I started more seeds than I needed for the cellar garden experiment. I did that so I’d be sure to get enough strong, healthy plants. I planned to throw the extras in the compost bin, but didn’t do so right away. They were still sitting there on the floor of the cellar near the artificial greenhouse yesterday and they were still green and growing.
Every time I saw them I kept thinking that as long as they were alive, the plants in the greenhouse weren’t really proving anything since these plants weren’t getting anywhere near as much light. However, they also weren’t getting watered and their roots were bunching up in the tiny sprouting pots. I decided to give one of each type a better chance at survival. I filled a pot with potting soil, mixed in some fertilizer, planted one pea plant and one tomato plant, and gave them some water. This pot is sitting outside the greenhouse and does not have any direct light. The only light it gets is whatever manages to get around or through the foil covered tarps. This photograph was taken without a flash, so you can see that there is enough light to see, but not enough to take a decent photo. It’s really hard to convey how much or little light there is in a photo. It is bright enough that I can see just fine, but dark enough that I don’t expect these plants to survive very long and I really don’t expect them to produce any fruit if they do survive.