apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You have some serious thinning to do!!

Oh cute! I might need to make a trip to Ikea soon. :)

I actually bought two plants last night from Trader Joe's. One is a succulent (not sure what kind, it's not labeled) and the other is hydrangea. $10 total for both, woohoo!
I need to do some research on how exactly to care for them so they don't die in like 2 days. :)

For starters, I know that I need to get a nice pot for the hydrangea, luckily the succulent came in a pretty little pot.
This is the first time I ever had a plant (and of course, I decided to start with two completely different types of plants), so it'll be a learning experience, but now I'm excited to start getting some plants so I can grow herbs and maybe even some fruit. You can never have too many tomatoes!

I broke down and got an Aerogarden spacesaver (only 3 plant holes) recently, on pretty good markdown. In only a couple of weeks, my basil are even taller than that! The only place I had room for it was a dark corner downstairs. With its own lightsource, it doesn't seem to mind that it is in the darkest place in my apartment. If you don't get good light and still want herbs, I really recommend the Aerogardens. Watch for sales and they can be a reasonable option. I've got thyme, basil and chives coming up at a really good clip. Should be able to harvest off the top within the next couple of weeks for at least the chives.

Lol, I bought a few of these yesterday on my trip as I passed them - they go for about $2.99 here. I got a couple basil (I use a lot in cooking), some parsley and some chives. I wish that they had oregano (another I use a lot in cooking), but I guess I'll plant onions and garlic instead. Oh well!

i'm trying my hand at growing california poppies for the first time. i had them sitting outside on the steps of my backyard for the first couple days before germination until a cat came by and knocked the second box over, spilling it into the third. i worried that the second box wouldn't show any signs of seeding but it seems to have caught up and surpassed the other two boxes is lush greenness. i can't wait for them to flower! i've been regularly documenting the progress of the poppy boxes here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343785&id=3402560&l=2d147251e8

I don't mean to be a stickler, but this is a crazy waste of seeds. There is like 10x too many sprouts in that little guy. Serious thinning to do, indeed.

I started basil, parsley and some shasta daisies with my son yesterday. Today it is snowing, so some hope for spring is very exciting!

I second the aerogarden. I have the 7 slot model that I replanted beginning of Feb. and it is HUGE and thriving. Black thumb is now green!

I can grow quite a few things on my (12th floor) balcony but not during winter, and the layout of the apartment makes it impossible to grow inside. So I've been wondering about the Aerogarden & it sounds very promising from what people are saying. I am looking forward to starting balcony gardening again this spring -- I have some chili plants on order (pretty and good to eat, how can you beat it?), I'm going to expand to about 3 tomato plants, herbs, I'm going to try eggplants for the first time, and of course some flowers. It's a small balcony so I'm hoping I will feel immersed in green fairly soon.

I started two types of lettuce, carrots and broccoli! They've all sprouted but the broccoli! Can't wait to put them in the ground

Okay so I tried planting a bunch of things in those starter peat pellets. Omg worst month of my life. I killed them all and my cat ate them.

So I had a bunch seeds left, some leftover potting mix and an empty container. I threw it all 9 different seeds, some soil and put it by a sunny window.

Now it has exploded with life. I don't touch it and its amazing.

like someone mentioned, unless you thin that to 2 or 3 seedlings( what a waste of good seedlings!) they're all going to die!

don't worry, a thinning is a coming!

Wow, as the other posters said... youve got a lot of thinning to do! I use Jiffy sod pellets, they work like a charm for starting from seed.
This year Ive started jabanero peppers, serrano peppers, basil, chives, cilantro, bluebonnets, and daisies in my windowsill... theres always room for more!

I started some seeds in late february and they're growing beautifully. the first to sprout are now about 5 inches tall, and a few others have taken off in the past week. soon I'll be transporting them to their permanent pots, and hopefully they'll make it out to the balcony in not too long (weather permitting). they should be nice and healthy and fill out quickly since they've had such a good start.

victo- i am trying my hand at poppies, too. my neighbor (with an awesome flower garden) told me they won't bloom the first year... just a heads up so you don't give up on them..

Sorry to all who mentioned it but the aerogarden is the ugliest thing I've ever seen.

I have basil seeds waiting to be set up for germination this weekend. I'll be using yogurt cups. They seem to work perfectly for me.

I started my basil seeds in an egg carton filled with potting soil. :D

I cut large plastic juice bottles 3 quarters and punched holes in he bottom for the pot and used the quarter with the handle and top as a watering jug. I am fortunate to have an old greenhouse/pergola attached to my rental house. I've started out with coriander, basil, and parsley. I've found chives hard to grow. Any tips. I'd like to grow small tomatoes too.

I have never thinned my plants. I just stick them in a pot, and let them do their stuff.

I planted spinach and mustard outdoors in my raised beds in mid-February. Now we have healthy sprouts on their way to being micro-greens. All my other sprouts are indoors just getting their secondary leaves - basil, dill, cilantro, jalapenos, and peppers. Seeds packets are so cheap and playing in the dirt is so fun that I can't imagine doing it the Ikea way.

I have a bunch of little seedling kits to get started. Each kit was like $1 at Target. I have a few different types of flowers, a strawberry one, a baby pine tree, not to mention a bunch of different herbs. If I can get to them this weekend, I'll be starting them now that the kitchen is cleaned. I have a cute window shelf to put them on.

I think I need to save the plant at work too. It seriously needs repotted and some nutrients. It's sad!