Thought of the Day

My Huckleberry Prayer

Dear God,

You gave me the knowledge, resources and desire to plant these seeds. I pray that you will help them grow to your glory. And thank you for making huckleberries, we love them.

Amen

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Moving Day

So, the normal rules of gardening are that when the seedlings get to be a certain height, one pulls out all but the biggest one so that it has it's own pot and is not competing with the other plants. This is known as thinning. This is also under that assumption that each pot sprouts more than one plant.
However, I only have four seedling and one that is barely hanging on. So I attempted to move each plant into its own pot. This was a risk and only time will tell if it worked or not. The reason I call it a risk is because huckleberry plants for intertwined roots and if one is not careful it could hurt the plant (Barney, 12). I am hoping that these seedlings are young enough that I did not do this.
I took this opportunity to mix new soil and fertilizers into the pots. In one pot I mixed a compost made of dog manure and pine bark. I did this because Barney suggests beginning garden beds for huckleberry plants with rotting conifer wood.
Another pot I did I went with a Miracle Grow fertilizer. It was a standard flower one with a makeup of 15-30-15. This is a combination that Barney gives for being a good year round fertilizer. I didn't mix this one in with the soil like the others, but after transplanting the plant I sprayed it.
In another pot I mixed soil with coffee grounds. Yes, I said coffee grounds. Coffee grounds provide acidity to the soil, which is something that Barney says the plants like although it's important not to overdo it.
The last pot I did a combination of coffee grounds and the dog manure/pine bark mix. I did this because the instructions that come with the coffee grounds (found for free at your friendly neighborhood Starbucks, available to anyone who asks) say that it's good to mix the grounds with elements such as grass or bark.
I am going to use each fertilizer as directed (or as best as I know) and see which one works better. I hope to get o a point where I can use just one fertilizer next year.

No comments:

Post a Comment