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.