Mole Garden - Part 3

Time to "pot up"

Most seeds sprouted and my flats were coming along nicely by 15 April. There were a few small hitches.

Battered but surviving - 15 April

My initial eagerness--too much sun and too little water--shocked some of the plants. The Tomatillos here look a bit fried. The Jalapeños (to their right) either died right away or became limp. Four survived. The remaining plants in this flat--Pasillas, Serranos, Poblanos, and Chilhuacles Negros--seem fine but remain small. The buds of their first true leaves are just appearing.

I seeded the Guajillos and Mulatos 09 April but there's no sign of life as of 19 April. I watered them after this photo (shouldn't water too much--fungus and mold propagate) and restored them to their heat mat and grow lights in the hovel.

Some varieties of chiles can take weeks to germinate. Seed packets will say 2-6 weeks--quite a range! Apparently, the longest periods are avoidable. Companies put "6 weeks" to insure themselves against disgruntled customers. Given the optimal conditions--plenty light, generous heat, just the right amount of water--these plants should take much less time. (How to hedge against user error??) Either I have bad seeds or I'm doing something wrong with these.

By contrast, the second batch of Tomatillos (09 April) has completely lapped its older sibling set.

Happy Tomatillos - 19 April

They shot up within 4 days. It was a veritable sauna--covered, watered, heatmat. They grew tall and leggy initially but I removed the heat and increased the artificial light. I began carefully exposing them to sun and they've leafed nicely. They're twice the size of their older siblings--and they already have a full set of true leaves.

Time to "pot up."

Weather was spectacular Easter Sunday. Time to head out on the porch and pot these Tomas (and their older/smaller siblings). They protested immediately with evident shock:

After a watering everyone perked up.

Because the Mole Garden is expanding into larger surface area (larger pots), it became necessary to scale-up the lighting apparatus. Sawhorses and some mysterious metal rods that I found (displaced in a move) did the trick:

However, with the expanded domain, the grow light has become insufficient. Thanks to AmazonPrime delivery, I quickly solved this problem. The revised lighting was up and running on 23 April:

Fair weather continued Easter Monday, so, I potted-up the Serranos, Poblanos, and Jalapeños. Here they are, basking in the sun on 24 April:

The battered Jalapeños have actually become superbly resilient. After their initial rough bout, they took the transplant without a sign of shock, have grown a little, and are already regaining some of their original color.

24 April, I potted up a flat of Chilhuacle Negros. They've remained steady since germination--growing slowly, but surely. Some have leaves that turned purplish under the light, even as the new leaves are budding green. They have sturdy purple/brown stem.

Mostly the Chilhuacles on the left - 25 April

I know that I could have waited several more weeks to "pot up." However, the plants seemed stable and were already growing true leaves. I took advantage of the nice weather not only to do the work itself but also so that the plants could get some sun and wind in their new situation. It's going to be a crumby few days:

The Pasillas will have to wait until the end of next week. In the meantime, good news regarding the Mulatos: signs of life! I realized that I should repeat my successful formula from the 09 April Beta Crop of Tomatillos: plenty light, heat, some water...AND...heat retention. I'd been undisciplined about covering the Guajillos and Mulatos in the clammy basement. Yes, they had a heatmat, but they weren't retaining it well. With the cover on, it got real steamy and the soil heated up to 80. The Mulatos sprouted today (25 April)!

The Tomatillos are leafy:

Defined Tomatillo leaves - 25 April