I started some basil, tomatoes and broccoli in my closet in my bedroom in mid march. The starts are doing well, but there have already been some misfortunes. Plants are so sensitive when they are young! Plants started indoors are also more sensitive than outdoor plants. Once planted outside - after hardening them off outside for a couple of hours a day - the starts toughen up. But until then, I have to be careful! I have been using a small candle heater to heat my starts, which are
covered in a white blanket. The blanket and heater keep the plants warm
while the white color maximizes light reflection for the starts.Unfortunately, the heater has fallen a few times and singed some of the tomato and basil starts. Also, the tomato starts that were too close to the candle heater wilted. I guess it was too hot for them, which seems strange to me because it was not especially warm under the blanket - certainly not too warm!
I have also taken my starts outside when the sun pokes through the clouds and the temperature is above 60 degrees. There are mixed opinions about exposing starts to outdoor light and conditions so early, when they are used to artificial indoor settings. Giving plants small windows of what the real conditions are like outside helps them toughen up. However, it can also damage them if winds are too strong, the sun is particularly bright, or starts are exposed too early. My basil seems to be the only plant unhappy with some outdoor time. I started this basil early for basil, so the outdoor conditions may be too harsh for them still, even on nice warm April days.
The broccoli is starting to look better now, but last week they started turning yellow and losing leaves. Yellow bottom leaves usually indicates nitrogen deficiency, which makes sense in small plastic containers because brassicas are heavy feeders. I added some fertilizer and the yellow color has faded completely! The broccoli will be ready to be planted outside in a couple of weeks. I am waiting as long as possible because the slugs are so terrible this time of year. One slug could take out a whole broccoli start in one night! The slugs are my nemesis at the Mason St. garden.
