Plant Kit Update

Remeber back in June my friend bought me a sunflower and a chilli plant kit? Here's an update on how they are getting on.

Chillies

They are so happy! I either have a knack for chillies or they are super easy to grow. Probably the latter.

You can even see the little chillies starting to grow. I'm so pleased with these.

Sunflowers

I'm so embarrased about these :/ They didn't survive a weekend we spent away at a festival and have been looking rather grey and ill since then. I hoped they might come back to life but they're getting worse. 

Luckily I didn't plant all the seeds in the kit so I have a second chance to redeem myself.

The story so far (month 2)

It's a gorgeous sunny morning on the balcony today and the perfect time to take stock of how my little growing project is going.

My tomatoes are a great success. I took a good look at them yesterday and discovered I had missed a few side shoots which had turned into large stems. I performed a bit of surgery and they are looking better now. There's lots of flowers on all 3 plants and some fruits forming. They are growing visibly every day.

The chillies are also thriving, they love their sunny spot, it's the hottest place in the house. There are so many flowers and fruits forming I can't even keep up. They are still green at the moment (I am pretty sure they will turn red when ripe) - it shouldn't be long before we can pick these.

Similarly the beans and peas. They seem to love the netting and are growing happily.

My strawberries are a little healthier since the trim, I haven't lost any more leaves so that's a bonus. Still, I find myself quite indifferent to them now and I don't even know if I should make the effort to keep them for next year. 

I've got more salad on the go - something a little milder this time because the spicy mix was so strong we could hardly eat it by the end. This one is a mild green mix, and sown in nice neat rows this time so that they are easier to thin out!

Also my sunflower kit has produced 2 healthy plants, I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out - I love sunflowers. It's all quiet on the chilli kit front, although I did plant those a little later.

P.S. A note on blogging

I had never blogged before 2 months ago when I started my little balcony garden and this blog, and I am thoroughly enjoying both. I find blogging therapeutic, creative (especially the photography) and the perfect way to record the developments of my gardening. But the best part about it by far has been the comments and messages from other gardeners - help, advice or just a friendly "hello" from people all over the world. Thank you to everyone who has read my blog, given me advice or wished me well, I really appreciate it and I love reading all of your blogs too.

Plant Kits

For my birthday (yes, I know my birthday was ages ago but it's been spreading itself out this year!) my friend bought me two plant kits. The first is sunflowers - a mini variety - and it comes in the most beautiful little yellow bucket:

The other is from the pocket garden range - some chillies. The other chillies are doing so well so fingers crossed for these ones too.

It's raining, windy and grey on the balcony right now. I've been away since Thursday so I want to go out and see what's happening but I can't face the weather so I am snuggled up inside with the laptop. At least the plant kits mean I can have a little gardening fix. And Gardener's World on iPlayer. My b/f thinks I am old before my time, but I love it! You learn so much!


I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.