Greetings!
In my previous articles on my little garden, I mentioned how several times I made efforts to add pepper to the space, but none of the planted seeds germinated. I believed—or let me say, thought—that it was the land at fault; maybe it wasn't good enough to support seed growth other than transplanting a seedling. So bad that I sought to get a seedling in the market, but I couldn't find one.
A few weeks ago, I decided to buy some seeds again. This time, I decided to plant them in a pot(small bucket), with the plan to transplant them to the ground once they had grown. At first, I thought I had the whole idea down.
So, I got a small bucket, filled it with sand, added the pepper seeds, and watered it. I made sure the water would be enough to sustain the seeds for two or three days. I kept the bucket in a place where it wouldn't collect water if it rained, to prevent it from becoming flooded and possibly washing off the seeds, especially since the pot does not have holes or any drainage to let out excess water.
After about four days, I went to check on the pot, hoping for some progress. Unfortunately, I found the sand in the pot still very wet, just like it was on the first day I added the water, which meant that even simple evaporation hadn't occurred. The way it was, I knew the seeds could rot if left in that perpetually wet pot, so I decided to remove the seeds and plant them in the ground. This time, I placed them in a corner where the sun wouldn't hit them directly, ensuring that the spot was shaded.
Eight days after the replanting, I went to check, and I was a bit heartbroken because there was still no sign of germination. I concluded that the soil was just too bad to grow pepper from seeds, the same reason it didn't work the first time, even though I thought it was because I let the sun hit the spot too directly the first time.
Two days later, I went to check again, and miraculously, there was germination. Finally!
Fortunately, there was constant rain, so I wasn't worried or seeing the need to water them. I was just carefully examining the space, hoping they would survive and grow bigger.
Yesterday, when I checked again, they had grown bigger, and it's an exciting thing.
I'm finally having pepper in my garden! Although everything is not set yet until the transplanting is done, which is the next big move because some of them might not survive when the time comes. But I'm going to allow them to grow bigger first, and I'm also considering adding manure to the spot to help them grow. However, I'm still contemplating this because I'm concerned that the manure might harm them at this tender stage. I just hope I'm on the right track.
Thanks for reading.
Photos are mine
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