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The third week is very exciting for AeroGardeners growing herbs and salad greens because that is about the time that some of the plants start getting noticeable growth spurts.
For example, in the previous post our basil was halfway up to the first ring on the lamp stand.
Now it is even with the ring:
These basil plants are definitely big enough to take cuttings now, and clearly the giant leaves on top need to be pruned away to allow light to filter down to the little guys below.
Isn't that Romaine on the right looking gorgeous?
Now the greens are 3 weeks old, except for the salad burnet, which was started just 2 weeks ago.
Here is an update on the salad burnett, now two weeks old:
I really appreciate that a friend from the AeroGarden Growers Community Forum encouraged me to try growing Salad Burnet, and I especially thank her for her generosity in sharing her seeds. I have some extra seeds from a few plants I want her to try too. The seed packets are pictured on drAnn's Art.
Also, if anyone is interested in chicory/dandelion greens, Cornell University published a very interesting list that I've linked to this post: The Empty Cabinets of My Mind.
This tomato is 3 weeks old and please excuse the shot glass, but it is sharing the grow lights as I've put a small cutting in it to root--periwinkle, I think.
The salad bar, also 3 weeks old, is getting fuller despite our munching:
Actually, the munching, helps these greens branch out and grow faster.
Clockwise, starting in the back left corner, they are:
1) Edible Amaranth (Asia Red)
2) Green Edible Amaranth (Tender Leaf)
3) Sweet Basil
4) Johnny's Heat-Tolerant Romaine
5) Watercress
6) Salad Burnet
7) Mesclun Mix
The Salad Burnet was a gift from a nice AeroGardening Forum friend and although I planted it a week later than the others, it is catching up fast. The Watercress was planted on August 9, but did not sprout as fast as the others.
The Amaranth seeds came from EvergreenSeeds in Anaheim, CA. I also test grew some of their Senposai, Kojisan Komatsuna, and India Spinach Beet, and I'm definitely salivating over the thought of ordering some more of the over 350 kinds of Asian vegetable seeds that we have not yet tried.
Without doubt, among the next seeds we order will be their Red Strip Leaf Edible Amaranth:
Stripe Leaf from EvergreenSeeds
UPDATE: Here are the same plants 2 days older:
A while back I was on a near fanatical search for a way to get the taste of cilantro into our intemperately warm herb gardens, and now it is a joy to announce that for us at least it is a problem solved.
A plant the Aztecs named after the butterfly, Porophyllum ruderale, also known as quillquiña, Bolivian coriander, or papalo, came to the rescue.
Fast growing and heat tolerant, this herb satisfies our cravings for cilantro without all the heartache that a desert gardener experiences from Coriandrum sativum. The only drawback at present is that although widely advertised, it is out of stock at most vendors.
Fortunately, Johnny's has availability, limited to one packet per order:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/product.aspx?scommand=search&search=papalo&item=2978
Their photo is prettier than mine, but ours is growing as fast as it can, despite our munching:
If the photo looks a little dark, the reason is that one our new AG Deluxe grow bulbs apparently "exploded" in transit (could it have been the heat?) so I set up a lampless planter in between two others to share what light it can get until the replacement arrives. Can't wait to see how the Papalo grows under optimal conditions, but even such as it is, there is only one word an avowed cilantro lover needs to describe this herb:
DELICIOUS!
After posting this, I stumbled across another blogger's Papalo entry and wanted my readers to see her lovely photo:
Rose Marie's Beautiful Mature Papalo Plant
When the average daytime temperature of our porch is around 105F, there are not too many plants that could be expected to survive transplantation, but when we got back to our Arizona home, I decided to try an experiment with the hardy Vinca plants that were available at our local Lowe's Hardware store.
I bought a six-pack and left them in a tub of water in a shady spot on our scorchy porch for a few hours. Then I gently shook off the dirt and anchored the plants in rock wool within some small plastic starter pots that I suspended over water in an ice bin:
Having read about the success others had with using foam board to cover the nutrient solution, I tried that, but found that the extreme heat made the foam board curl, which lifted the roots up out of the solution.
So I went back to my flexible cutting mat method. Look at these healthy roots:
In a few days I hope to have time to illustrate some of the inexpensive materials I used to set up this air garden and show how and why I implemented them.
Still haven't unpacked yet, but I'll be back soon!