Doubts overcome

What I feared were mould clumps in my mini greenhouse basil seedling pot where actually the embryos of weening basil sprouts. These cute little green heads are yes, the seedlings, which the soil gave birth to this lovely morning.

So, conformant to what I had read elsewhere it is:
1. advisable to make a greenhouse effect for sprouting;
2. despite point 1, air circulation must be ensured, otherwise mould will be an enemy;
3. keep away from drought;
4. soil must be damp and sufficiently watered - but not waterclogged;
5. keep the pot in a relatively warm location, direct sunlight is not as yet necessary.

This slideshow teaches us more about the process: click here.

And the same scepticism which was overtaking me in the recent week regarding the rooting of the mint stalks were also shooed away today as these little white hairs stuck their heads in the water:

And finally, since I have self-diagnosed myself as a greenfinger wacko after a week of paranoic gardening research I allowed myself a pinch of a plant which made it's way through the window at the restaurant where H and I had lunch yesterday. I have no clue what the plant is but it looked like an easy plant to propagate, and it had nice leaves, stood in the outdoors unafraid and was blossoming little white flowers. We'll see what will come out of this...

Bring it on guys!!

Propagating mint in water

I was somewhat sceptic when I was told that if simply stuff in the mint stalks you buy at the farmer's market into soil it would grow and invade the pot: I googled on and I read that it would be safer to root the stalks using the water method to make sure it would survive in the soil.

I followed instructions here and also drew analogies from here, it is day 3 for my mint stalks and to be honest I'm getting dubious about this method, though everyone claims it to be foolproof. Indeed, at the bottom leaf armpits which I had diligently removed before putting into water there seems to be a sign of new life, but it is not a root!!

We'll wait and see. My cut off date is in a week's time...