Project #1: Seedlings: Day One (Jan. 31st)

As mentioned, I'm making an effort to document my various projects and experiments. Here is my first project - starting seedlings for an apartment/patio garden.

This is what I started with on January 31st:

Peat seeding pots; seed starter; potting mix; various seeds; and a small black cat.

Seeds: Summer Savory; Flat Parsley; Cilantro; Lady Bug Cherry Tomato; Rosemary; Greek Oregano; Minette Basil; Sage, and Thyme.

I also had:

two cloves of garlic that had started sprouting - just a tiny bit of green on the top and really small nubby rootlets;

three mystery citrus seeds that I had put aside a week ago and can't recall if they were from a lemon, orange, or blood orange, which probably won't sprout because I left them to dry on the counter all week;

and three fresh organic lemon seeds, rinsed off and planted immediately.

The sprouting garlic and mystery citrus.

The garlic, ready to be planted - the only one not staring in a peat pot.

The various plants, watered and ready to be shoved behind a box next to the heater.

For those who are wondering how long results will take, these are the estimated germination times:

Basil: 7-14 days

Cilantro: 7-14 days

Oregano: 14-21 days

Parsley: 10-28 days

Rosemary: 7-28 days

Sage: 7-14 days

Savory: 5-21 days

Thyme: 14-28 days

Tomato: 7-14 days

Garlic: already sprouting

Mystery Citrus: ?

Fresh lemon: 2 weeks to 1 month, possibly longer

I planted three seeds to a pot, except for the two garlic and the ones with really tiny seeds, in which case it probably ended up more like 9 to a pot (oh well). My plan is to take the best seedling from each for my kitchen herb garden, and then plant the rest in big containers and let them flower outside to attract bees, butterflies, and neighbors for my cat to watch through the window.

The soonest I can expect any sprouts would be on Feb. 5th, possibly sooner if the garlic grows fast. I have no idea how quickly garlic grows, so we will have to wait and see.