Witch Stick peppers started

I can't figure out if these are sweet or hot... but anyway started them today.  Not doing any other hots, not even jalapenos which are just so unpredictible in their hotness.

Will start the true sweet peppers in a few weeks.

Stevia experiment... adding soaked kelp + alfalfa

The round 2 stevias that went into vermiculite on top of soil seem -- fingers crossed -- to maybe be taking (?).  But I'm still worried that their roots won't make it to the soil/nutrition in time given the depth of the vermiculite.  So, I added a few dabs on top of the vermiculite, close but not on top of the seedlinguettes, of pre-soaked mixed alfalfa and kelp.  

And, for today's round 3 stevias that have all popped, I put them likewise but with a mix of alfalfa/kelp underneath them before adding the topping of vermiculite.

We shall see...

Started celery R2, stevia R3, and kale (from 2024 saved seeds) and chard

^^^

Haven't seen fungus gnats when watering -- seems promising

^^^

Mosquito dunks arrived -- placed half of one into big blue bucket of water

I'll let it sit for 24 hours and then start using the water to water the plants, to help with the fungus gnat situation.

Seeing a lot less fungus gnats nowadays due to the sticky traps, but they're still around and who knows how many are growing in the soil.

Stevia woes, arghhhh ----- trying again

Stevia is so fricking hard to get started!!!!  Looks like only 1 of the ~9 that had germinated might actually be taking after having been moved from PT to soil -- I think all the other 8 are kaput.

So, today, the next round of seeds that popped in PT, today, instead of putting them into the soil mix, I put a layer of vermuculite on top of the soil mix, then carefully placed the popped seeds, then just a few pieces of vermiculite on top.  I'm not sure if they'll be able to grow fast enough to reach the soil/nutrients before going kaput, but, this is at least worth a try.  There's quite a bit of vermiculite underneath them to provide buffer re: fungus gnats -- might be too much distance for their roots to travel to nutrition but we'll see.

Yellow sticky traps definitely work for adult fungus gnats

Yellow sticky traps definitely work for adult fungus gnats -- quite a few flies are stuck to them, whereas the duct tape and clear tape didn't have any at all.

The apple cider liquid traps have a few but hardly any compared to the yellow sticky traps.

FUNGUS GNATS!!!!! -- Going on the attack

Oh no!!!  I've never had fungus gnats before, in all my many years of starting seeds indoors.  (Had thrips one year, that's it.)  But I'm pretty sure that's what these are.  Noticed them in the house even before the start of seedling season, so I'm pretty confident they didn't come from any of the materials (most of which are left over from last year).

I had seen the occasional fly here and there in the seedling room in recent weeks, but last night while watering I saw quite a few and decided to take my head out of the soil and do something about it.

So:

- Last night I watered the soil with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water.

- Last night I set out two traps of apple cider vinegar with dish soap, but these haven't caught any yet.

- Today I put up yellow sticky traps (already caught two :( ).  (Last night I had put up clear packing tape and duct tape but those haven't caught any.)

- Today I ordered mosquito dunks -- they should hopefully arrive by Friday.

- As of today, all seeds that move from paper towels to soil are getting a layer of pure vermiculite on top, so that the top cm or two is just vermiculite, no soil.

Here's hoping this action plan will put an end to the gnat situation.  I'm eager to get those dunks but must wait until they arrive since neither Ritchie's nor Canadian Tire had any at this time of year.

Started broccoli (Belstar & Piracicaba), cauliflower (from clear baggie), & round 2 of stevia

 The stevia round 1 looks like some will hopefully take, but some not, so started round 2 to make sure I have enough.

Started stevia

^^^