that they actually survived that "molding" in paper towels. Should I try doing that again?

  BIRD'S EYE CHILI  

Inspired by My Little Potted Garden's blog, I bought a bag of chili for RM1.00 (USD0.31) from the supermarket's unwanted-veggie rack. When I got home, I just tore them apart, then sowed the seeds. Took 2 weeks to sprout, but well, here they are now.

Such a cute seedling. Regardless, they actually sprouted.

I simply sowed seeds, 3 chili in every paper pot.

And 1 paper pot ended up having more than 5 seedlings. Wow!

I'm still surprised that I can actually get seeds germinate. :)

Thanks to fellow home-gardeners-cum-bloggers, I know what's in store for me with these chili plants, as they are very vulnerable to pests. I guess, I'll just hope for the best. Anyway, I plan to place them near my Marigolds, in case they grow(fingers-crossed). Otherwise, I will simply place them far away from the rest of the plants. Just in case pests attack my chili, others will be safe from them. I check them out everyday though to make sure it has no unwanted dwellers.

  SUNFLOWER 

Just like the four o'clock seeds, I kept my sunflower seeds in a damp paper towel before sowing them. But, none of them sprouted! Had white molds instead. But, yes, I didn't throw them away. And now, I have 1 surprise. Thank you, Mother Nature!

See that little thing sprouting?? It's exciting! ;)

I have my fingers crossed on this. The seeds were really covered with molds. I just washed them off then sowed the seeds. Result is 1 out of 5 paper pots has a small seedling. Hopefully, the rest will sprout too.

  CILANTRO 

Here's another store-bought seed. Except for my mint, chili, eggplant and calamansi, all of my seeds are bought for RM2.00 (USD0.61) a pack. I have 7 pots of this, but only 1 pot is showing good signs.

This how it was few days ago. 

 Here it is today, 26 September 2014. Planted on the 17th.

It looks very thin. Time to place it in a better home. I thought of waiting it to harden before transplanting. Should I wait or not? Hmm.... As long as it won't die.

  CALAMANSI or CALAMONDIN  

I bought a bag of calamansi to make "Limau Ais Kosong"(simply calamansi juice without sugar) at home. Actually, I just wanted the seeds. I soaked them in the water overnight, again, just learned it from fellow bloggers. Then, sowed the seeds the following morning. So far, 2 pots are making me excited.

2 out of 3 pots. Not bad... at all.

Looks like I will have 4 seedlings, whatcha think?

  MARIGOLD and EGGPLANT 

 Of all my seed-sowing projects, only these 2 failed. It might be too early to tell (not really), but nothing is sprouting whatsoever from the seeds. It's almost a month for my eggplants, but I'll give them another month and see, though I have a strong feeling that they are gone for good. :(

But, I'm really hoping that my marigold can make it. Learned that they are good anti-pest plants, so they will be a great help for my future garden. So please, Mother Nature, let 'em live.

Well, that's all for now. They still are very young, but they all give me such hope that I can turn seeds into a garden of my own. Again, special thanks to Mother Nature, and to fellow bloggers. 'Til then.

My First Store-Bought Seed - Red Garden Balsam

My Garden Balsam as of 17 September 2014

I had no idea about this plant when I bought this packet of seeds. I just wanted to get seeds to start with. 

I bought it for RM2.00 (USD 0.62). If you'll look closely, the packet says it has 20 seeds. I counted it, and it has more than that. It also says (behind the packet) that it is easy to plant, and it loves the sun. So, off to the cashier, I bought it without hesitation. 

When I got home, I checked it online, and wasn't impressed by it. I was a little bit disappointed. I mean, look at the picture, they look like beautiful, red roses. But in reality, they really are not.... sorry balsam-lovers! But anyway, at least I still have some seeds to start with. Still, they are not that awful, I guess.

I sowed the seeds in the early evening of 28 August 2014. I just simply filled my small pot with soil, scattered 10 little, dark brown seeds, covered it with soil, then watered it. DONE!

I sprayed them with water everyday (of course), but kept them under the shade.

Red Garden Balsam Seeds for RM2.00 (USD 0.62)

After 7 days, seedlings started to grow (hooray!!) 5 seedlings to be exact. I wasn't able to take pictures then. But, below are the pictures on day13 (10 September 2014).

Seedlings on 10 September 2014

Red Garden Balsam on 10 September 2014

Seedlings after 13 days

I sowed the seeds in a really tiny pot. The seedlings are slowly growing, and I thought each seedling needs a bigger space to grow, as they were really close to each other.  So today, after 20 days, I decided to transplant them.

Seedlings on day 20

The leaves look healthy

The pot is really too small for them, so I decided to transfer them to a bigger one.

Transplanting my seedlings from that tiny pot

(By the way, this is not their final home)

I carefully (definitely stressing the word "carefully") separated them from each other.

Then re-planted them. I just made sure that all the roots are buried under the soil. That simple.

Bigger space to grow

It's a good feeling to see them growing everyday

Make sure to water them after planting

Just like what I've said in my previous (first) blog, if I managed to succeed, you surely will, too. It'll still be a long wait for my first gems to grow bigger and produce flowers, but being able to see those seeds turn into these beautiful seedlings is surely fulfilling. 

That's all for my Red Garden Balsams, for now. I will keep you posted! ;)

Thank you for reading! ^_^

A Date to Remember

Credits to www.streetwaterarts.com

13th of September 2014 marks the day that I actually started blogging.

I have always been fascinated by people who blog and are active in updating their readers. I am a person of few words, therefore I am terrible in anything that has to do with sharing and expounding a story or an experience. And that is why these bloggers (good, truthful ones btw) have my admiration.

Gardening has always been something I'd like to do, but never had a chance to do so. Well, technically I did, but I wasn't really able to give time and effort needed to take care of those plants. Then finally, I got the chance.... my blogging starts as well.

Caught myself reading blog after blogs after blogs (esp. Malaysians') to acquire knowledge to successfully grow plants. Special thanks to those gardeners/bloggers who unknowingly inspired me not only to grow plants, but to document and share my (future) experiences as well. I shall name them when the time comes.

Through this blog, let me share with you my successes and failures in growing plants from seeds (well, as the name above suggests ;D). I am an amateur, so if I ever managed to succeed, there is no way you wouldn't. But if I fail, it doesn't mean you would, too. AND, if you know why I failed, I would appreciate some enlightenment - thank you in advance!;)

I hope, YOU - yes, my dear reader - will find this blog helpful and inspire you to start doing something you've always wanted to do - whether it's gardening, blogging, or even bungee-jumping (grins). 'Til then.

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious; and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths"

 -Walt Disney