"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Lawrence Logic wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Lawrence Logic wrote:

Six of the Bhuts have sprouted now. What do you mean by "true
leaves"? Does that exclude the pair of leaves that open when these
babies first sprout?

Yes, those are called cotyledons, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotyledons


Thanks David. That takes me back to my agriculture class in high
school. I actually had the word "dicotyledon" going through my head
when I saw the sprouts, but I didn't really know why. Thanks for the
link.
Nine of my twelve babies have popped their heads up, but one had an
unfortunate skull-cap. The seed husk was sitting proudly on top. When I
saw the same on the only Orange Habanero to reveal itself, I
removed it and was greeted by a couple of first leaves. The Bhut
didn't fare so well and just has small first leaves. I'm hoping that
it'll catch up.
I was expecting these seeds to take a while to germinate but now I'm
thinking only negative thoughts about those that haven't presented
themselves yet. It's still only 17 days since they were planted. Should
I remain optimistic about the stragglers? Can my negative
waves have an adverse affect on them?

I cannot recall the usual time for chillis but 17 days doesn't seem over
long. A degree of variation in emergence time is normal. The slow ones
may be genetically inferior or slowed down by the environment (in a dry
corner or planted too deep for example). If you are short of starters
plant out the runts anyway as they may recover and go on the give good
yields. You can always select later by saving the seeds of the healthiest
plants. If you have plenty cull them.

You should avoid discouraging your plants with negative thoughts. For
those gardeners with a predisposition to anxiety and negativity this force
can be counteracted in a number of ways.

A pyramidal hat can have a shielding effect. I have also heard that the
same can be achieved by only wearing underpants made of natural fibres or
better still none at all.

You could try combining the two effects if you can find a seamstress who
will stitch you some pyramidal hemp undies. I am not certain if the
direction of the apex is important, you and she may have to experiment
with orientation. Or forget the stitching and just fructify the fields
together at the next full moon.


I'm not sure about pyramidal hemp undies, David, but I went to work on
Monday wearing a tin-foil hat and a pair of hand-knitted underpants made
from organic potato peels. Yesterday I wore much the same but dispensed
with the underpants. Alas that's all I actually wore, which is why I'm not
at work today and able to spend more time attending to the chillis.

My research into germination times has returned differing results, including
one site that suggests that Bhuts and Habaneros take at least three weeks.
I'm ahead of the game, based on that, and there's a full moon on Saturday.

I took the lid off the mini green house and gave my babies about an hour of
mid-morning sun today. One can only assume that they appreciated it because
they're still alive to tell the tale. They usually have abundant light and
warmth, but nothing direct or very bright/hot.

--
Lawrence
"Noooo! That's ignorant! I'm not dead. I just have a skin condition." -
Michael Jackson - 7 October 2009