Spring Algae

This is nothing compared with what I've seen elsewhere but yes, I've got algae growing in a pot.  At first I wan't sure what it was but green and somewhat slimy balls growing on stuff didn't take long to figure out.

This is due in part to the new potting material I'm using, easily grown on by the stuff, and the amount of rain we've been getting.  As noted in a recent post there's plenty of that going on.  I have been watering this pot a bit though between showers but the pot drains pretty good still.  Lots of holes in the bottom drilled out by me.  Not instantaneous but enough that you can tell it's draining within a few minutes.

This amount of algae fortunately isn't a problem.  It's barely even noticeable unless you are looking at the plants and even then I mistook it for fertilizer balls.  You know, the kind you usually find in potting soil in the first place.  If nothing else I'm sure the plants aren't drying out.

Sprout Survivor

As hoped this guy is springing back!  One of the leaves is still shriveled up and drying out but the other one has new life in it and the new little leaf in the middle is getting bigger.  And of course it's standing up as well instead of just lying on the dirt....

Several of the other plants are also now springing up out of the ground.  Nothing too showy yet but hopefully soon it will be worth its own post.

Working on a few other things seeing what I can come up with on taking care of the inside plants.  So far some of the small trees have died.  I think the shock got to them.  Claude (the big cacao tree) has a new leaf coming in though and seems to have finally acclimated to his new home.  Just keep 'em fed and watered and remember to open the blinds during the day I guess.

Also still dealing with fungus gnats.  Can you have humid loving plants without them?  Any tips would be great.

Butternut Squash Transplant

This is the attempted transplant of a seedling.  When I pulled it up it had what I though would be plenty of roots for it to transplant well.  This is it a day later.  Kinda shriveled but still pliable and still a new little leaf in the middle.  I mounded the dirt up a little more in hopes it would keep it from baking when the sun hits it today.  I'll go look at it late this evening when it's shaded again.

This is one of several that I was going to pull out anyway since the area is quire crowded.  I didn't know how many seeds might sprout so I planted way to many.  Still only about half of them sprouted.  If I had planted 5 or 6 then I may have only ended up with 1 or 2 plants, maybe 3.  As it is, I can pick and choose which plants will keep growing and get rid of the weaker seedlings.

Spring Rains

 

The Spring rains are here and keeping everything nice and wet.  Even with this downpour, not much hits the plants on the patio so I STILL have to water even on a day like today.  Saved up gallon jugs though so I can more easily water the plants instead of having to go glass by glass like I started the year out.

The cacao tree though is more spoiled and still enjoys spring water from the bottle.  I tried to give it plain tap water and I really don't think it liked it.  Now it has some new growth again and I'm not nearly so worried about it.  At first I thought it might just be the transplant shock from being repotted but that was more a guess and a wait and see situation.

One of our friends was telling us she moved to a place with a stream nearby.  I'm guessing it's better than this one.  It's kind of a stream but it only has water when it rains.  Still I think this would be considered a riparian wetland.  It only takes a little water and a few of the right organisms to thrive there to classify.

First Bloom in the Garden

This daikon already tried to bloom once but never got to flower.  Since, it has put off new flower buds and is now the first bloom of the year in the garden on the patio.

The green onions are just "green" with envy about it since they all have shot up scapes well before this but have still not opened up.  Still anticipating quite a bit of show from them but, yeah, still waiting...

Several of the other seeds have also popped up, including the eager butternut squash plants, the lone carrot, and the beans.  As long as they are kept happy in the pots this should be a nice growing year.