Roselle 3 months

Growing Roselle was never part of my checklist due to the reason that it's a type of flower. Roselle plant is from hibiscus family, and I've had only planted green vegetables so far :D I heard from friends about drinking Roselle syrup too but never tried it myself.

It's only after getting these surprise free gifts from Kak Da Seed that i started looking for information. According to some, their Roselle plants could start producing flowers as early as 3 months, yet both mine still showing no signs since i last checked. I'm not using any type of fertilizer, and they are still in pots. 

didn't post the progress earlier, thought it wouldn't survive lols

1. I planted all five seeds in our germination tray, with the seeding soil that came together with them in the parcel. Spray daily.
2. After few days i observed only two seeds were showing first leaves.
3. Waited for the two seedlings to grow a bit steady before moving them to pots.
4. After three month they grew taller and taller in the pot but nowhere bushy. I didn't used any fertilizer, just rice water.
5. Going to move them out from the pot once the intense hot weather ends, and hopefully we will see some progress here.

Bunny Garden

So we setup a bunny garden under the huge mango tree, for the shades. It's a semi-circle area which was supposed to be a raised bed, but we haven't been able to do so as i've been busy lately and we've ran out of soil. We decided to start planting the water spinach anyway and moved the beans + tomato seedlings into the compound too. That row of water-spinach in the picture were grown from both seeds and kitchen leftovers as i always saved the roots for planting.

Lets see if the plants could spread as fast and invasive as i knew it should. The bunny has started sitting around the garden and munching just as i'd like it to...

Bunny in action

Water spinach from seeds

Kitty Garden - Updates - after two weeks

After leaving the seeds for two weeks, practically giving up hopes. I finally saw a number of catnip sprouts emerged.. although most of them didn't make it.

I managed to snap a few pictures *was busy untangling the roots from wet paper towel!*. They've now been transplanted into the seeding tray.

Catnips

Project Kitty Garden – kickoff

So i was looking for timothy seeds when i came across a seller on Mudah.my @kakdaseed. Timothy seeds seem to be sold-out everywhere these days including @kakdaseed. Nonetheless she sent me a long list of other seeds she has in store. I wasted no time ordering catnips and catgrass, as we've been wanting to adopt a cat soon to solve mice and rats problem in this house. Growing a kitty garden early sounds like a sensible plan, giving ample time for the plants to mature before being rubbed and rolled-over.

After spending some time browsing gardening forums and websites, i found out that Catnip is a perennial plan. Most perennial plants needs to undergo the stratification process and so does Catnip. So here we go, my first attempt on stratification let's see how it turns out lollz..

"Stratification is also known as Cold Treatment. By nature some plants require time on winter ground and meet certain condition before the seeds start to break-out from dormant state and germinate. Hence seed stratification is necessary for these types of plants to mimic the winter conditions they require. Lavender and Catnip are two of many plants that fall under this category."

As usual, for this round i will be experimenting a bit with the paper towel method.

1. Prepare some paper towels.
2. Spread the Catnip seeds on paper towel.
3. Fold the paper towels so the seed won't spill, and spray some water on it.
4. Keep the towel in a zip-lock bag or in my case a plastic bag sealed with masking tape.
5. Label clearly with name and date.
6. Store them in a drawer.
7. Extra step for Catnip: The next morning, i took the Catnip pack and put it in our freezer for 24 hours. Afterwards, i took it out and let it thaw with room temperature. Then i keep the pack on my patio with indirect sunlight.
8. Wait :)

Online order arrived safely with surprise gifts roselle seeds and fluffy seeding soil! 

catnip seeds on paper towel

spray the towel with water and seal in a plastic bag

label clearly, and i drew the leaf to remind me how it SHOULD look like :)

I will try on soil for the next round, following the instruction at the back of pack.

Lemon - four weeks

beautiful...

So here's how they look like after four weeks. We're due to move the seedlings into bigger pot as we've now ran out of soil!

Project Avocado - THREE TO SIX WEEKS

After 3 weeks – seed cracks getting bigger

By third week, i had lost two pits. One completely broken into two pieces *kids...*. One not showing any progress at all, so down to one. This is a slow process, with real patience needed. I've moved the surviving pit to  a smaller container filled with gel.

Finally by 6th week, i saw a single root shooting out from the bottom. Still waiting for the top part to sprout though. Don't hold your breath :)

After 4 weeks – we can see the tiny root of about half inch long

After 5 weeks – 1.5″ root is showing

Project Carrot – kickoff

Back in hubby's hometown to end a week long Chinese New Year holiday. While looking for some veges in the fridge i found a fat carrot with healthy top. Perfect for kids project!

So here I am trying to regrow a carrot top, first with water and then hopefully to plant it in the soil once i see some roots. If this trial works, i may be able to start a carrot tops bed for the bunny to munch.

As always i would google around to find the tried and tested methods, and i would land on Mr EastCoastMan youtube videos. 

i) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duV2Mit_uf8 

ii) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co3DEo1rRSg 

Steps in pictures below:

find one good carrot preferably organic

a small container, or a plate will do

toothpicks at work

balancing the angle

pour water in, carrot half submerged. i actually changed the toothpicks angle so the carrot top submerged more

place it somewhere with sun lights

While anxiously waiting for the greens, bear mind growing carrot top will not produce the orange carrots. The carrot is a taproot itself which cant regrow.

From www.carrotmuseum.co.uk:

The carrot top in time might flower and it is very nice for beneficial insects and butterflies. Carrots are a biennial and will flower when they are 2 years old. The plant will eventually produce a flower and then seeds. If you are lucky the seeds will be viable and you can plant them in the ground to grow real carrots.