The front verandah which is southward facing (in the southern hemisphere) has also become the seedling nursery. It’s an ideal situation to protect the delicate shoots from the severe summer heat we’ve been experiencing. They get morning sun but are protected from the blistering midday and afternoon heat.
In case you aren’t aware, Australia has been experiencing a record-breaking heat-wave recently. The Bureau of Meteorology even had to add a new colour to their temperature maps as central Australia experienced temperatures over 50 degrees celsius! This weekend saw that heat-wave broken by torrential rain, flooding and strong winds along most of the eastern coast of Australia. This was good for my seedlings which have thrived with the sudden drop in temperatures and generous rainfall. Not so good for many people who have been evacuated or left stranded by raging floodwaters.
New Seedlings – 19th January 2013
And the seedlings today after this weekend’s torrential rainfall and cooler temperatures…
The seedlings have sprouted!
Ginger shoot, Galangal & Dwarf Mulberry Tree
These seedlings are potted in plain, organic compost (no fancy mixes for me) and the ones in pots have newspaper lining the bottom to prevent the compost from washing out of the drainage holes. They get watered once per day – after this weekend I’m thinking it might be better to try and water them twice a day while they are so young as they all really thrived with the extra water they received.
Most of the seedlings were planted roughly two weeks ago. Some were quite fast to shoot – silverbeet, zucchini & nasturiums. And others I thought would never sprout – sunflowers, broccoli, corn & sugarsnap peas. They all seem to be doing pretty well now though. Now I just have to keep them alive!
Under the Mango Tree 
Thanks. I needed that on today, another snow day!
Brrr!
I love starting seedlings! It is so much fun to watch them grow. We’ve got romaine lettuce growing right now on our kitchen counter under a desk lamp!
I think the last seedlings I started were beans for a school project – it’s a lot more fun this time round 🙂
Some of my family are in Australia and tell me it’s so hot there right now, I wish. It’s bloody freezing in Canada. I will start our seedlings indoors likely in March and hope for the best. We’ve had great luck every year and gardening certainly is the way to go.
It sure is hot and humid here. My daughter and I are inside in the air conditioning today because of the weather. February/March is an ideal time to be planting traditional veggies in Brisbane in preparation for winter – I’m just being a little impatient. Summers in Brisbane are a really difficult time to grow anything due to the heat and insects which eat everything. Looking forward to hearing how your garden grows later in the year 🙂
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