Tuesday, May 25, 2010

teosinte lessons



well...i don't know...i'm fairly sure i'll find out...but for the nonce i am in the dark...we have a total (for now) of thirty-six teosinte plants in varying states of health...novice that i am...dispite lots of helpful, and appreciated, advice it would be almost unnatural not to lose a few along the way...we have seventeen Zea diploperennis, nine Zea perennis, nine northern tepehuan, and one lonely Zea mexicana that isn't a happy camper...so...too much water? not enough? different needs for different strains? i think we can rule out not enough water since they've been watered every day...too much for some is a definite possibility, and the different needs is probably the reality of the situation...so i have declared a watering moratorium on the plants i've brought upstairs to harden off ( ninteen in all...three Zea perennis and sixteen Zea diploperennis, which is the largest and, so far, best adjusted population) to see if they respond positively or negatively and i will act from there...thirteen additional plants were transplanted to peat pots this evening and left on the heat mat for another day to adjust...there are four more ( all northern tepehuan) still in peat pellets...where they will stay until i buy more peat pots...no movement on the sixty Zea mexicana seeds i put in a baggie to cook...but it took a week last time and then only one germinated, so we will need to be patient...something i'm practicing alot lately...i'm getting better at it...but i think i'll read some thomas de quincey before bed tonight to get some better grounding in it.

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