Several Flowers and a Couple Melons Planted

Today was probably the busiest out of the entire year for gardening.  I planted some more flowers that I needed to get completed and I am planting them a little big sooner than last year.  It is only a week earlier, but every day helps in getting a good head start.

I decided on growing five different flowers today and they are all going on the windowsill instead of fluorescent light.  Most of the flowers I used large plastic pots while only one I decided on planted them in shallow peat pots.

I planted four pots of each flower that I wanted to get started right away this afternoon.  I planted calendula, amaranthus, statice, cornflowers, and sunflowers.  These flowers were planted in plastic pots while sunflowers were placed in large cups that I have saved throughout the year.

I was able to fit all of them perfectly next to the window for sunlight.  They might take a little bit longer to sprout due to the amount of sunlight they are receiving.  The good news is that I don’t need them to sprout real fast as long as they sprout in less than two weeks at the most.

I also did plant some Queen Anne’s Lace, but I did not use plastic pots for these seeds.  I could have used plastic pots for them, but I had some small peat pots that I have had for years and never used them.  I thought these containers would be perfect for these flowers.

These peat pots are much smaller than your average peat pot you can get in the store and are about 1 1/2 inches.  I normally buy three inch peat pots which are great for most plants, but I want to see how I do with these small ones for a flower that can benefit any garden.

You can see on the left are the regular three inch pots and on the right are the smaller types that are found in garden shops.

Along with flowers I also wanted to get my watermelons started so that they will be ready by May 2016.  Even if these don’t work I still will have time to plant them directly in the soil.  Starting them early is just one of those fruits that needs plenty of time to grow a large and juicy melon.

Peat pots are the best for these plants because of sensitive roots transplanting them from a regular pot could harm them or stunt their growth.  This way I just throw the pot and all into the soil and won’t have to worry too much about harming their roots.

I planted two Carolina cross and two Georgia rattlesnake watermelons.  The Carolina cross I place three seeds in both pots and the rattlesnake I only place two seeds each.  I find that Carolina cross has a much lower sprout rate than other melons and that is why I add three instead of two.