[13ella]

Looks like I'm going to have beans! See the little buds? This bean was planted on November 11, 2013.

I think the tomatoes are doing pretty well. Hard to tell. They keep growing, though, so we will see. I might have too many in one pot.

These cucumbers were planted about a week ago. I just transplanted them into the large pot yesterday and they are looking peaked. I don't know if they will perk up or not. The center plant is another bean.

It's still too early to tell what kind of harvest I will get, if any, but so far I'm thinking the sun room might work as a winter greenhouse.

 

[LordOpie]

you've motivated me to restart our indoor winter garden.

 

[Adam]

If you have never done it before, it is a lot of fun. Be sure to hand pollinate for good fruiting success! I am starting mine in a week or two.

 

[13ella]

If you have never done it before, it is a lot of fun. Be sure to hand pollinate for good fruiting success! I am starting mine in a week or two.

I read something about that the other day regarding tomatoes. The suggestion was to get an electric toothbrush and hold it near the stems to simulate the buzzing of a bee's wings. Who knew? I didn't realize that was even necessary.

I do have a ceiling fan in that room and it runs when I have a fire in the wood stove to circulate the warm air through the house. I wonder if putting it on high would do the trick for pollination.

Learning all this stuff is a wild ride, Wild 1. I'm loving it! :thumb:

 

[Adam]

Ive used a small fan with success, so it is possible you may have luck with your setup. To do it by hand I just took a small arts and craft brush and brushed all the flowers a little. I've heard the electric toothbrush too, just seems a bit odd to me to be brushing your plants. I'm tempted this year to try the upside down planting, though I hear mixed success.

 

[REM]

you've motivated me to restart our indoor winter garden.

How do you get the tractor in?

I've never heard of this before. It's interesting.

 

[13ella]

How do you get the tractor in?

I've never heard of this before. It's interesting.

You gotta think outside the box, REM. :

 

[citykittyatheart]

I've been messing around with this too. I've started three pots: one each of tomato, lettuce, and spinach. The tomato is growing, the spinach kind of (second planting and moved to a better location) and the lettuce died three times. I put my heat mat under the lettuce pot to warm the soil and it still died. I'm pretty sure that I have enough light and it's a cool season plant, but evidently it doesn't like growing indoors or at least it doesn't like where I've got it.

Spinach is my nemesis. I'm getting closer but in both cases, the plants will sprout and then just fold over and die. I water every day so possibly stem rot? The lettuce did the same thing. I shake the tomato every day to encourage stem growth and as I've said, the plants are growing.

One up shot-the bay leaf that I moved indoors is doing quite well. That's encouraging.

 

[13ella]

I wonder if it is too much water and too much warmth for the lettuce? Last winter I started a tray of lettuce in those little plug trays. They germinated in one of those little plastic greenhouses, but then pretty much died off quickly. I think once they sprout, they need less heat and humidity.

Also, I've read that once planted and thoroughly watered, the seeds don't need to be watered again until after germination and then sparingly. I only water once a week or if I notice the soil is getting particularly dry.

All that said, everything I do is a mixture of speculation and thinking I read something once upon a time...lol. I had a lot of failures last year, but so far this winter has gone pretty well. No out and out losses yet. I really need to start taking notes. I'm determined to become a good gardener.

 

[weldnfab]

a q-tip lightly dabbled across the flowers will produce acceptable results.... grew quite a few strawberries indoors once..... keep 1 or 2 q-tips close... lightly rub each flower... was a nice little treat.... sure wouldn't wanna do a whole greenhouse... would use fans for that.

 

[citykittyatheart]

I wonder if it is too much water and too much warmth for the lettuce? Last winter I started a tray of lettuce in those little plug trays. They germinated in one of those little plastic greenhouses, but then pretty much died off quickly. I think once they sprout, they need less heat and humidity.

Also, I've read that once planted and thoroughly watered, the seeds don't need to be watered again until after germination and then sparingly. I only water once a week or if I notice the soil is getting particularly dry.

All that said, everything I do is a mixture of speculation and thinking I read something once upon a time...lol. I had a lot of failures last year, but so far this winter has gone pretty well. No out and out losses yet. I really need to start taking notes. I'm determined to become a good gardener.

Could be, although I did only water when the soil looked particularly dry. Also it didn't seem that warm to my fingers, although obviously the lettuce wasn't happy! I might try again-a fourth time!