This is a weekly look at what is happening in the school garden to assist teacher educators engage their students in agriculture. It can be used by garden students of all ages however!
Next up a weather report to get us through the week for planning on our season extension:
It looks like next week will have a patch of great weather to transplant seedlings outdoors. If you cannot get transplants done this week on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday we may have a chance next week. Just like the past several weeks, the warm weather during the week gives way to a cold Friday. Make sure your row covers are tightly covering your raised beds before you leave.
Outside in the raised beds:
So we finally have a little nice weather to pop open the row cover and see what we have growing. Feel free to send me pics! It is best to open the covers closer to the middle of the day when it is a little warmer, and then close the covers up tight after you view plants or take a harvest in order to build the heat back up under the cover to protect the plants. You will need to make sure the row cover is in place Friday for sure as we get cold again this weekend. Make sure you do not have plastic over your row cover if you were using that to provide extra protection as we will have needed rainfall for the plants and the rain will pass right through row cover, but not plastic. If you have extra spinach and kale seeds and did not have a chance to plant last fall, you could direct sow some seed outside under the row cover this week as well. That will give you a chance at a spring harvest to share with your kiddos.
If you have leftover radish, lettuce, and pea seeds keep watching future emails as we will be looking for a window of opportunity to plant them outside under the row cover!
Inside in the Aerogarden:
Last month we planted tomatoes in the Aerogarden. Follow the instructions for tomato planting carefully. Make sure you are checking water levels and fertilize as needed. Make sure you check water levels each Friday before you leave school so that the water level does not drop too low over the weekend. CLICK HERE for the Aerogarden planting guide.
I check the water every other day right now as the tomatoes are growing fast. I need to move the lights similarly. I pollinate and prune according to the Aerogarden tomato care guide linked below.
Tomatoes are growing fast in the Aerogarden right now. Make sure to check your water level and fertilize as needed to keep the plants healthy. Keep your lights about 1-2″ from the leaves to avoid leggy plants. Remember If you started two plants in your Aerogardens, you will need to thin to only one plant or they will overwhelm the Aerogarden eventually. You will need to start pollinating your tomato flowers once they appear. You will also need to do some pruning of your tomato plants to keep them growing correctly. All of that is detailed very well in the Aerogarden Planting Guide linked below:
Aerogarden Tomato Guide –> tomato_planting_guide
The Aerogarden website has a tremendous amount of content to assist with maintenance of the units, troubleshooting problems, or how to take care of the plants in the system. CHECK IT OUT if you are having problems. Make sure to check your water level every week one or two times and add as needed. Add fertilizer when needed according to the directions. Email me if you have questions about that.
Hey Tim! What if I want to keep two tomato plants in my Aerogarden? Just realize that you will need to water more frequently since two plants use water up twice as fast. Check the water everyday, and make sure to check and add water before you leave school on Friday.
Inside under LED lights: Review the video below to make sure you are thinning your seedlings under the LED lights as well as for the planting technique for broccoli if you need a refresher.
This month’s seed starting under LED lights is broccoli. Hopefully you have had a chance to start some, but if not, I still recommend that you plant some indoors under the LED lights. You start it the exact same way as you did the other seeds indoors. Plant 2-3 seeds then thin to one per pot. Review the seed starting video below. Let Katie know if you need more seeds or seed starter mix or fertilizer.
The lettuce started last month is looking good. You can harvest the larger leaves off the plant to taste with your students, you can harvest the whole baby head of lettuce to taste with students, or you can let it grow a little bit longer. Make sure you continue to fertilize every two weeks as they grow. The bigger they get the more you will have to water. You could also transplant your lettuce outside under row cover in your raised bed. See the paragraph below for hardening off.
If you have kale, spinach, or bok choy in the little pots and they have a few true leaves growing, you could potentially transplant them outside this week since we have a nice little period of warm weather. They need hardened off, or acclimated to the colder weather a little bit before transplanting. You could place the plants outdoors for a few hours each day and then plant on Wednesday or Thursday. Friday make sure your row cover is covering your bed as we get cold. You could potentially plant your lettuce plants outside under the row cover, but we do have some cold left this winter and lettuce is not as cold hardy as spinach, kale, and bok choy. Make sure to harden off your lettuce transplants before you plant them for at least 2-3 days. If you need some space under your lights you may want to try planting a few out in the raised bed however.
It looks like next week will be great weather to transplant seedlings outdoors.
This week timeframe for transplanting:
- Tuesday – harden transplants outside for a couple hours, only during the middle of the day.
- Wednesday – harden transplants outside for a few hours, could transplant this day if needed.
- Thursday – Transplant outdoors – check out the transplanting video below. Be careful with the row cover if it is windy.
- Friday – make sure the row cover is covering the bed securely before you head home at the end of the day. It gets cold over the weekend again.
Any questions? Feel free to email me at mcdermott.15@osu.edu