06/10/2023 baby cactus repotting

Paula felt the baby Coryphantha sulcata cacti were not getting good drainage in their sprouting trays.
Gram helped by laying in the plant window, taking over Shackleton’s spot temporarily.

05/30/2022 holiday Monday

A megachilid bee on Gaillardia pulchella (blanket flower or firewheel).
I repotted the lemon balm into a clay pot so I could use its plastic one. In the upper left I also put one winecup in the very long tall head shaped pot. The root system was starting to escape the sprouting cells so I should probably plant its friends soon too.
I needed a lot of medium to large plastic pots to put showy evening primrose (here in middle) and Maximilian sunflower (next pic) in actual soil.
These are the Maximilian sunflowers I’ve been pulling from the prairie area, where the main plant we moved was last winter. I was storing them to give away in a tub of water and soil, but they were looking sad, so I figured it was time for potting. There’s so many they are crowded, but whoever takes them can separate them out. They seem very, very hardy.
While I had my hands dirty I repotted the ashy sunflower (Helianthus mollis). I figure it can get much bigger in this pot, and then we can plant it in late summer to overwinter in its final location (to be decided).
Someone (tail end pictured…) Kept wanting to bark at our fine feline friends in the plant window. So I made it less convenient.

It lives!!! (Coryphantha sulcata)

On Thursday evening I was closing the plant window curtain when on a whim I checked the cactus tray. I have been watering the little shriveled Coryphantha sulcata seedling occasionally since there was still green, but I figured it was dead. It’s suddenly all plump and alive again!!!!!! Abby had the excellent suggestion that maybe the day length is now long enough for it to decide it’s spring and time to collect water again.
Since the cats have been in plant window a lot, I figured the baby might be safer outside in a more stable pot. So on Saturday (yesterday) I repotted it carefully into fresh cactus potting mix.
I have put it in the shade of the big planter, since my recent reading on baby cacti suggests that may best imitate a cactus seedling environment in the wild.

05/12/2022 all the not dramatic regular stuff

Walking onions from garden, assorted farm share veggies, with glass noodles and chicken.
Pulled a lot more Maximilian sunflower this evening. I put it in a tub with some potting soil to keep until they can go to new homes.
I found a baby spittlebug on one sunflower stem! I took it over to the sunflowers we’re keeping so it can keep eating.
In the front yard, a few winecup seedlings are coming up in the ground cover orchard area.
More baby winecup!
I pulled up two more native black walnut seedlings and potted them.
Hopefully this one can make it with only half its remaining food. Anyways, this makes a total of four. I have found good homes for most or all of them now. Our lot is too small for another big tree.

04/23 a bit of planting

On the left, you can see the now three containers of white currant tomato.
Around the culinary sage, I split up the thyme into three chunks and planted it around the sage’s edge. To the right, you can see two containers with baby Mexican plums that have not found immediate homes. Now they’re potted and can keep. Behind those is lemon balm I divided in two as a coworker wants some.

Removing seeds from cold stratification

I checked on seeds in the fridge this evening.  Two species have started sprouting so I planted them in sprouting trays and also some directly in the ground. The others species I think I’ll keep out and see if they sprout as they’ve been in since January I think.

Desert globe mallow with little roots before I tuck them into their new dirt.
Blue flax also before covering the roots.

Tomatillo time

This morning I repotted the baby tomatillos (two varieties this year).

The tomatillo varieties are Rio Grande verde and just plain verde. RGV is what we had last year.
This procedure was extremely boring.

Babies growing up

Repotted about 2/3 of baby tomatos before it got dark.

Bigger pots mean not everyone fits in the cat-safe night area.

So we covered the other tray with a box and a heavy thing.
Supervisors have a meeting.