Archive for the tag “sow”

09 Oct 2011

Planting Sweet Potato Slips


Remember the sweet potato post back in September 4? Well, a month later, the slips are ready to be removed from the jars and planted in their beds.
First you start by choosing a slip that has plenty of leaves, and a nice root system, snap it off gently by twisting, and pulling it away with its roots intact.

I sprinkle Rootgrow Mycorrihzal Fungi in the planting hole, and on the roots.


Create a long trench for the stem and root, remember to place the leaves side somewhere where you can control the future vines and leaves, Im creating a small trellis for them to climb for example, so I place them towards that.
Cover the stem and roots with soil, and water. 

That’s all there is to planting sweet potatoes!

What is Mycorrhizal fungi?

I ordered mine from here: Amazon.uk 

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19 Sep 2011

Sweet Potato update

Here is an update on the sweet potatoes, the slips have started to form but are not quite long enough yet to collect and plant.

The slips that I need are the purple stems growing from the eyes of the potato, very pretty right?

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23 Aug 2011
8 Comments

What’s up so far

different sprouts emerging

It’s very exciting seeing new sprouts each day.
I’m very happy with my seed starting set up which in under 5 days germinated the seeds of:

  •  Okra
  • Rocca
  • Alfalfa Sprouts
  • Sugar Baby Watermelon
  • Giant Sunflower
  • Borage
  • Zucchini Bianca
  • Zucchini Black Beauty
  • Butternut Squash
  • Brandywine Tomato
  • Roma Tomato
  • Thyme
  • Chives

    Here’s how you can start your seeds as fast as mine:
    1-Get the Espoma organic seed starting mix from TrueValue.
  • 2-Keep the seed pots moist at all times (I water once a day)
    3-Keep them under a warm light. Any light will do as long as its placed close enough to warm and light the entire seed tray. I rotate the locations of the pots under the light to give a fair distribution.
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22 Aug 2011
9 Comments

Super fast sprouts!

Wow! I sowed these seeds on August 19th at 9pm and I found these sprouts emerging today august 21 at 7pm.
So which seeds made it in under two days?


Okra, the fuzzy sprout in the top right in the image above, which usually takes 21 days to germinate!! Rocca which takes an average 6 days! and Alfalfa sprouts which usually take about 5 days!
I think its the combination of a very good starting mix, moisture, light, and warmth that helped germinate these seeds so fast!
It’s really exciting seeing these seeds come to life and in crazy germinating speeds like this.

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20 Aug 2011
8 Comments

It’s time to sow seeds.

Why start seeds indoors and not directly out? Well, I’m planning to plant warm weather crops like tomatoes, buttnernut squash, zucchinis, okra, watermelons, basil and many others. And I want to have as long of a season as I can get. The temperatures will start to really decrease in to the lower 30s throughout October and the upper 20′s to mid 20s in November.

Seedlings to be

What you will need:


- An intrigued cat.

- Organic seed starting mix, I am using Espoma Organic Seed Starter Premium Potting mix found in True Value.  I really prefer the brand Espoma to Scott’s Miracle gro as it has a strictly organic range.

It's very important to label each box

- Peat Pots from ACE hardware, these peat pots are good because I can simply plant the seedlings directly in my future soil and the pots will dissolve and break down. In contrast, using plastic pots for seedlings will cause the tender roots to get irritated during transplantation.

- Seeds.

- Water

- Light and warmth source, placing the seedlings next to a window is not enough. What am I using to light the seeds into life? This is called Aerogarden; available in Kuwait, and I’ll feature soon in the blog. As for extra warmth, placing a plastic cover on the pots to raise humidity is a good idea.

I’m pretty sure Rocca seeds will sprout the fastest. Start your seeds today and share your experience! :)

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