Day 4 and WE HAVE GROWTH!

Holy Cannoli! I went in to turn on the the lights for our little seedlings, and I saw some of the newspaper had been moved. Could it be growth? Or did I accidentally move it last night before shutting off the lights? To my great surprise, WE HAVE GROWTH! I yelled for the girls to come look and while screaming with excitement we saw at least an inch of growth on some of the flowers and a quarter of an inch on the broccoli. Wow, I can hardly believe it!

All of this adrenaline was brought down quickly when I saw MOLD growing on the "cool flat." Sure the broccoli and peas are starting to sprout but I can also see white fluff on the top of the soil throughout the flat. The "hot flat" didn't show any signs of mold. So of course I headed to the computer to do some research. My best hit was to Dave's Garden http://davesgarden.com/. He talks about "The Dreaded Dampening Off." Oh dear this sounds serious!! Even though I did cook the soil, there are other culprits to watch out for 1)no air movement and 2) too much water. What a rookie I am! It definitely is damp in there, so I removed all the newspaper. Next, I removed the plastic hood for time being on the "cool flat." I got a paper towel and tried to gently removed the mold that I found. Some of the suggestions included mixing some hydrogen peroxide with your water (1 Tablespoon per quart of water). Misting this on top will help prevent mold. While I might still try that, for now I am using a more interesting and who would have thought of it approach with CINNAMON!

With a light dusting of cinnamon, we are hopeful this will do the trick. Check back to stay updated!

We learned a valuable lesson today, "Minimize wet conditions, and maximize air flow." Thanks, Dave!

To Seeds, Soil, and Hope!

Yours Truly,

Kat