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DarkHorse posted:Yeah ours took a few years to get started, it keeps coming back stronger each year IIRC one of the bigger problems was birds pecking each other to death and eating each other in the first like 24 hours between them showing up and an adequate response to their arrival being implemented by some very confused and upset adults. Keep in mind that this was like 2002, so it's not like Like his parents had to get home from work, meet the quail, process and understand what was happening, come up with a solution, probably talk to the grandfather at some point, and then do poo poo like build an adequate enough enclosure for the birds and feed them and so forth. And these birds were at most a few days old, so they have to eat and poo poo constantly and they're always cold and yeah there was a big die off. Wouldn't be surprised if they ultimately lost at least a fifth of the birds that way.
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Aug 19, 2020 16:42
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Real talk: at some point in the future I'd love to keep small livestock like this. I have been fishing exactly once and have never hunted or otherwise killed a non-bug animal. So... what's that part of keeping birds/rabbits/etc like? How do you even learn how to do it correctly/humanely?
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Aug 19, 2020 17:06
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showbiz_liz posted:Real talk: at some point in the future I'd love to keep small livestock like this. I have been fishing exactly once and have never hunted or otherwise killed a non-bug animal. So... what's that part of keeping birds/rabbits/etc like? How do you even learn how to do it correctly/humanely? For me, the backyardchicken.com quail forum was pretty useful as far as reading about their requirements. Also random "homesteading" blog posts. For learning to butcher them, youtube was very helpful. I imagine this is true of many small livestocks--there are any number of small farms with youtube channels that probably make them more money than they get actually farming. I don't mind the butchering part. I go out to the pen, grab one, bring it inside, cut the head off over the sink. It takes no more than 1 minute from collecting the bird to head off, so it's brutal but it's quick and so much less stressful than any part of commercial poultry operations. I am a veterinarian, though, so my comfort level with blood and death is maybe not normal. Dr. Chaco fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Aug 19, 2020 |
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Aug 19, 2020 17:34
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showbiz_liz posted:Real talk: at some point in the future I'd love to keep small livestock like this. I have been fishing exactly once and have never hunted or otherwise killed a non-bug animal. So... what's that part of keeping birds/rabbits/etc like? How do you even learn how to do it correctly/humanely? I personally don’t think you can keep meat rabbits humanely at a home farm-scale- by which I mean that keeping rabbits at the scale where you would be happy slaughtering them for meat requires really compromising on their wellbeing (and commercial operations don’t even try to pretend to be humane, but that can be said about virtually all factory farming). If you really want to do optimally by rabbits you have like four maximum, and you raise them like house rabbits. But the minute you start keeping 10+ you’re putting them in hutches and then you may as well have a chicken coop, which much better suits those space/time/labor constraints. Guinea pigs on the other hand, hell you can keep a whole herd of those fuckers and they’re about as interesting and smart as rabbits are—but good luck getting Americans more comfortable with killing and eating guineas than rabbits.
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Aug 19, 2020 17:44
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Earth posted:Whoa, what the gently caress. I did not know it was a perennial. Learned something today. That's amazing, but the problem is I have to move them because they're currently in my veg box and they need to move to my flower bed. I assume there's a prime time to move them. Also, I know where a bunch of common milkweed is in some ditches and I might try to transplant those to my local garden. Generally you want to move perennials in the spring (when they've first resprouted and you can reasonably get the entire plant, roots and all, out of the ground) or when the stems start to die off in the fall. My general understanding is that the plant puts energy into its roots towards the end of the summer before going dormant over the winter, and then uses that energy in the spring to send up new stems. Transplanting is kind of stressful for a plant, it damages some roots no matter what you do, so you want to move the plant when the roots have sufficient energy to reestablish themselves in the new spot. That said, as long as you can give the plant some water and sunlight after you transplant, it should recover just fine.
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Aug 19, 2020 18:01
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I raise meat rabbits, chickens, and I have some lawn-mower goats. The slaughter part has become easier now that I have tried and tested methods. It was really hard at first because I felt so guilty and it didn’t go as planned a few times. I learned basically all of the animal stuff from YouTube and library books. My rabbits are in a colony so the most in-depth info is on that is on YouTube. I keep my chickens the usual way, day range and lockup at night, so the information in books is more useful but I have watched a ton of videos too. Going forward I don’t plan to breed rabbits anymore, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease is in my area  , but they have been great for an inexpensive meat source. I butcher at 12 weeks or older, depending on circumstances, and my does have 6-12 kits at a time. I plan to turn some of the colony yard into a garden next spring since it’s already fertilized.The chickens are easier to catch and dispatch, but I raise dual purpose and don’t do many at a time. It’s usually a case of culling an unwanted rooster or an injured/old hen. If possible I wait until they are roosting at night so they aren’t freaked out and then I use the broomstick method. As far as garden helpers, both are nice to have. The rabbits eat some of the garden waste and their manure is cold so you can apply it directly to the plants. The chickens have made it into the garden a few times and they dug big holes but they also keep the grasshopper population down outside of the garden so that’s been a mixed bag. I haven’t used the chicken compost yet but it will be part of my soil amendments this fall.
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Aug 19, 2020 18:16
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vonnegutt posted:Generally you want to move perennials in the spring (when they've first resprouted and you can reasonably get the entire plant, roots and all, out of the ground) or when the stems start to die off in the fall. My general understanding is that the plant puts energy into its roots towards the end of the summer before going dormant over the winter, and then uses that energy in the spring to send up new stems. Transplanting is kind of stressful for a plant, it damages some roots no matter what you do, so you want to move the plant when the roots have sufficient energy to reestablish themselves in the new spot. Makes sense. It then has the whole season to recover from the move. If it got traumatized in winter then that would suck for it because it's traumatized and now has to also survive winter.
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Aug 19, 2020 19:11
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These frying peppers were grown from the same seed packet, and were both in the smaller type of pot you see on the right until about a month ago. Then I potted up the one on the left. Otherwise they've gotten identical care. I knew container size impacted growth but this is pretty unreal. Unfortunately it took $10 of soil for this one plant so I didn't repot any of my other peppers at the time, but now I know for next year! 
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Aug 19, 2020 20:16
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Is there a lawn mower / lawn tractor thread anywhere on SA?
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Aug 19, 2020 22:55
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These people can help answer questions about mowers, they were helpful when I needed help.
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Aug 19, 2020 22:59
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CommonShore posted:Is there a lawn mower / lawn tractor thread anywhere on SA? the only resource you need: https://youtu.be/EdGgo8cELGA
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Aug 19, 2020 23:01
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Sprue posted:These people can help answer questions about mowers, they were helpful when I needed help. Thanks!
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Aug 19, 2020 23:15
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CommonShore posted:Is there a lawn mower / lawn tractor thread anywhere on SA? Repair/maintenance? Or purchase. Because in addition to the landscaping thread there is a small engine thread in AI.
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Aug 19, 2020 23:24
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Motronic posted:Repair/maintenance? Or purchase. Because in addition to the landscaping thread there is a small engine thread in AI. More about like accessories and usage. I picked up one as part of the purchase of the property and I asked the thread about like "which bagger should I buy" and "should I even bother using this for clearing snow"
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Aug 19, 2020 23:26
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CommonShore posted:More about like accessories and usage. I picked up one as part of the purchase of the property and I asked the thread about like "which bagger should I buy" and "should I even bother using this for clearing snow" Oh yeah, landscaping thread should be good for that.
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Aug 19, 2020 23:30
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showbiz_liz posted:These frying peppers were grown from the same seed packet, and were both in the smaller type of pot you see on the right until about a month ago. Then I potted up the one on the left. Otherwise they've gotten identical care. Rubric I've used is that there's around as much below ground as there is above ground. This seems to hold even with things like my aquaponics setup
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Aug 19, 2020 23:33
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I realize I'm spamming this thread with my manic tomato questions but I'm trying to min max (poorly) because I get poo poo light so bear with me one last time for this season.. heavy rain is coming for a few days and I was just about to take all the leaves off and top them so they ripen faster. Do tomato plants rely on leaves to take excess water? Is everything going to split over night if I do this? I really dont have any growing season left to be asking this question, I'm pretty sure the answer is top them and take off everything but a shade leaf per fruit set and cross my fingers and stop watering but first season growing fear is messing with me
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Aug 20, 2020 19:28
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I don’t know that I’d pull off all the leaves, it will still need some way to provide a little energy to ripen. I have seen people cut off the lower branches without fruit so the energy is going the right direction. All that rain isn’t going to help, and if you’re running out of sun, if there’s a way to keep them warm overnight than I’d cover them if possible. If you have any sort of tarp to keep some of the excessive rain off that might help too, but logistics of providing temp cover may be impossible. You might also consider doing as the grocers do and cutting off the tomatoes and then attempting to ripen them on the vine and indoors.
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Aug 20, 2020 20:06
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Yea I have 20 indeterminate plants vertically hung about 8' tall so I cant really cover them as much as I'd like. I could definitely work out a tarp system at night to keep the rain off though good call. I'm going to have to ripen most indoors regardless on the vine in the end I imagine. Is there any trick to the actual topping? My last fruit sets are at least 3 leaf sets away from the top but based off your previous comment on it needing leaves I should probably leave at least a couple above for shade and energy? Thanks for your help 
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Aug 20, 2020 21:08
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I’ve only done topping on peppers, but I’d just pinch off the new growth on the tops. Take off a small branch or two, but leave the established plant. I’d take off any fruit that hasn’t fully set and any flowers too. Even small fruit that doesn’t have a chance of growing to full size could go. Established leaves will give energy and shade, but don’t let the plant waste on growing larger either.
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Aug 20, 2020 21:15
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My wife accidentally put too many chocolate habaneros in the salsa. It's like eating fire and it makes my pee burn. It's so good though
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Aug 20, 2020 22:17
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Torrential rain has split about 90% of my almost ripe tomatoes. Full of bugs, etc. Going to bring a pallet of scrap cardboard home from work this weekend and shelve this whole poo poo show until next year.
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Aug 20, 2020 23:29
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Our potato crop failed earlier in the season and now all the Colorado potato beetles are wandering around the farm lost and hungry, for some inexplicable reason they decided tomato fruit (not the leaves) is the next best thing to potato leaves and they're ravaging all the low hanging fruit. Just eating big ol sores into them. Ugh. Why are tomatoes so hard...
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Aug 20, 2020 23:45
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mischief posted:Torrential rain has split about 90% of my almost ripe tomatoes. Full of bugs, etc. Going to bring a pallet of scrap cardboard home from work this weekend and shelve this whole poo poo show until next year. Nooo that's brutal I'm sorry
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Aug 21, 2020 00:11
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mischief posted:Torrential rain has split about 90% of my almost ripe tomatoes. Full of bugs, etc. Going to bring a pallet of scrap cardboard home from work this weekend and shelve this whole poo poo show until next year. Discussion > DIY > Gardening: Full of bugs, etc. Shelve this whole poo poo show until next year
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Aug 21, 2020 02:17
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You still might be able to get some sauce out of your split tomatoes with a bit of paring and straining.
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Aug 21, 2020 02:33
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Forgive my cross post please but I’d love your input: Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for indoor grow lights? This would be my first go around, just for a few tropical trees and succulent propagation. Seedlings too. I was looking at some of the Hansi LED bulbs on Amazon, seems simple enough and less obtrusive then a LED bar—but if the LED bulbs suck, I’ll probably get a Mars Hydro LED bar. No grow tent or anything like that, just wanna try my hand at indoor growing and give my plants a boost I’d like to keep it to $100 or less but I’ll spend more if absolutely necessary
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Aug 21, 2020 14:55
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lil poopendorfer posted:Forgive my cross post please but I’d love your input: I have been very impressed with my Barina grow lights. The 6 pack of 4 foot long blue/red lights is $110 at the moment, but they have other spectra offerings, smaller packs, shorter lights, etc. I've gotten good enough performance that I have 3 more packs in my garage for when it cools down enough for me to set up another, bigger DWC system in there.
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Aug 21, 2020 15:07
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lil poopendorfer posted:Forgive my cross post please but I’d love your input: Depends on how ugly you are comfortable with it being and how much space you are trying to light. I didn't want massive purple light bars all over my living room and some of my plants would like a bit more light than they get through the windows so I ended up mounting 9 of these inexpensive gooseneck fixtures (after rewiring sets of them together so that I didn't need 9 timers or a bunch of cords running everywhere) and putting grow bulbs from GE in them. It seems to be working well and they don't have a horrendous color temperature. It looks like it's summer in my living room whenever the lights are on.
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Aug 21, 2020 15:33
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poeticoddity posted:I have been very impressed with my Barina grow lights. The 6 pack of 4 foot long blue/red lights is $110 at the moment, but they have other spectra offerings, smaller packs, shorter lights, etc. I've gotten good enough performance that I have 3 more packs in my garage for when it cools down enough for me to set up another, bigger DWC system in there. These are the same I use. They're a garish purple and not well suited for living space, but my plants all seem happy with them
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Aug 21, 2020 15:45
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Red and blue is old tech. They work, but white LEDs are just as efficient now.
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Aug 21, 2020 15:49
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Fitzy Fitz posted:My wife accidentally put too many chocolate habaneros in the salsa. It's like eating fire and it makes my pee burn. If your pee burns, that's an entirely different issue and I suggest you head over to The Goon Doctor subforum.
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Aug 21, 2020 16:00
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The trick to really ugly grow lights that aren’t in a tent or whatever is to run them really early in the morning, you start them at like 5 and they’re done running between 9am and noon depending on what you’re lighting, why, and how much natural sun you can get.
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Aug 21, 2020 16:46
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I've had an iPower flourescent deal set up in the garage with heat mats since 2017. Probably not really an indoor option.
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Aug 21, 2020 17:18
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I bought a grow light off Amazon for literally $15 and it was good enough to start seeds with. Gonna need something better for this winter now that I'm fully sucked into this, but for a beginner it was great.
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Aug 21, 2020 17:34
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Sorry to drop in but I would like a small bit of advice if I may. I got an AeroGarden because I have no space for anything larger and I love my basil. Well the Genovese basil is in need of a trim but it’s way, way, too heavy. About 8% of the leaves are 4 biggies at the top of a long stalk. I know one is only supposed to trim above the leaf “nodes” and to not take any more than 1/3 of the plant. Concerned that I may damage the plant if I remove the top. If I don’t remove the top those big leaves will continue to shade the small number of little ones at the bottom. Photo:  Let it go a few more days? Trim? Thanks for any help.
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Aug 21, 2020 18:53
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CaptainCrunch posted:Sorry to drop in but I would like a small bit of advice if I may. I got an AeroGarden because I have no space for anything larger and I love my basil. You can chop off everything above that second set of leaves! The plant will invest in making the smaller ones bigger once the big ones are gone. In general you can take off way more of a basil plant than you think and it will bounce back.
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Aug 21, 2020 19:00
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CaptainCrunch posted:Sorry to drop in but I would like a small bit of advice if I may. I got an AeroGarden because I have no space for anything larger and I love my basil. Count two nodes up from the bottom and cut past there. Also you can very easily propagate those cuttings in water for replanting, if you’re not planning to just eat them now, and double your basil (and your fun).
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Aug 21, 2020 19:13
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Ok Comboomer posted:Count two nodes up from the bottom and cut past there. Also you can very easily propagate those cuttings in water for replanting, if you’re not planning to just eat them now, and double your basil (and your fun). Is there anything to propogating basil beyond letting your trimmings root in water?
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Aug 21, 2020 19:27
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:Is there anything to propogating basil beyond letting your trimmings root in water? Not that I know of. Maybe change the water daily to prevent bacteria from killing your propagates. I know some people use rooting hormone and put them straight in sterile soil but that’s a lotta  for me, and water seems to be more foolproof and successful based on word of mouth.
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Aug 21, 2020 19:42
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