005A few weeks ago, I planted a bunch of seeds in pots so that I could try my luck at gardening in an apartment. A few days ago, I started seeing some results! Most of the plants have started sprouting, with the exception of the sage. I’m hoping that the sage is just taking its time.

The most interesting thing is the watering of the plants. The chives and the plants in the big pot seem to like being watered much more than the basil and the peppers. A few months ago, the basil started yellowing on me. I stopped watering so frequently, and it seems to be doing much better. I’ve been watering the chives and the big pot at least weekly, and they seem to be doing OK. I haven’t watered the peppers in about 2 weeks.

With the basil, chives and peppers I wait until the soil is dry on top before watering. The sage is getting watered when I water the big pot. With the big pot, I add about 1/2 an inch of water twice a week. I need to figure out a gentler way to water the big pot. Pouring the water seems risky, because the plants aren’t well rooted yet. The last time I watered it took a couple of days before all the plants could stand up again.

Thai peppers

My Thai peppers, planted with seeds I pulled out of a pepper I bought at Dillon’s, are all starting to grow. I have no idea why they start shooting up so fast.

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My old basil is growing like crazy now, and the little flowers are nice. I should be pinching these flowers off so that I can encourage leaf growth, but couldn’t bring myself to do it.

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I have some new basil sprouts starting to pop up that I will know how to treat properly, now that I actually know what “pinching the buds” means.

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I’m not exactly sure what is growing and what isn’t growing in the big pot, because there are seeds for half a dozen plants in there, but I’m pretty sure that a little bit of everything in there has popped up. It’s amazing how similar plants all look when they are just starting to grow. I should be able to start telling things apart in a few weeks to a month.