I mentioned yesterday that our lettuce and chard in the hydroponics had run it’s course. This evening I planted the next batch in their little sponges and I hope these will actually do something. We have not been having a lot of good luck getting seeds started this year. First, the ones I tried starting in the basement near the end of winter got to cold. I forgot to use the warming mats and they just did not germinate. Then we tried starting some additional ones out in the actual hydroponic tubes themselves and I think the seeds got to wet and rotted.
So, we now have 24 Swiss Chard seeds in their damp sponges, and 24 Lettuce seeds in their little sponges. I am going to keep them a little less moist than we have been doing previously. I have a feeling these sponges hold more moisture and the seeds may be rotting. I talked with a few people in a group I am part of and they reminded me that when seeds are in the soil they dry out, get wet, dry out, get wet, and so on. The hydroponic material holds much more water and may not allow that dry out process.
Grow little ones! I want salad one of these days from a non-grocery store source.
