Back in March, we started planting tomatoes, sunflowers, zinnia, sweet peppers, and bell peppers. We knew nothing about plants beforehand, so it took us a while to learn how to properly take care of them.
Getting them to sprout from being a seed was not a problem since all you needed was soil and water. Then they were growing a bit bigger and their needs also began to pile up right before our eyes and after like 2 weeks or so, they slowly died and I didn't know why back then haha.
March 3, 2024
We had a couple of seeds left and decided to try again. These are sweet peppers.
March 17, 2024
They were growing understandably slow since I was keeping them under shade since I observed that they burn under direct sunlight which was really harsh at that time. I also didn't understand that they need nutrients in the soil... so I just let them be for a while.
I then transferred them to a bigger pot with a garden soil mix which have a lot more organic nutrients than the previous soilless mix. I still wasn't supplementing them with the other rich nutrients like calcium, vermicast, nitrogen, etc. since I didn't know at that time. Hahhaha.
March 27, 2024
As they were growing, I transferred them to their individual nursery bags. I couldn't tell which peppers are which anymore haha but you can tell which are the tomatoes. :D I added a little bit of vermicast here since then I finally learned that they need the nutrients in order to grow bigger. They were still under shade and they get direct afternoon sun for like 2 hours maybe. I was hoping they would develop that tolerance to the sun.
April 3, 2024
As they were growing bigger, I started tying them up with a stick because I noticed some of them would get damaged by the strong afternoon wind.
I started giving the tomatoes exposure to direct sunlight since I noticed they don't really curl up anymore and are able to tolerate them.
I added some more fertilizers - vermicast and carbonized rice hull. I just wanted to take things slowly for them since I didn't really know what they need or what maybe too much for them. I didn't want to overfertilize them at the same time if problems arise, I will be able to tell which ones are causing the problems.
Taking things slow also means they grow slow and I don't have to be overwhelmed and panic buy some bigger pots and find spaces for them haha.
April 8, 2024
Seeing them with no problems with the added fertilizers and the shade they were in, that's when I know I can continue to give them more fertilizers next time.
I also keep an eye on the pests. Here you can see the tomato leaves got some lines in it, which apparently were leaf miners. I spray them with neem oil from time to time as well, careful to not overspray them since they can also get burned if they are stressed.
It was nice to see the tomatoes growing thick and taller.
May 24, 2024
The tomatoes grew taller but sadly I would often wake up to a bald tomato lol. Something keeps on plucking/biting it and that is my best guess since I would see fallen branches and sometimes broken too, like something purposely damaged it (not by wind or sun burn). Although it would happen, it quickly recovered since it's a tomato... but then some other days I would see it get damaged again.
This was the time I went out of town and I forgot to water them for a few days. The other tomatoes died, understandably, and some peppers too.
Honestly I forgot now which ones are bell peppers and sweet peppers but anyway I noticed their leaves are turning yellow or pale. This could be a sign of a nutrient deficiency and honestly I don't know which exactly. I just put in some calcium nitrate and hoped for the best. Hahaha. They did turn out fine after a couple of days though lol.
The peppers grew surprisingly bigger than their sisters lol. You can see how much it has grown by the stick I previously placed. You can tell that the pot is becoming too tiny for it.
May 26, 2024
As expected, the roots are hungry for some more space.
I transferred all of them to the new pots as well as adding more vermicast, chicken manure, and carbonized rice hull to the soil mix. I placed them under the sun with the 50% shading net that I temporarily installed. This was a big mistake I think... immediately putting them under the sun after transplanting. 80% of the leaves fell a day after this.
The tomatoes are very resilient and just didn't want to die as 2 days ago it didn't have any leaves at all and now are growing new ones. Like I said in the previous paragraph, I placed them under the sun after transplanting so this died after a few days. RIP my tomatoes. :<
June 15, 2024
They have now grown big and have plenty of flowers.
Can you spot the peppers???
I didn't even notice them at first and just got surprised to see a lot of them already.
One of them turned red already and looks like it's ready to be harvested.
The rest of the plants are doing fine, although I haven't really paid attention to them since I got some other things to prioritize first. :x
The experience
The experience was such a roller coaster of emotions lol. I was sad a lot of them didn't make it. Then we have tomatoes that looked healthy one day and then gets damaged then you lose hope but then it starts growing leaves again and then it dies.
I've learned a lot of things with the experience and I will for sure apply them next time we plant again. Since these are also edibles I have to be really careful with the pesticides and fertilizers I spray/put although I am only currently using an organic pesticide (neem oil) and for sure not spray them when the edible parts have already grown.
Planting is so fun and satisfying though. The things I learned from here will be forever carried with me to the future, to when maybe we can have our own space and plant more seeds and trees. I look forward to planting more seeds I can grow in pots... maybe herbs next? Those mint, basil, and thymes are so interesting. :P
Thanks for reading!
Challenge accepted lady! Lol
I would love to grow bell peppers but can't find seeds here in the shops. There isn't a great range of veg available. Just 4 types of basil and a load of frigging cucumbers!
Keep trying. Those fingers are getting greener by the day.
Best wishes to you both and the singular use of the 'f' word in your previous post didn't go unnoticed ;-)
I'm so happy for you and great to see you back posting.
Really? We have a lot of bell pepper seeds here. I saw those types of basil in Chatuchak park that one time, they had like an exhibit or garden of those and they all look pretty much the same to me! 😂
Yeah I actually am proud myself that it has been two tries and I got successful in second try with growing from seed - I really didn't expect I'd be able to also in a short amount of time when I didn't know anything about them before. Even in my indoor plants I managed to propagate, repot, etc. and they are now thriving (not surviving!!) even though a few of them died but 90% of them are doing great.
What is this? I don't understand lol
Im on Samui now sadly, its not 10mins from Chatuchak like I used to be. Id better check Shopee! It was the first time I saw you use the word 'fiance' lol
use a seedling tray for the process, it really makes it look neat. All plants are arranged with great love. Growing very well.
Yeah they look so good and organized with the tray. Makes it less confusing which are which. :D Although on the next nursery pots when they grow bigger I really have to label them haha
Herbs are so fun to grow and berries too. I used to grow mints at my previous place and it was thriving until I left it backpacking for months haha. These days, I am also starting over at my new place but I want to focus on flowers more and some herbs. I also want lemon trees but that's too big of a responsibility for now😅. You did great with the chili! 😊
Berries? :o dunno if we can grow one here. The only berry I know that grows here are pineapples hahah (the rest of berries can be grown on the highlands :D). What berries can you grow over there?
Flowers are also so cool. I hope I can grow them from seeds when I try again since my zinnias didn't make it. Lemon trees are also a big goal in the future!! Dunno how high maintenance they can be tho
We can grow mullberry over here, I used to grow them in a pot and they'd have about 5 berries 🤣 every few months I mean, if you love berries, that's an option to try growing. By the way, did you know this youtube channel? they have this balcony garden that looks beautiful
When my first time gardening, planting tomato, chilli and eggplant, create roller coasters emotions ehehe but then I realize big patience is a must :)
For tomato, we have to transfer them into direct sunlight since 2-4 weeks according to healthy stems they have.
When I was put tomato plants into terrace, my tomato grow just stagnant, have flowers but not turned into fruits
Gardening is also learning new thing and help me out from overthinking
Well, congratulations on your chilli. You did it ❤️
Very true hahaha. Now that I don't check on them every hour, time flies so fast that I don't even notice they have fruits already! 😂
Ohh I'll try your method next time. I remember I was researching on when to put the tomatoes in direct sunlight and they all say you can put them already by the time they have their true leaves but I always see they would get burned or something... maybe I was just looking at blog posts of people from countries with less harsh sunlight lol.
Happy to hear that it makes you happy. <3
That's awesome 👍
Thank you!
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