Great success with the second batch of Walla Walla onions! Amazing germation rate from the package of seeds I purchased off a seller on eBay.
The first batch started out fantastic – but most died off because of the damping off fungus. As noted in one of the prior posts, I saturated the tray with water at the bottom to keep the soil good and wet for the seeds to sprout. Well, that caused the damping off fungus to grow and take over.
With the new batch of Walla Walla onions, I put about half of the amount of water in the trays – just enough so the soil was saturated and nothing was left in the bottom of the tray. In addition, my small Dollar General fan provides a nice breeze to the plants when the lights are on (all on a timer). With using less water and the constant breeze to dry out the top, damping off wasn’t a problem this time!
The two photos below were taken on the 20th of February. They are doing very well for being about a week past their germination date.
The photo below shows the “old” onion seedlings on the left side. You can see that there are very few left. On the right side are the “new” onion seedlines – all doing very well and growing strong.
How about the Ventura celery? It is doing good too! In the prior post, I had mentioned that the celery had great germination. I planted four containers with four seeds each (16 seeds total). Upon counting, 13 (or 14) of those 16 germinated. Not bad for seed that was stored in the freezer from 2010!
Storing seeds in the freezer is a great way to ensure your seeds stay viable for much longer. Be careful to put seeds in a place where they won’t be disturbed very much. I keep mine at the bottom of the freezer in a ziplock bag. When I a ready to use them, I will be as quick as possible with opening the ziplock bag, pull out only the seeds needed, and put them back in the freezer.
So the Ventura celery are growing well. I really dislike thinning out seedlings because I feel it is a waste, but you also have to ensure you plant enough to get at least one good sprout!
Off to a good start with the seeds now! Still.. just am not sure what to do with the garden and how to keep the deer and other critters out. It has been a major disappointment the past few years with the wildlife damaging tomatoes, green beans, and others.