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Slung Blade posted:My office is on a big green kick lately and wants to start collecting compost from the kitchens. Maybe military surplus metal boxes? Or if the office wants to splurge: http://naturemill.com/
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Dec 10, 2009 02:47
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Has anybody had any experience setting up some grow lights for overwintering? My peppers basically got ravaged during thanksgiving due to being left inside and out of direct sunlight for 4 days (friend was taking care of the pets, had her bring the plants inside to avoid a <50F cold snap and she never took them back out) and are barely hanging on. I've got to go back up home to Atlanta for a week and a half soon and would like to avoid killing these little guys off if possible, they've hung on too long. I have a surprisingly large amount of equipment necessary just laying around(2 2-foot fluorescent fixtures and a spare waterbed temp controller/heating pad), so I really just need to know things like lightsource distance, bulb temperature/wattage requirements, heat recommendations, etc. I do have a roommate staying here who can be asked to water them, he just won't be here the whole time and I can't depend on the temp not dropping down to the 40s for a night or two and murdering my chiles. Also: Slung Blade posted:Composter ideas? A nice diaper pail could be your solution. If it can hold back the stench of aging baby poo, it should do the trick for compost. Some of them even have holders for baking soda/charcoal stink-reducers.
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Dec 15, 2009 03:38
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Kilersquirrel posted:I have a surprisingly large amount of equipment necessary just laying around(2 2-foot fluorescent fixtures and a spare waterbed temp controller/heating pad), so I really just need to know things like lightsource distance, bulb temperature/wattage requirements, heat recommendations, etc. Distance for grow lights is usually recommended at about 4" above the top foliage. My advice would be to hang it from chains so you can adjust the height if there's a growth spurt. I would also recommend buying actual grow bulbs. They make a few for 2 foot fixtures. If you strike out at the hardware store, try a pet shop specializing in fish. Grow bulbs are also used for real plants in aquariums. A little over room temperature should be fine for your peppers. I would also recommend a timer for the lights. You're in luck for the time of year, most stores carry lots timers right now for Christmas lights. Get one outdoor-rated, preferably with a 3 prong plug since most fluorescent fixtures have one.
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Dec 15, 2009 05:49
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kid sinister posted:Advice Thanks! I was planning on buying real grow lights, Sunshine Hydroponics is just around the corner from me(I'm right next to a large college, not really a coincedence there) and they've got a decent selection of bulbs for about 10ish apiece, I'll be setting it up tonight or tomorrow I think. I hope this works, those poor peppers have been abused so badly by now it's almost a matter of conscience to try and keep them going. E: \/\/\/\/ It's the the intensity of the various wavelengths emitted by the bulb. Lightbulbs emit different wavelengths at different levels in what looks like a bell curve when you graph wavelength vs intensity. You want to have the intensity curve of the wavelengths emitted match the preferred intensity curve of wavelengths the plant best utilizes. e2: Unfortunately for the wannabe winter gardener, the only thing anybody online has info on growing indoors is weed, which does not help me here. Kilersquirrel fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Dec 15, 2009 |
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Dec 15, 2009 16:14
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kid sinister posted:Distance for grow lights is usually recommended at about 4" above the top foliage. My advice would be to hang it from chains so you can adjust the height if there's a growth spurt. I would also recommend buying actual grow bulbs. They make a few for 2 foot fixtures. If you strike out at the hardware store, try a pet shop specializing in fish. Grow bulbs are also used for real plants in aquariums. A little over room temperature should be fine for your peppers. What is gained by using official grow lights as opposed to mixing a regular cool fluorescent light with a regular warm fluorescent light? It seems that that the grow lights are a lot more expensive. I will be starting them next to a large window, which will provide much of the light, but will probably be insufficient, especially when you consider how cloudy, rainy, and foggy our spring usually is. Last year I got a late start because it was my first year in my new house and put the garden in a lawn overgrown with brush and overrun with silver maple roots and it took more than a month to prepare it. This year I want to try more unique tomatoes instead of what the garden center decided to have, and grow my own annual flower bedding plants for the front yard. In addition I want to try growing onion plants instead of sets and they need a very early start. Last year mine behaved weirdly. They initially grew, but then went dormant (in spite of the summer being cool, cloudy and wet) and then in September they came out of dormancy and started growing again and when it was all said and done, they were barely bigger than they started.
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Dec 15, 2009 17:01
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Kilersquirrel posted:A nice diaper pail could be your solution. If it can hold back the stench of aging baby poo, it should do the trick for compost. Some of them even have holders for baking soda/charcoal stink-reducers. That's a great idea! Thank you!
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Dec 15, 2009 17:38
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Zeta Taskforce posted:What is gained by using official grow lights as opposed to mixing a regular cool fluorescent light with a regular warm fluorescent light? It seems that that the grow lights are a lot more expensive. Efficiency mostly. You'll be getting the maximum growing potential out of each fixture. They also produce a wider spectrum of light. Plants need different parts of the spectrum at different growing stages, making that wider spectrum bulb more useful for future growing needs. One bulb can be used for starting seedlings, maintaining foliage, starting flowers/fruits, etc. And you're right, they are more expensive.
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Dec 15, 2009 18:26
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kid sinister posted:Efficiency mostly. You'll be getting the maximum growing potential out of each fixture. They also produce a wider spectrum of light. Plants need different parts of the spectrum at different growing stages, making that wider spectrum bulb more useful for future growing needs. One bulb can be used for starting seedlings, maintaining foliage, starting flowers/fruits, etc. Could I get something like this ,hang it from ceiling with chains, get a cheap table, and pop grow lights into it?
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Dec 15, 2009 19:14
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Could I get something like this ,hang it from ceiling with chains, get a cheap table, and pop grow lights into it? That fixture takes T8 bulbs. Most 4 foot grow bulbs that I've seen are T12s. Pay attention when buying the fixture, as the bulbs won't fit in the other's sockets, the pins are spaced differently. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Dec 15, 2009 |
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Dec 15, 2009 19:21
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kid sinister posted:That fixture takes T8 bulbs. Most 4 foot grow bulbs that I've seen are T12s. Pay attention when buying the fixture, as the bulbs won't fit in the other's sockets, the pins are spaced differently. So these ,would probably be OK? I didn't realize that there was a distinction between T8 and T12, I just assumed a flourescent light was a flourescent light. I’m just looking for a system that is cheap, and it doesn’t need to be pretty. Zeta Taskforce fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Dec 15, 2009 |
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Dec 15, 2009 19:32
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Zeta Taskforce posted:So these ,would probably be OK? I didn't realize that there was a distinction between T8 and T12, I just assumed a flourescent light was a flourescent light. I’m just looking for a system that is cheap, and it doesn’t need to be pretty. Oh there are even more sizes than just T8 and T12... First off, a "T" is the diameter of the bulb in 1/8 inches, so a T8 is 1 inch in diameter. T8s and T12s are the most common sizes, followed by T5s. The T size also has nothing to do with the bulb's length. And that's just the straight bulbs, it doesn't even include U-shaped or circular ones. Those bulbs would be okay for a 4 foot T8 fixture. However, I would just go to Home Depot and look for a free hanging 4 foot T12 fixture. I know they sell them, but I can't find them on their website.
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Dec 16, 2009 18:31
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kid sinister posted:Oh there are even more sizes than just T8 and T12... First off, a "T" is the diameter of the bulb in 1/8 inches, so a T8 is 1 inch in diameter. T8s and T12s are the most common sizes, followed by T5s. The T size also has nothing to do with the bulb's length. And that's just the straight bulbs, it doesn't even include U-shaped or circular ones. I was researching what you said, and thought this was interesting. http://www.ehow.com/about_5426758_fluorescent-vs-bulbs.html Sounds like the narrower bulbs are more efficient and brighter, and better utilize electric ballasts, not an older magnetic ballast technology. Compared to the T12, the T8 lasts longer before it fades, puts out more light, and uses less energy. I stumbled upon some of the  growing forums, and say what you want about them, they are way ahead of us trying to start a few pepper plants, and it seems like most of them use T5, but that is a way more expensive set up.
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Dec 16, 2009 22:48
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I stumbled upon some of the growers, and the potheads are certainly much more obsessive with gettting things down to a science. I came across the first Compost Tea setup I've ever seen IRL, at a grower's house, and he turned me on to the concept and loaned me some really interesting books.
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Dec 21, 2009 17:08
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Not sure if this is the right thread for my question (or if there even is one), but I've run out of possible google search terms to try so here goes. I have a dieffenbachia I picked up at a local nursery several months ago, and it seems to be thriving. The one problem I'm having is that it keeps producing flowers that never open and instead like to molder from the inside out, eventually looking and smelling like rotten bananas. Is this some sort of fungal infection? Have any of you run into similar problems? The rest of the plant seems perfectly fine, the leaves are very healthy looking, it's just the flowers that have this problem.
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Dec 23, 2009 04:23
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Certain species need certain insects to open their flowerbuds for them. I don't know if dieffenbachia is one of them, but it's a possibility.
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Dec 23, 2009 09:55
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So is it eight weeks before the last frost yet? 
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Jan 4, 2010 00:14
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Where do you guys order your seeds from? Or do you re-grow your own every year? I got half an acre I want to plant...
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Jan 25, 2010 20:45
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Slung Blade posted:Or do you re-grow your own every year? Growing from seeds from last year isn't always a good idea if you want consistent crops. Some varieties available now are F1 hybrids: that means flowers from one specific cultivar are intentionally pollinated by a second specific cultivar to produce those hybrid seeds. If you grow a second generation from those seeds and in turn try to grow a third generation from the second generation's seeds, then all bets are off for what the third generation could end up like since the genes expressed haven't had time to stabilize.
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Jan 25, 2010 21:33
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MrGreenShirt posted:Dieffenbachia stuff. Hey guys, I know its been a while but I finally found out what was going on. Turns out Dieffenbachia hate when it gets cold out and they start shedding unnecessary parts, starting with flowers. Guess my guy just doesn't know when it's a good time to flower 
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Jan 25, 2010 21:38
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Slung Blade posted:Where do you guys order your seeds from? Or do you re-grow your own every year? Half an acre? What is your goal with all of that? I’d send ChaoticSeven a message to see how he does it. It seems like he has a farm going on. I’ve had good luck with Pinetree seeds, https://www.superseeds.com. I would request a catalogue. I sent my order online, which is fine, but it seemed like the website is not the most user friendly and it was just easier to pick stuff out of the catalogue and then key it into the website by product number. Plus I love to browse through seed catalogues and see the pretty pictures and the vivid descriptions when it is so cold and dark out. It just seems like the world is full of so many possibilities. What I like is it is a small, family owned place that specializes in varieties for the home gardener. Some other seed companies tend to be a one shop for home gardeners, market gardeners and farmers, who might have very different goals as far as taste, harvest window, and ability to stand up to shipping across the country. They sell a lot of heirlooms along with newer varieties, and tend to sell smaller packets that cost less so it’s easier to try a bunch of stuff. I might be crazy, but I only have room for 12 tomato plants, 15 tops and I ordered 6 different varieties. (I’m starting plants; will probably start extra and give some away to friends) Saving seeds is another adventure. Look for open pollinated varieties. There are a number of good books that tell you what you have to do special to grow the plant, harvest the seeds, and store them. That’s what people used to do, but now it’s less a way to save money and more a labor of love.
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Jan 25, 2010 21:50
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Half an acre? What is your goal with all of that? To grow as many vegetables and chickens as I can look after to feed myself / friends. It's pretty bald prairie:  That lump of dirt is backfill once they finish building my house. I live in dry Alberta, so I don't expect to get a whole lot of veggies out of it. I'll water when I can, but I don't want to waste well water if I can avoid it, so I will definitely have giant plastic bins catching all the rainwater off the house and eventually the shop. The worst part is, the land lengthwise on an east/west orientation, that picture is looking east. So the garden area will get plenty of sun in the morning, but later in the evening the house (2 story) will block a fair bit of it. Luckily I'm far enough north that I get some pretty insanely long days in the summer, so maybe it will balance out, I dunno. In terms of row orientation, is east/west the way to go? Seems logical to me, all the plants of the same height will receive roughly the same amount of light. Thanks for the link, those varieties look pretty appealing to me 
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Jan 25, 2010 22:38
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Its my first time growing Squash and i've had mixed success so far, i've had lots of baby squash but only two have grown to be massive. The rest have rotted off the plant and died. I'm not quite sure what the problem is because I imagine pollination isn't a problem and the positioning of the plant means it gets enough sunlight. Any ideas would be much appreciated
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Jan 26, 2010 06:37
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If you're looking to buy a lot of seeds, you can get them in bulk at Peaceful Valley. They sell the most common varieties in 1/4 to 1/2 lb. increments there, as well as cover crops for poultry, seed potatoes and onion sets. Looking locally for a farming co-op is always a good idea too, if you haven't done so already; you can save a lot on shipping that way, though the selection is usually smaller than online. Another place I love for seed is Victory Seed, they don't have large quantities but all their varieties are heirloom open-pollinated, and their prices are very fair. They probably have the best collection of heirloom tomatoes I've seen so far, and they give histories of the origins of each seed they sell when they can as well.
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Jan 26, 2010 13:39
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Another good website for seeds is http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/ They deal exclusively in seeds, not just veggies too.
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Jan 26, 2010 15:12
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Slung Blade posted:I live in dry Alberta I'd recommend Vesey's, in Canada.
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Jan 26, 2010 15:24
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Does anyone have any good ideas on how to heat/regulate the temperature over a very small area? I want to start my seeds in a side room that I keep my litter box and other junk in, plan on hanging shop lights from the ceiling and starting everything on a table. The whole setup will be four feet by four feet (1.3 meters by 1.3 meters) I tend to keep the door ajar and it’s not close to any heating, so it can get cold in there. If it’s 10 degrees out (-12C) and windy, it might be 45 degrees (8C) in there. The room isn’t huge, but it seems wasteful to get a space heater for the entire room. Does it make sense to hang sheets of plastic or foil from the lights to somewhat enclose it and do they make anything that would gently heat such a tiny area?
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Jan 26, 2010 15:35
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Thanks for the links guys, though I bought a shitload of stuff from superseeds yesterday. Veseys looks great, I wish I had known about them earlier. I'll probably try their stuff next year if these ones don't work out. Has anyone here used one of these earthway seeders? http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/store/tools/gardeningaids/earthway  I want to get something like that to do my garden with. I think I'll have everything I need to prep the rows. Buying a C-tine cultivator for the tractor tonight hopefully, I've got a disc harrow to smooth out the dirt the cultivator leaves behind, a chain harrow to flatten that out, and a goosefoot cultivator to keep weeds in check. My folks have an old poly water tank roller that ruptured a few years ago that I could probably have. I'd just patch up the crack with some steel and fill it with sand. Do you guys think it would be worth it, or is rolling the soil a waste of effort?
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Jan 26, 2010 18:03
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Does anyone have any good ideas on how to heat/regulate the temperature over a very small area? I want to start my seeds in a side room that I keep my litter box and other junk in, plan on hanging shop lights from the ceiling and starting everything on a table. The whole setup will be four feet by four feet (1.3 meters by 1.3 meters) I tend to keep the door ajar and it’s not close to any heating, so it can get cold in there. If it’s 10 degrees out (-12C) and windy, it might be 45 degrees (8C) in there. The room isn’t huge, but it seems wasteful to get a space heater for the entire room. Does it make sense to hang sheets of plastic or foil from the lights to somewhat enclose it and do they make anything that would gently heat such a tiny area? Have you considered putting an electric blanket under the seed trays on the table? I know they make electric seed warming mats for that purpose, but they're usually small and pricey. You'd just have to be extra careful that it didn't get wet, and of course make sure it had a low enough setting that it doesn't get too hot either.
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Jan 26, 2010 22:08
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Marchegiana posted:Have you considered putting an electric blanket under the seed trays on the table? I know they make electric seed warming mats for that purpose, but they're usually small and pricey. You'd just have to be extra careful that it didn't get wet, and of course make sure it had a low enough setting that it doesn't get too hot either. I did think of that, but was worried that even if I kept the water out, it might still be a humid environment prone to condensation. Yeah, the seed warming mats are pricy.
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Jan 26, 2010 22:31
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Zeta Taskforce posted:....side room that I keep my litter box in... In my experience cats + seedlings is a bad combination, unless you like chewed on sprouts and dug in planters. I found out the hard way.
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Jan 29, 2010 01:19
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I did think of that, but was worried that even if I kept the water out, it might still be a humid environment prone to condensation. Yeah, the seed warming mats are pricy. I bought one of these http://cgi.ebay.com/Hydrofarm-Seedl...=item5885b5f049 $25 shipped isn't too pricey for something that greatly increases the chance for germination. And has a UL cert. Is anyone here growing wine grapes?
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Jan 29, 2010 05:09
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evilhat posted:I bought one of these http://cgi.ebay.com/Hydrofarm-Seedl...=item5885b5f049 I need to get one of those. I already invested in hanging shop light fixtures and lights, the trays and flats, the seeds, soil, what’s another $25 to do it right? As far as after they germinate, I wonder how warm it needs to be? They will have plenty of light, and even fluorescent lights produce some heat so it will be somewhat warmer under them. Maybe they will grow a bit slower, but if I start them earlier, shouldn’t it cancel out, or even be good if it yields stockier plants that don’t have to be hardened off as much? I’m not too worried about the cats. When you have cats, you could make a case that every room is the cat room, but I’m not too worried. They will be on a table with only a few inches of clearance between the lights and the soil. There are way more comfortable areas than a crowded damp area and because I have 2 of them they tend to keep each other busy instead of destroying stuff for the heck of it. No experience with wine grapes.
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Jan 29, 2010 15:52
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The seed warming mats will generally raise the temperature about 10 degrees F. Optimal germinations takes place for most plants around 70F. Some plants germinate better a little higher, some a little lower, but there isn't much that won't germinate at 70F. See here: http://tomclothier.hort.net/page11.html
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Jan 30, 2010 18:35
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I'm starting to think about what I'm going to do with my gardens this year. They were a total flop last year so I'm thinking about just redoing the whole area. I had 3 4' x 4' boxes and I got hardly any yield. I didn't even get anything from my zucchini plants! The only thing that produced well were the chili peppers I planted. My tomatoes were doing alright until they would start to disappear once they were getting just about ripe. We caught our lab squeezing under the plastic fence and eating them.  I remember reading about a method somewhere where you make rows that are sort of mounded up with different layers of stuff in it, but I can't remember what its called. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I live in Durham, NC and we've been getting unusually cold and freezing. I'm so scared my fig tree and the grapes I planted last year aren't going to make it.  Edit: I'm also thinking about buying a tiller since I have a lot of ground I need to chew up all over my yard. I don't want to break the bank though. Any recommendations? Alterian fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Feb 4, 2010 |
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Feb 4, 2010 03:32
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A lot of places will let you rent a tiller by the day. I'm in Richmond VA, and in my area we have a place called Rental Works that rents equipment like that, a tiller from them is about $40 a day. One day should be enough if you've got a standard suburban-sized plot.
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Feb 4, 2010 15:17
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Marchegiana posted:A lot of places will let you rent a tiller by the day. I'm in Richmond VA, and in my area we have a place called Rental Works that rents equipment like that, a tiller from them is about $40 a day. One day should be enough if you've got a standard suburban-sized plot.
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Feb 4, 2010 16:06
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Alterian posted:I'm starting to think about what I'm going to do with my gardens this year. They were a total flop last year so I'm thinking about just redoing the whole area. I had 3 4' x 4' boxes and I got hardly any yield. I didn't even get anything from my zucchini plants! The only thing that produced well were the chili peppers I planted. My tomatoes were doing alright until they would start to disappear once they were getting just about ripe. We caught our lab squeezing under the plastic fence and eating them. If it’s a one shot deal, you might still be better off renting one. If you will be doing a lot of tilling throughout the year, you probably do need to invest in one. Go for a trusted brand rather than comparing specs and getting the cheapest 30 horsepower tiller that goes 6 inches deep. Troy Bilt is a fantastic brand, but you will pay more than whatever Home Depot happens to have on sale. http://www.troybilt.com/ Why was last year a failure? Did things appear to be diseased, crowded? Were they in deep shade or full sun? Not sure what zone you are in or the zone for the plants, but there are a lot of grapes that thrive in the north, New York has a thriving wine industry, but figs are probably more marginal. You have probably seen the worst of the winter weather, but if things are protected from the wind and mulched, you can usually get away with growing stuff on the fringes. Also, bitter cold in the winter is less damaging than a freak cold snap in the fall or spring when the plants are growing.
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Feb 4, 2010 17:13
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We've got a really nice 11hp troybuilt my parents bought 10 years ago when we moved onto their acreage. The thing is a cast-iron leviathan with electric start. They didn't know any better and got the type where the tines rotates the same as the tire direction. When working on unbroken, hard packed prairie ex-pasture, it didn't work all that well. We tried to prepare beds, and failed, for a year and a half with the troybuilt and eventually had to get a super-cheap sears branded counter rotating one to actually break the soil with. We promptly broke two of the sears ones in a four year span, but we knew that was going to happen, because, poo poo, the transmission was made of stamped steel plates. We picked sears because they had the best warranty so we could just drop it off and pick up a new one. Once the initial breakup was done, the troybuilt was great for keeping it tilled and working in the garden., though the gearbox does like to leak a bit of crankcase oil from time to time, which the dirt immediately sticks to and makes it difficult to keep clean. Also, we hit some large rocks buried in the dirt and broke the tine axles, easily fixed by the dealer. However, that said, I don't see any reason to have two tillers. If you're only going to get one good tiller, buy a counter-rotating one because it can do everything.
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Feb 4, 2010 18:30
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Zeta Taskforce posted:If it’s a one shot deal, you might still be better off renting one. If you will be doing a lot of tilling throughout the year, you probably do need to invest in one. Go for a trusted brand rather than comparing specs and getting the cheapest 30 horsepower tiller that goes 6 inches deep. Troy Bilt is a fantastic brand, but you will pay more than whatever Home Depot happens to have on sale. I live in a zone 7 - 8. I'm hoping what we just had this past weekend is the worst of it. We got 6" of snow and ice which is pretty unheard of. It was a dry summer and I think I just didn't water them enough. I lost half a box of plants early on before I got my plastic fence up around it and my dog rolled in the box. I think I'm going to totally redo the area this year and do it a little nicer and not on the cheap. (Like put up a fence my dogs can't crawl under) I'm thinking about possibly relocating it to another part of the yard. Here's what the yard looks like (taken the year before last when we moved in so the gardens aren't actually there) http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v688/alterian/?action=view¤t=2a7303c0.pbw
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Feb 4, 2010 18:36
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Slung Blade posted:Where do you guys order your seeds from? Or do you re-grow your own every year? Local small-town business, run by really great people. Their catalogs are a ton of fun as well. I'd strongly recommend at least having them send you a catalog, it's fun to leaf through. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Feb 4, 2010 |
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Feb 4, 2010 20:40
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