Transplants? Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and Swiss Chard- Oh My!

Thank you so much for this great info mart!! It helps me a whole lot and makes me feel a lot better.

I will pick some leaves tomorrow from the chard and let all the others rest

 

Picked some leaves today! I picked some of the older, flat leaves. A few were clearly getting ready to die so I plucked those. I also got most of the ones that were riddled with holes from the caterpillars. And I found another caterpillar and disposed of it! This one was very, very tiny and hadn't done much damage yet.

None of the leaves I picked I will be eating. None of them looked food-worthy because of damage or the fact that they were clearly wilting. But I hope I'll be able to eat some in the next few weeks!

 

We,, who garden outside would likely go hungry if we eliminated those vegetables with bug bites or wilted a bit ! Just wash the wilted leaves, put them in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator and tomorrow you will not know they were wilted ! Unless there is serious damage,, like half the leaf is gone,, it is eaten here ! Just wash it !

 

I hope to get to that point! Most of them were heavily damaged, the wilted ones just looked very sad. It's hard for me to do new things, I used to throw strawberries away if there was any discoloration. Now I know I can eat them, or at worst just slice that part off and eat the rest. It takes me a while to get to that point and feel safe though

 

Get a few chickens! Other than the entertainment value (and they are funny as all get-out) they are garbage disposals. Anything that looks a bit chewed, tomatoes past their prime, stale bread--they love!
Our girls get treats morning and night--and I have very little to throw away, especially when the compost heap can take apple cores, fuzzy beans, anything I can't give the hens.
Think of hens and a compost heap as "re-purposing" food.

 

Thanks for the advice marlin! Right now I can't do chickens (apartment living) but that's definitely something I hope to try in the future! I have been looking up how to compost though, and I might be able to do a very small amount of compost right here on the balcony! I get lots of newspaper printed junk mail and I tend to have additional veggie leftovers from what I buy at the store like stems and things.

Once I'm done repotting all my plants into bigger homes I will look for an appropriate container to experiment with composting in! If there's a board on here about that I might go check it out, so far I've just done research Googling the subject.

 

All you need is some starter soil and a big plastic tote and you are in business ! And it helps to make friends with the lawn guy at your apartment complex ! Throw in some redworms to speed up the process and as an added benefit,,,you will aways have fish bait !

 

You will find that there is little that you grow yourself that is going to be bad for you ! We outside gardeners learn to live with the tiny bug bites and pay little attention to them! I however, will not eat anything from the market or grocery store unless it will be cooked ! This week alone I have received 10 (so far) recalls on different ready to eat products that were made with vegetables that have tested positive for salmonella and listeria ! Believe me,, you are much safer eating what you grow no matter the bug bites !

 

I transplanted a few more things, but still haven't fully moved them all over yet. A work in progress!

Swiss chard and peppermint are having a great time. They're both getting so big! There was a very big storm the other night that picked up a planter and slammed it against the plants, and the chard lost several leaves, but it is not slowing it down in the least.

My broccoli seem to be doing OK. They are branching out, though they got roughed up in the storm. Two are still fallen over but they aren't turning colors and the stalks are still nice and rigid so I think they're alright.

A few of the Brussels sprouts are still looking, well, tiny. The one I was concerned about hasn't wilted, but it also doesn't seem to have grown much at all. It's still very small. I am very patient with them though, they can take all the time they need.

There's a new plant to the party! I got a little aloe vera several days ago. I've wanted one for a long time, and they finally had one in stock so I grabbed it. It was such a sad thing to look at in the store, it was falling over and the soil was absolutely bone dry. The day after I potted it it was looking better, and I already have a new little bright green shoot from it! (I don't know what to call those on a succulent)

I moved my pepper inside for a while. I wanted to try direct light on it to see if I could get the little buds to open up and flower. I have a nice LED grow light on it, and it seems to love it so far! The flowers are still curled up but the buds are getting big and I can see the white poking through!

Herb seeds were sowed indoors two weeks ago but they never sprouted. I roughed up the soil today and the seeds were still sitting there with no roots or anything. I prepared the pots again and used a different brand of seeds. This was tonight, so I'll see what happens in the next week or so!

 

Learning from experience: bringing in all the empty planters before a big storm hits. Another storm tonight, and as far as I can see there are no casualties!

Jalapeno flowers are getting ready to open up! There's a frost warning coming up soon, and I'm thinking of keeping it inside for a while and just using a little paintbrush to pollinate it myself. Is this a good idea? I've done this before with catnip with success but I'm not sure if it translates well to jalapenos.

Swiss chard is going to have a bit of a haircut! I have actually never eaten chard before, thinking about making wraps with it

 

It would be easier to help if we knew your general location ! Herb seeds do much better when planted outdoors in the spring even if in pots !

 

Location is coastal Texas! The reason I have them inside right now is because of the weather that's been happening lately. All the plants just got a huge soak, and they have proper drainage, but I was a bit scared of the soil crusting over for the seedlings and making it more difficult for them (the last bunch had that happen). I do have a full spectrum light on them indoors though if that helps!

 

Ahhh,, Thats great,, I am in NE Texas ! That gives me an idea of the current weather and climate conditions ! Other than tonight your temps are 60`s and 70`s ! You should be fine with anything outside ! Herbs are basically usable culinary weeds ! And you know how weeds grow,,if they can find dirt,, they will grow !
If you are using a potting mix to start your seeds you should not have a crusting over problem ! I am in sugar sand and even here herb seeds do well ! I usually just dig about an inch deep,toss the seeds on top and sprinkle dirt over lightly and water them ! We have to do this in spring of course since we are not as warm as you are ! There are many other reasons seeds fail to germinate but I do not think crusting over is your reason ! But if you think it may be,, then use a plain old kitchen fork and loosen the top with it, then just use a hand sprayer to dampen the top ! That should solve the problem ! Always plant twice as many seeds as you think you will need ! That should cover a less than normal germination rate !

 

I'll try using the fork method, thank you! I'll be putting them outside then and let them try to grow

I did plant many seeds of each kind of herb so I can thin them out if I need to. I have three different herbs in three separate pots (basil, sage, oregano), but I also have a long planter box so if I have a lot of sprouts maybe I can throw a few in there too!

 

Try some Italian parsley ! It is a bi annual and will come up the second year if in the ground !
Might be better to wait till spring when its warmer for that ! I use it in many dishes ! Has a stronger taste than the curly variety ! Its not picky and does not require much except a little water ! Grows in most any soil !
I am not sure but I think sage is a difficult seed to germinate,, I just bought a single plant and it multiplied !