Experiments

New Experiments:
-Spring Potatoes in the Potato Box - currently under way. the plants look much better than the fall experiment potatoes. I also didn't bother ordering any potatoes, I just bought organic Red LaSoda and White Kennebec potatoes from Whole Foods on Valentine's day. I planted them the following weekend. The Red LaSodas are doing great, the Kennebec, not so much. I'll probably only stick with the Red LaSodas after this...

-Spring Quinoa - Currently under way. The seedlings didn't start as quickly as they had in the fall (I'm guessing it's a temperature issue).

- Casper Pumpkins - currently under way. I planted the seeds, but none of them have come up yet...I'm beginning to think that I waited too long to plant them (I had bought the seeds a few years ago and forgot about them).

-Spring Sweet Potatoes - I tried to get some sweet potatoes to sprout - I put them in some water on the counter. I didn't get anything other than moldy potatoes. The other night when I went to get out some other sweet potatoes from the cupboard for making sweet potato fries, I noticed that one of the potatoes had started sprouting. So, out with the old, in with the new. I have the potato sitting on my windowsill to see if it will sprout more slips.

-Peanut Bush - My parents had moved to New Jersey for about 3 months for my dad's job (he was supposed to be there for 3 years). On their way back (from the move), they opted to drive through the southern part of the US. They stopped in Georgia for a bit and my mom found this peanut growing kit (which was really just a little salsa cup from Chuy's with red yarn and 4 peanuts) that she bought as a stocking stuffer. I started the peanuts a few weeks ago, and the peanut plant is already ready to be planted in the garden.

-[edited on 4/16] I want to try growing ginger (Zingiber officinale). I bought some ginger a week ago from the HEB that has some growing tips, I broke off the pieces and planted them about 2" deep in potting soil in the pot the Avocado Tree used to be in. I used Tropical Permaculture as the guide I followed.

Experiments I want to try:

-I also want to try growing saffron (crocus sativus)

Previous Experiments:
- The Garlic Experiment (aka Growing Garlic) - Win!

- Make seed start pots out of toilet paper rolls - Fail. Last time I posted about this, I was told to abandon toilet paper rolls and make newspaper rolls instead because it's easier for the plant roots to get through when it's planted in the ground.

- Strawberry Popcorn - Neutral. The corn grew, it produced. Because of my own stupidity, they didn't produce as much as they could have. I planted I think 8 plants or so and got 6 good ears and about that many not good ears (I had stopped watering the plants well before I should have).

- Paper towel seed starting technique - Epic Win! I successfully managed to start seeds by using the trick of sprinkling said seeds on a wet paper towel, wrapping it up and putting it in a ziplock bag on the counter.

- Lemon Balm + Nasturtium to repel Squash Vine Borer - Neutral. I don't know if it really repels the SVB, but I'll probably plant this again as the Nasturtiums are pretty and the Lemon Balm is well, lemony. Plus, I felt that the Lemon Balm worked fairly well as a mosquito repellent until the mosquitos are so thick that they don't care what type of repellent you have on.

- Fall Quinoa - The plants grew only about 4" - 6" high (they're supposed to be 4' - 6' high). Needless to say I didn't get anything from them, but figured I ought to try again in the spring.

- Starting tomatoes/eggplant/pepper from seed - Epic Win!

- Agave pups - Currently under way. The agave at work sent up a bloom stalk and produced pups. I collected a shit load and gave a bunch away to other garden bloggers. Unfortunately, even though the agave had survived at my work without problems with weather, it apparently is not necessarily frost tolerant as all of the ones I planted outside froze during the winter. the only ones alive are the ones I have in pots.

- Carnival Mix Carrots - I planted one area of my garden with the Carnival Seed Blend which I completely forgot about until I pulled up carrots and I had maroon and white ones. The maroon one was good, the white ones were blah.

- Chef's Choice Cauliflower Mix - The cauliflowers didn't make it this fall - I think it was the location (lack of sun). I will try again in the fall.

- Tulle Bags to protect the tomatoes - Has not started yet. I'll make the call when I have more tomatoes growing . The gist is that you use those little tulle wedding gift bags and put your tomatoes in them (while still on the plant, duh), to protect the tomato itself from bugs. Note: As Annie in Austin has pointed out, this will not protect your tomatoes from other, larger varmints. Varmints with teeth.

-Sweet Potatoes - it was an accidental experiment that worked pretty well, the only problem was that I started it much too late in the fall season to get any sweet potatoes.