For Truly Curious Green Thumbs…

Our plants do have roots...

 

And this is what it looks like when you dig up a seed to ask it why it hasn’t germinated yet! :o)

On the subject of thinning, (a truly painful topic for the short sighted gardener)…

We were just recently in a Bible study discussing the verses in Colossians chapter 2, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." We talked about the truly agrarian nature of the simile.... What does this very literally look like in the growth of a seedling?

If a seedling is poorly nourished, the soil being depleted, the plant will develop an extremely minimal root system and in order to conserve energy it will rarely if ever put out it’s true leaves, thereby remaining an immature seedling that will live for years(literally years; firsthand experience in that area) at a relatively unchanged level.

If a seedling is not given sufficient light exposure it begins etiolating; growing very few leaves but continuing to grow in a thin line upwards until it eventually drops to the side and continues to grow sideways across the floor.  This has happened to us several years, including the year we planted our tomato seedlings with their stems buried sideways and then twisted them upwards out of the soil at the top.

Often when choosing between two seedlings during the thinning process, we choose the seedling with the sturdiest stem and broadest leaf spread because this suggests an excellent root system and a less susceptible plant life. A seedling that grows in a thin tall burst will be more likely to die in the hardening process but a seedling that in time puts on vibrant green foliage over its thick sturdy stem will be able to handle drought and wind by only growing stronger!

That may be a lot of information for you non-green thumbs, :o) but how comparable this is to our own rooting and building system! Without the nourishment of the Scriptures and the light of Christ we too grow weak and produce poor fruit.

So tell me,which is stronger?