Babies!

My tomato seedlings are coming up nicely!  After a full week, they have nearly all "hatched," as have the Brussels sprouts, impatiens, Mexican sunflowers, and "Purple Mystery" flowers.  So far only one marigold (although the seed packet was market 2008, so I didn't expect much) and two black-eyed Susans have appeared.  

I am finally seeing signs of life in the hibiscus, eggplant, and pepper pods as well, so hopefully those sprouts will be up in a day or two.

Since most of my sprouts are up, I've gone ahead and propped open the lids on my greenhouse boxes to allow more air to flow through and to prevent too much moisture on the leaves.  I simply set the lids kind of ajar, so that the corners are open for airflow, although the sunflowers and Brussels sprouts are getting so tall that I may have to lift the lids up higher somehow.

The first two leaves that appear on the seedlings aren't really leaves at all, but are called "cotyledons."  These provide food for the plant until the "true leaves" are able to begin photosynthesizing.  Too sciency for you?  All you really need to understand is this:  When your seedlings grow their third and fourth leaves, and those leaves are shaped differently than the first two, it's time to move the little guy into a sunnier location.  If you haven't already, you should also remove the plastic covering entirely at this point.