Cosy up to the Grow Lights!

Happy New Years! It was a crisp -37C day when we woke up this morning. I don't bother feeling guilty about not walking the dog at these temperatures. Someday we'll get out on the lake for a good walk, but just not yet.

What a day this is to be contemplating cacti! My mother tucked a package of these giant saguaro seeds (Carnegiea gigantea) into one of my Christmas gifts. I'm foregoing the winter escape to Arizona this year, but perhaps I can grow a little bit of Arizona up here in the land of northern lights (see forecast) and sled dogs. The saguaro flower is the state flower of Arizona and the enormous succulent is an iconic feature of its deserts. The instructions say to plant the seeds in 1/8 inch deep very moist sandy soil and they will germinate in 3 to 10 days. We'll see how they do under the grow lights of my basement!

The Kaffir lime plant is 3 months old and looking good. I hope to get some tasty leaves for cooking out of this plant:

This "Red Robin" cherry tomato produced about 8 fruit before I hacked it down because of damaged leaves and unshapely form. In the past 11 days, it produced this new growth, including a cluster of flower buds. The biggest problem I have with growing cherry tomatoes under lights is that the plants get too tall. Secondly, they require a fairly big pot, which reduces the room for the plant under the lights. I have my lights set as high as can be accommodated by my shelf. Ideally, I'd like to find an extremely low plant with a nearly creeping habit.