It has been a hard couple years for professional and family health reasons, though I’m not going to detail it all here. The good news is that (knock on wood) things may be settling down a bit.
I’ve started writing again. That is the good news. The bad news is that with 7 different novels in flight I’m all over the place…working on one for one week, and then jumping to another for a week then off to the third and fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh all in random order and for random durations.
One of my major failings of late is not being able to focus. Needless to say I’ve not been able to stay focused for the last several years for more than a week or two at a time on any one writing project.
As an aside, my first novel — Youth in Asia — continues to sell surprisingly well given that it has been four and a half years since I published it. The novel has sold about 4,200 copies, and I’ve donated well over $2,000 from sales. Frankly, it is embarrassing to admit how long ago I published it.
On a completely unrelated topic, my attempt at growing Giant Sequoias continues…
The Giant Sequoias
Of the thirteen seeds that came in the little kit I bought on Amazon for $7, we have three sprouts. I’m not sure if any more have started but are not yet visible, so I will prep six pots. In addition to what you see above, I added a healthy helping of sand.
As you can see in the photo below, the small tube in front of my computer is where the seeds started. I laid out a sheet of aluminum foil to empty the contents of the tube into so I don’t make a mess or lose any of the seeds.
We only found three seeds that had germinated, but we did find the other 10 seeds. As you can see below, the sprouts are small and very fragile. We are trying to keep as much of the original dirt around their root as we can.
We got the three sprouts into the pots. The other ten seeds we put on the top of the fourth pot and sprinkled the dirt that they came with over them. I marked each seed with a small white rock. Odds are low that any will grow at this point, but thought we’d give them one more shot.
I started this project on a lark, but now that they are growing I’ve been giving more thought to where to plant them on our property when the time comes. Though they reportedly can grow in central Texas, when full grown (long after I’m dead and gone), they can consume more than 500 gallons of water per day. Though we have a ‘wet weather’ creek behind our home, and I’m assuming the water table is not too far below it, and though I can plant at least one in reach of where our sprinkler covers, I can’t imagine pumping 500 gallons of water at it a day. I’ll let my descendants figure that out if it lasts that long…
If all goes well, I figure I’ll put them in big pots next summer, probably of the 5-gallon variety. I’ll put those on the deck. Then after the trees are at least six feet tall, move them to the yard.
Now that is done…on to Thanksgiving and more writing and editing. Hopefully I can focus on one thing at a time.
Howdy,
sequoias you say. Magnificent giants with multi-millenial lifespans …
There’s a reason every one of these trees produces several tons of seeds a year, because the vast majority of them won’t germinate, and the vast majority of those which do will die out soon after. The seedlings are –incredibly– fragile.
Local conditions etc. may change your experience, but fwiw, I’ve been trying for a while now (~3 years) to get one of these things to stick around long enough for its size to become a problem in the garden. First couple batches I tried died in a couple months, next batch I had a couple that survived a year (and one was killed by the cat, when looking for catnip), current batch is going strong-ish at soon to be a year– the tallest seedling is in this batch.
Part of the problem may be that I don’t get too much sun in this part of the world, but as with many things balance is the thing to seek, and too much sun can burn the seedlings also.
Water is critical. I think most (except the one the cat got, and another one to be mentioned) seedlings I had were killed by me overwatering them. This is a very easy trap to fall into because the seedlings tend to be thirsty and a pot, left to its own devices, tends to dry out quickly.
So the number one, most impactful difference about the current batch seems to be the use of a covered pot. The transparent plastic dome lets light in, it also has a few holes at the top for air, but by and large keeps moisture in. This has greatly helped regulate the water level.
The roots are fragile. Transplanting them is necessary of course at some point, but when I tried it I ended up killing the plant. Carrying as much of the dirt around the seedling’s roots, as you are doing, is the way to go as opposed to washing the old dirt off the roots.
And of course, planting times are important. It seems to help if the seedlings pop up ~March in the Northern hemisphere, to catch the summer sun in their early months and get a bit of a growth kick, but that might just be the general lack of sun here. Barred access to natural light, I might experiment with artificial. The darkness, after all, has descended upon the year and my current, not yet one year old seedlings aren’t at the stage where they look safe.
Cheers!
Thanks for the detailed note! And, yes, all makes sense. I think the odds of any of my first batch lasting more than a year is low, but as in all things in life, it is a learning experience. I think we are going to do OK as to sunlight. The watering is going to be trickier. Not only keeping the moisture level right while they are in the house, but once they get outside and into the ground. This last year, for instance, we’ve gotten very little rain since April (less than an inch I’m guessing) and had 90 days (I think it was) of over 100 degrees. Non-native planets have a hard time with that much heat, sunshine and dryness (not to mention our budget for the ACs 🙁 ). So we’ll see how this batch does…and the next batch, too, I suspect. Good luck with your Sequoias! In the meantime, back to writing… 🙂 🙂