My Not-So-Secret Diary

Greenhouse Fail

In my previous post, I talked about experimenting with seed soaking. I placed several different kinds of seeds in small containers on a seed tray. Each container was filled at least halfway with water, and the tray was placed on my counter in the house. Since my cat had decided that she was going to do her own experimenting with them, I moved the tray out to the greenhouse. I may have gotten a little ahead of myself being that it is still a bit cold outside. But my cat was going to destroy the whole thing if I didn’t figure out another plan.

Too Cold

After about two days of the seed tray being in the greenhouse, I went to check on the progress. Nothing so far. The next day it was quite cold outside so I knew the seeds weren’t going to be happy. I went out again to check on them and, low and behold, the containers were frozen! Not solid ice, but enough to tell me that this wasn’t going to work.

Back to Plan A

I needed to continue this experiment elsewhere. Somewhere, obviously warmer. So, I brought the seed tray back in house and put it back on the countertop. In order to keep the cat from ruining it or knocking it over, I put a bit of cardboard over it and my seed basket on top to hold it down. So far, the cat has only come up to have a look but hasn’t messed with it. It has been a couple of days now, and it is still there. Let’s hope she will leave it alone long enough to complete this experiment.

After a couple of days on the counter, I checked on the seeds and found that a few of them had sprouted! Even one of the sunflower seeds from 2020!

It is always exciting to discover the first sprouts of the season, and it’s almost equally as exciting to discover the first seeds sprouting in an experimental cup of water!

2020 Mammoth Sunflower

The above photos are showing one of my Mammoth Sunflower seeds that I have been saving since 2020. I had a great growing season and was able to harvest a lot of seeds and I’ve been saving them ever since. It is exciting to find out that they are still viable.

Marigold

These two photos are showing the same Marigold seed which is one of the three that sprouted. I didn’t even notice the others until I put this one back in the container.

Millet

Some Millet seeds also sprouted! These seeds are pretty small, so I had to zoom in a lot, but you can see the little sprout breaking through the shell.

Next Step

After checking on all of the seeds and taking photos, I had to carefully empty out the water from each of the containers and refill them with warm water. When I had brought the tray in from the greenhouse, I didn’t change out the water that had slightly frozen, so it stayed pretty cold.

Now that the containers have fresh water, I covered the tray back up and will check back in a day or two to see if there are any changes. Here’s hoping!