Thursday, February 28, 2008

Spring is just around the corner!

It's time to start getting your plants ready for spring. I have a small grow room in my house that I use to grow my plants from seeds. I start the last two weeks of February and continue through March and into parts of April before I bring them outside. Currently I have chives, thyme, and oregano under the lamps. I planted chives, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, lavender, and cilantro last week on Feb. 20. The thyme and chives sprouted within two days. I keep them in a warm box without light until they sprout. Once they're up I keep them under the lamp 16 hours a day. The oregano I found to sprout slowly in the dark (I only have two right now) so I have placed them under the lamp to see if they prefer to bask in the light and then rise. At this point I have 72 herb plants that I'm hoping will grow strong.

Yesterday I picked up my flower seeds and are starting to work with them. I planted 6 large sunflower seeds, they'll hopefully grow up to 12 feet tall. I also planted 10 mini sunflowers (hull), I'm going to plant them in window boxes that I have hang from my porch.

As you can see in the picture the thyme is in the center and really started strong. The chives are on the far right with their string stalks. I use foil around the inside of my grow room to reflect all possible light towards the plants. Heat is not an issue the lamps are fluorescent grow lights and I keep my house anywhere between 68-71 degrees.

I'll post more pictures soon!