Today I did some major pruning of my #bioengineered tomatoes to get rid of dead leaves and address a growing spider mite problem... and then I spotted this bright orange cluster at the top of one branch. Wow! That's a lot of mites!
The plants have been hosed off but these were pretty cool.

With the announcement from our government that they have found a cause of #autism (they didn't), I made a meme to remind ourselves of the lack of evidence, and to reinforce the dignity of neurodivergent people. It's been going viral in meme groups! Spread the love. #tylenol #startrek

My purple #bioengineered tomatoes are doing really well, even this one in a hanging, upside-down tomato planter. While the grow bag-bound plants are throwing up lots of greens and flowers and young fruits, this one is ahead of the game on ripening. First purple tomatoes next week! #ScienceGarden

First caterpillars spotted on my #bioengineered purple tomatoes. This is a yellow-striped armyworm, but I also found two hornworms. Time to break out the Bt! Last year they caught me by surprise and trimmed back some pepper plants and tomato branches, but this time I've been scouting. #ScienceGarden

An auspicious occasion!

My #bioluminescent petunia seedlings sure are producing some interesting and repeatable phenotypes. These two are sibling seedlings of the original plant that I self-pollinated. They have the same leaf and flower rim patterns.
Also: Beautiful!!

I peeked at my #bioluminescent petunias in the dark tonight and I did a double-take! Is that a flower? Yes, one of the seedlings that showed luminescence on the edges of the leaves ALSO has flowers that glow on the rim. She's a beaut!

My #bioluminescent petunia seedlings are coming along nicely! They came from selfed seeds, and are showing variations in brightness and expression patterns. Some leaf patterns, glowing stems, and lots of glowing roots!
The roots surprised the community of growers. #fireflypetunia

I may have sprouted too many purple tomato seedlings...
Nah. Grow my pretties! #purpletomato

For real, the @montereyaqpr.bsky.social @montereybayaquarium.org jellyfish cam is playing jazz right now, probably off someone's free Spotify... because there are commercials. 🙃
Forgive the sounds of my toddler playing with dry corn in cups.

The UC system bans diversity statements in recruiting. The political reasons are pretty obvious. Meanwhile the Department of Education is being illegally dismantled.
"To be clear, requiring stand-alone diversity statements in recruitment is no longer permitted."

Second generation Firefly Petunia and Purple Tomato seedlings doing well! Too bad the tomatoes don't glow in the dark too...
#bioengineering #biotech #gmo #garden

Tray #2 of my #fireflypetunia seedlings

Tonight, I transplant my glowing petunia seedlings! Self-pollinated from the parent #fireflypetunia, you can see some seedlings glowing brightly, some not at all, and some with interesting patterns. Most pots had more than one seedling grow so I'll need to pick them apart.