For some reason I can never seem to start small. So I guess that is why I decided to start some of my vegetables from seed this year. Ten kinds of tomatoes, three peppers and five eggplant... I suppose in some circles this wouldn't be a big deal, but I live in a row house in Washington DC which poses two significant challenges — very little space and very little light.
I am making due with what I have to see if it works. My office has a lot of windows and moderate light from morning sun and by late afternoon I shift everything to the front of the house. In the beginning to keep the soil warm I wrapped the flats in translucent plastic and for a few hours at night would turn on the space heater. When they sprouted that is when the light shifting started but I have also been using artificial light as well.
This is what they looked like after two week. They were about an inch and a half tall:
As much as I hated doing it, I had to cut down the extra seedlings. I used scissors and cut the stems down to the dirt. At this stage the remaining seedlings need 12-14 hours of light. That is quite a large amount and I'm not sure if I am succeeding. Week 3 I noticed that a few leaves were yellowing and wrinkling. It's hard to say if this was from too much (or not enough) water or too little light—but doesn't that pretty much sum up all of gardening?
It is week 4 and my babies seem to be doing well. At three inches tall and a wee bit spindly they are growing more leaves and soon I will be able to transplant them into their own pots. I imagine the hardening off stage will be tricky but I will save that for another post.
