the fairy light propagator experiment

The first breath of spring is in the air outside. Or maybe it's the last breath of mild autumn. Either way, I must mistrust it. The days are too short and the nights too cold; it is only crazy spring and will likely be flattened by a February cold snap (probably just as the Passion Vine has decided to go for it).

Inside, I have more control over my environment, and can provide a little warm soils for the things that like to get started early:



My January newsletters have suggested all manor of things, but I have started with: Marigold, Lobelia, Cosmos, Foxglove, Krim Tomato, Aji Limon Pepper, Hungarian Hot Wax, and Mystery Pepper (from an unlabelled seed envelope). I have a LOT of pepper seeds this year.



My seedlings, especially the early ones, suffered seriously from lack of light last year. The verandah is fully enclosed, very sheltered and North North West facing. It has a neon tube light, but I can't leave that on when I'm out or asleep, and the light is... I don't know. Better than a regular domestic overhead but far from tasty for a plant I think. But for Christmas my little sister gave me these lovely battery-powered dinosaur fairy lights and the moment I saw that intense, clean cool bright white light, I thought - mmm! If I was a plant, that would look like dinner. So they're under the fairy lights now and there has definitely been an effect, though it's uneven. Both Cosmos and Marigold sprouted in a shocking 24 hours. The rest are still under, though it's only been four days. The light is weak, of course. But safe, and that's important too.



I also had a pile of lemon seeds from a very fecund organic lemon I had over Christmas. So they're in the pots too. There's about four seeds in every pot (it was a VERY fecund lemon) so hopefully something will sprout.