Finally, our new Fort Laramie strawberries have arrived. It took much longer than expected, but they are finally here. They arrived last night (03/24/2008).
We unpacked and planted them immediately. We've got them in hydroton, sitting in the MegaGarden. We'll plant them outdoors as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer. Although Fort Laramie are rated for cold weather, these fellows are just young rootstock, and I don't want to push my luck.
Luckily, we have enough room in the MegaGarden to have a home for everybody. I don't have extensive experience with rootstock plants, but these guys transplanted without any trouble. Hopefully they will be happy in the MegaGarden. I hope to plant them outside sometime in May. I'm considering using a heated reservoir to get them outdoors a bit sooner.
If you're wondering where we got them... We bought them from Henry Fields. Although the plants we received appear healthy and in good condition, I have mixed feelings about Henry Fields. Throughout the process, I was unhappy with their service. The initial shipment that they sent me was quite incorrect. My package was labeled as strawberries, but contained Blue Flax.
Ok. Everyone makes mistakes. I can understand making a packing error. However, they expected me to ship back the Blue Flax at my own expense before they would send me the strawberries that I ordered. Additionally, it took them over a month to ship my replacement strawberries.
Also, should you choose to deal with Henry Fields, be warned. They will literally bomb the crap out of your email. I get one of their "special offers" almost every day. It's really quite unnecessary, especially considering that I requested to not be contacted. Although their plants appear to be healthy and in good shape, I doubt that I would do business with them again.
In theory, we should have a lot of new strawberry developments over the next several months. I've spent more time working on the PVC "tube" gardens, and they will be ready for planting (just as soon as the weather gets a little warmer). We'll be doing the PVC gardens entirely outdoors this year, as our growing room has gotten quite crowded in recent months.
The Bambino Eggplant is still on reprieve. We're eventually going to replace it with strawberries, but it gets to live for the present. Here's this week's photo of the monster:
| #12 | Bambino Baby Eggplant | The Bambino is, as always, a monster. It is the singular reason for our designing a "single-site" aeroponic unit. It's monopolizing our TurboGarden. We'd like to replant it, but after looking at the root-ball (it's more like a root-basketball), we're quite certain that replanting is not a possibility. We'd destroy is just trying to get it free from the TurboGarden. It's safe for the moment, until we decide to reclaim the TurboGarden for strawberries. |
| #18 | Black Beauty Eggplant
| Roots are protruding far beyond the pot (it's sitting in the MegaGarden). As soon as we figure out where to put it, we've got a single-site aero on standby. |
| #20-#25 | Alexandria Alpine Strawberries | Sadly, I decided to get rid of this batch of seedlings. I just didn't have a place for them, and I've got a ton of other strawberries that need homes. |
Unnumbered Seedlings
| Black Beauty Eggplant
| We've planted 12 seeds for plants that will be used in an upcoming experiment. Planting date: 02/08/2008. They are at different stages of growth. Some have sprouted, others not. We'll be choosing the two that are the most "equal" for our experiment. |