My spring container gardening plan involved succession planting of lettuce and/or Swiss chard, herbs, and bell peppers. I also wanted to plant some early tomatoes so that when the weather warmed, we had seedlings that could handle the transition into our outdoor urban garden.
I also really wanted to compare starting seeds in a hydroponic garden (like the AeroGarden) and starting in soil under a mini-greenhouse dome. On the upside, the dome has been a hit. On the downside, the garden fails were germination failures in both systems.
Here is what I planted in our indoor spring container garden:
- Five Color Silver Beet Swiss Chard
- Spoon Tomato
- Martino’s Roma Tomato
- Black Beauty Tomato
- Tall Deluxe Snapdragon
- Cherokee Purple Tomato
- New Zealand Spinach
- Giant Noble Spinach
- California Wonder Pepper
- Etiuda Pepper
- Lilac Bell
- Tabasco Pepper
- Scarlet Kale
- Thyme
- Basil
- Chives
- Elegance Purple Lavender
- Empress of India (Edible) Flower Nasturtium
- Bloody Mary Nasturtium
- Black Velvet Nasturtium
I know what you are thinking. Some of those vegetable plantings are usually reserved for fall and winter (like the Swiss chard). But I read the temperature requirements and realized that for the majority of the year in Venice, we have cool enough weather to grow things like spinach and Swiss chard. In fact, we have bigger problems growing veggies that require hot temperatures to produce well outside (like the peppers) than cool weather crops.
I also wanted to get some flowers (edible and not) into the mix this year. Andy planted passion fruit vines in the front; colorful flowers will help bring in the pollinators.
Indoor container gardening progress report:
AeroGarden 1: Flowers and Herbs
Success
The good news is that the snapdragons are looking very healthy. Once we get past this next bit of rain and chilly nights, I will try to transplant them into a soil container. I’m not sure if they will go into the ground, but they will definitely make it outside in the next month.
The basil is also growing well. It looks healthy, and I need to prune the tops to get a bushier plant for when we transplant. I always forget to do this, and I end up with very leggy basil. Not tragic, but not what I’m hoping for this season.
The chives are also doing really well. When we moved, a neighbor gave us an adorable ceramic planter with “chives” written on it and seeds. Fingers crossed, but we should be able to transition the chive plant into it soon. Since we use this for cooking, it may stay inside under a grow light in our kitchen with the basil. We’ll see how big it gets.
Fail
Alas, the thyme did not germinate. It’s possible the seeds are just too old. Luckily, we have a bush outside that is still producing well. I might try this again with more of the same seeds but directly sown into the soil to see if that makes a difference.
The Bloody Mary Nasturtium and the Black Velvet Nasturtium did not germinate in the AeroGarden. BUT the Black Velvet did germinate in soil. Might have to try this in soil again to get some succession planting going.
AeroGarden 2: Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs
Success
The Swiss chard looks (and tastes) beautiful. It is huge! We will need to transplant it very soon. If we don’t, we risk a lot of root damage when we try to pull it out of the AeroGarden. I fear that the growth will slow in the soil, but if we don’t move it, the root system will take over the entire AeroGarden base.
The Roma tomato seeds both germinated. This is great news because we had two healthy seedlings. The bad news is that they are intertwined. They grew so big and so quickly that we had to pull them and transplant them into a separate soil-filled container. I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to transplant them twice, but it does look like that will happen in order to get them into the trellised system outside.
The dill took its time, but it is starting to grow well now. It got slightly damaged when I removed the Roma plants, but it is rebounding. Now, if we can just keep the dreaded powdery mildew away, we will be set for dill this spring and summer.
Fail
The spoon tomato seeds germinated and started to grow. But the Roma tomatoes outpaced them, and they pulled the nitrogen. So, the spoon’s leaves started to get too damaged to continue with the seedling. I’ll try again now that the Roma plants are out.
The Giant Noble spinach failed to germinate. I’m not sure if they suffered from being too shaded by the explosion of Swiss chard or if the seeds didn’t take. Might try that again soon because we love spinach!
The Dome: Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers
Success
The Black Velvet nasturtium is growing so well that the leaves are about to hit the top of the dome. Now, I just have to baby them enough that they flower. Last season, I got them to grow outside, but they never flowered and were then the victims of a squirrel who decided to bury something in the raised garden bed where they were growing.
Both the Giant Noble and the New Zealand spinach seeds germinated, and they appear to be growing. The seedlings look a bit thin to me, but I’m hoping they continue to strengthen under the dome.
Unlike its “bell” cousins, the Tabasco pepper seed germinated and is growing. I’m very excited to see if we can grow them and use them this year. We had some last year, but we failed to take advantage of them.
We have tiny snapdragons growing. I think I need to thin them, though. They seem to be growing on top of each other.
Last year, our big tomato crop came from the Cherokee Purple Tomato seeds. I’m happy to see that a seedling is starting again this year. Likewise, the Black Beauty tomato seedling is growing. Last year, we had the plant, but it never produced tomatoes. I think they got transferred into the trellis system too late, and they did not get enough sun or heat.
Fail
Oh, those bell peppers are making me cranky. None of them germinated. I might try them in water to see if we have any response, or I could just add more seeds to their empty slots in the tray to see if any of them sprout. If I don’t get movement on these in a couple of weeks, I’ll probably buy the seedlings from a local nursery.
Alas, the Empress of India and the Bloody Mary are not growing in the soil. That’s strike two for the Bloody Mary seeds. I’m not surprised about the Empress of India seeds – they are easily three years old, and they weren’t kept in ideal conditions.
Too Soon to Tell
The lavender plant seems to be pushing something up at long last – but just barely. We’ll see if anything comes from this. Fingers crossed!
That’s our indoor container garden progress report. I hope you have started seeds inside or out (if weather has allowed) and are getting excited about eating things you are growing this year!
