Hit-and-Miss Gardening

I never had a green thumb. But two weeks ago, we planted some tomato seeds in used egg trays, crossed our fingers and our seeds sprouted.

Feeling very encouraged, I did what my mom used to do when basil stems flower. I scraped off some buds with seeds from the stem and sprinkled them into a potful of soil. Good luck.

Our marigold hedge had gone wild and the vines were crawling around other plants.  I trimmed them until manageable.  I also tied ropes around the leaning birds of paradise to try to straighten them out, and replanted some small irises along a walkway.

I was on a roll. I pulled out all the gabi plants - those bulky ones that grow in the forest and reproduce very rapidly.   I uprooted around 40 of them, big and small, and piled them up along some other agricultural waste.

 

On my last trip to Handyman, Robinsons Place, I picked up some petchay and kangkong seed packets.  When I got home, I scooped up some damp soil from our backyard into small pots, sprinkled the seeds into them, and covered the seeds with a thin layer of soil.  The packet said that petchay and kangkong are easy plants to grow because they thrive in clay or sandy soil, and survive harsh conditions. In other words, piece of cake.

 

After three days, small seedlings burst out of the soil!  Happiness!!!!

Rene brought me back to reality and suggested that I find out how best to grow them, as there is a specific way how to take care of certain plants...... When I looked up "how to grow petchay", the suggested method was to plant one seed per pot because they can grow into really lush plants and they need space.  There was also a warning against transplanting them at any point of their lives.  I guess I overcrowded them.   What if I pull out a few to make room?  When I do this again, I'll make sure each seed gets its own pot.

No longer feeling encouraged, I checked our tomato seedlings.... and most of them drooped!! Oh no! They also looked pale and thin.  Maybe too much sunlight!  

So maybe I should look up "how to grow tomatoes" too.....  So much for having a natural inclination towards caring for plants. It is a science.  Botanists and horticulturalists have gained a new level of respect from me today.

I will try again.