I'd fully intended joining the 52 week salad challenge that was started over on VP's Veg Plotting blog back in January. I even thought I had a head start as I'd managed to germinate a few lettuce seeds (butterhead type) in the greenhouse in December. Smugly I transplanted the strongest 2 to small pots and waited for them to burst into growth so I could have my first salad by the end of January.
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| note: reused label, thus date from last summer
And I waited, and I waited and then I waited some more. And then I realised that small pots of my own homemade compost might not contain the optimum nutrition required by these young plants. (Note to self: pay more attention in plant health and nutrition classes...)
As the weather had recently improved, I decided the time was right to send these little seedlings out into the big bad world to fend for themselves. So I planted them out into my salady/green leaves raised bed and topped them off with a cloche (yes, another one - I couldn't resist it/it was in the sale/I had a 20% discount code). It's a beautiful replica Victorian one and the lettuces seem to really be enjoying themselves in there...
 In the spaces around them I have sown some mixed salad leaf seeds that have performed very well for me in previous years - a mix of oak leaf, cos and something resembling mizuna. 
Meanwhile back in the greenhouse is a rather large tray of lettuce seedlings that I brought home from college last week. We're doing lots of practical sessions at the moment and did our 'seed sowing in containers' practice last month - of which this is my result. A conservative estimate puts around 200 seedlings in this tray - and they're still germinating. Maybe this year is my foray into commercial lettuce production?
seedlings as far as the eye can see...
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I do like your cloche - those lettuces couldn't ask for a better home.
ReplyDeleteit's incredibly heavy but I think I'll get loads of use from it around the raised beds.
DeleteThat's a lot of lettuce seedling! You definately can commercialize it!
ReplyDeleteI'll be pricking some out later today - they're lovely, but the downside is they'll all be ready at the same time. But the seeds are very cheap, so I'll sow some more in April to keep the succession going.
DeleteI adore your vintage cloche - so much nicer than those plastic tunnels, although they serve a useful purpose. This cloche is a beauty and you're lucky in having the space to store it when not in use. Interesting that you've noticed the need for optimum nutrition for seedlings - Which? did an experiment with various composts, both peat-based and non-peat, and there was a huge difference in the effect on the plants that were being grown for them by Capel Manor.
ReplyDeleteGermination doesn't actually require more than moisture, a growing medium and light (in most cases), so commercials seed compost is really low in nutrients. Garden compost is generally low, so once finely sieved and mixed with some sand and/or leaf compost to add a variation of air space size it's quite suitable for seeds. Once the seedling has developed its first set of true leaves it has usually exhausted the internal energy supply of the seed itself and needs something extra - particularly phosphorus for root development. 'Potting on' composts will usually provide these extra nutrients or most decent loam/clay soils should have sufficient amounts if they've been managed correctly.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cloches - and photos too!
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