Seed starting update: suspended animation

Sprouts coming along

I’ve been nurturing these basil, tomato, cilantro and zucchini seedlings for a while now. (I am also nurturing dreams of basil-tomato sandwiches on toasted wholegrain bread. Mmm!) The zuke seems to be taking off, so I’ve moved it to a larger pot. Everything else seems frozen in time, neither growing larger nor dying off. A few if my pots are completely sproutless.

I’m not sure if I started too early and the cold has stunted the seedling’s growth, if I’m impatient, or if I should move these little guys to larger quarters so they have more room to spread their roots. I think I’ll try the latter. I’ll confess that I’ve hedged my bets by purchasing a few more established organic veggies at a garden centre. I just want to ensure that I have something edible out of my fledgling garden!

Among the many handy transplanting hints in this article on Canadiangardening.com, I should put my seedlings outside for a few hours each day to get them acclimatized before planting them in the soil outdoors.

How are your seedlings coming?

UPDATE: I sprinkled on some fertilizer (dried, pelleted hen manure) to try to give my veggies a boost. I realize that I need to be creating compost instead of giving everything to the city of Toronto in my green bin!