Fail Fast - a motto

Whether growing a few herbs in a pot, or an entire flower farm, failure is part of growing plants.

Over-watering. Under-watering. An unexpected frost or snow. 90 degrees in April. A windstorm. Transplanting too early, or too late. Aphids, fungus gnats, grasshoppers, slugs. There are countless ways for plants to fail. That doesn’t mean you have black thumbs.

cilantro thrives

in heat

But it must be picked almost daily - just pinch off the longer branches with the most leaves. Stick your cuttings in a bud vase to keep fresh, and share it with your neighbors. When cilantro “bolts” the flowers are lovely, and allow them to dry to harvest your own cilantro seed to replant!

The other day I was chatting (at a good 12’ distance) with a new gardener who had been told she was only allowed to garden in pots and containers until she could prove that this hobby was something she was good at. Aghh! I explained my opinion that its actually much harder to grow in containers because of how quickly they heat up and dry out - and that she will need to really stay on top of maintaining moisture and keeping her plants cool while also getting them 6-8 hours of sunshine per day.

Today’s high was in the mid-nineties. I watered twice today. I lost some tiny transplants to the scorching heat. Its an example of failing fast. While those little seedlings didn’t make it, plenty other plants thrived. And so, its on to plan B, or in this case plan W.