Seedlings and Sproutings....

Seedlings and Sproutings

Flowers in Koh Tao

Here are some beautiful flowers from just outside our apartment, though I have no idea what they are, look like something similar to a hibiscus, so if you know, please feel free to let me know!

Tomato seedlings at 5 weeks

These are the tomato seedlings from the previous post, they have been growing exceptionally quickly, so much so that I had to re pot them.

Aubergine/Eggplant Seedlings at 4 weeks

The Aubergine/Eggplants depending on your preference, took ages to actually come through, these were some of the bought seeds, and seemed to perform worse than most that we took directly from the veg. The only exceptions are the sunflowers, which seem to do well everywhere!

Ginger starting to Sprout

   

  

The Ginger has been an ongoing conundrum, always tricking me into thinking it is dying then springing back into life, I have no idea what is the correct way to treat ginger, but suspect it is growing due to the tropical climate, and despite my interactions with it, rather than because of it!

Sunflowers at 5 weeks

The Sunflowers at around 5 weeks, not much else to say, except these seem to have done really well, just need lots of water.

Just Keep Growing.....

It Just Keeps on Growing

So here is the next installment of how the plants are doing. Here is a lovely picture of some turtle topiary with Sairee Bay in the background. It is lovely that this island is surrounded by greenery.

Turtle Topiary at Sairee, Koh Tao

                                                                           

Capsicum Seedlings at 2 weeks

So the Capsicum Bell Pepper seeds started sprouting at a phenomenal rate as you can see to the right. This picture was taken 10 days after the previous one on the blog, so shows just how far they have come. 

Tomato seedlings at 2 weeks

Here you can see the tomato seedlings, they were planted at the same time as the capsicums. I was amazed that they actually sprouted as they came direct from tomatoes rather than from seeds. Just hope this means that they will eventually flower and fruit....

Lemon/Lime Seedlings at around 8 Weeks

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The mystery still revolves around whether these are lemon or lime seedlings, but I do not mind as long as they just keep growing....

Ginger Root Sprouting

And lastly an update on the ginger, as you can see the original piece with life has withered away, whilst the piece that showed no life has slowly decided to grow again.

Gardening Lowdown

The Beginning

So you would think that gardening on a tropical Island would be easy, and yes the plant life here is abundant  however gardening is not so easy. 

It is difficult to come by pots and fertilizer, unless you order it from the mainland, and the seed selection is frighteningly limited. As such most of what I have attempted to grow has come from seeds directly from the fruit or vegetable. 

I have so far managed to have a few deaths, but some successes at the moment, but nothing is flowering as yet, so we'll have to see. I'm going to start by adding some of the start out pictures and try to tantalize you over the next few weeks to show you how they are doing.

I'll try and Include some of the beautiful native flowers and plants that are all around too.

Hibiscus at Mountain Bar, Mango Viewpoint, Koh Tao

Ginger Sprouting

So this piece of ginger did eventually shrivel up and die, however the brown bit at the bottom of the photo has since sprung to life. I am not sure exactly why some take root and others do not. I first thought they were not sprouting because they were stored in my fridge before planting, but this does not seem to be the case. I also followed advice on soaking the pieces in water over night before planting, but this just seemed to make them wither away, largely because the insides became nice and tasty to the insects. So far the ginger plant has been extremely hit and miss, so just glad one is growing for now.

Citrus Saplings

This is actually two citrus saplings. I planted lime and lemon together so it is a mystery as to what they will actually become.
I did mange to get a lemon sapling to around 10cm before in the UK, but left it when I moved to Australia, so it is likely dead. I hope these plants do better in this climate. Lemon and lime trees were everywhere in Oz, and I have seen a couple here on Koh Tao, so there is hope. They are currently planted in the bottom of a big water bottle, and I have used the top to create a greenhouse, to keep the moisture in.

Capsicum Seeds Sprouting

These are capsicum seeds from a yellow bell pepper. I was amazed at how quickly they took, this was 3 days after removing the seeds from the vegetable. I dried them over night and then added to soil the following morning. Most of the seeds are below the soil level. Again my pot is the bottom of a water bottle and I used the top to create a mini greenhouse. I planted so many at once because I didn't expect many to sprout, so will now have the fun task of trying to separate them...