|
HeatherChandler posted:I wouldn't event plant resistant varieties--resistant is not disease proof. AFAIK it mostly it means that the plant will likely survive longer with the disease, giving time for control. If you know for a fact that your soil harbors wilt diseases I wouldn't plant anything from that family there. Yeah, good advice. After all the talk earlier about upside down tomato plants, I should have thought about that.
|
#
¿
Jun 22, 2009 23:52
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 08:21 |
|
|
Well, July is starting out the same way June was. Dark, cold, and wet. It is 60 degrees right now and raining again. Tomorrow will be the same. Last night the Charles River was steaming the same way a lake does on a frosty morning in the fall. Its been almost a month since we have seen the sun for more than a few minutes. I wish I had exciting pictures like all of you do, but most things just are not growing. Even the weeds are having a hard time, and its so cold that insects have not been a problem. Even the mosquitoes have been sluggish. Anyone else having a non-summer summer?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2009 18:30
|
|
|
The Big One posted:
It looks like you got your work cut out for you. I would start now digging stuff out now, attacking part of the yard at a time. You could use a broad spectrum herbicide like Roundup to kill the things that you don't want, or determine are weeds. It looks like you have a lot of shade. In the shadiest spots, I would plant a shade garden with plants like hosta's or shade tolerant annuals like impatiens. Spring bulbs should do well too, all the more reason to prepare the soil now. Assuming you live in a sunnier climate than what Boston has been this year, you could still expect to get some veggies, but the most sun and heat loving things like peppers, eggplant and melons probably won't do well. Speaking of Boston and our non summer summer, this is my garden as of a couple days ago. It was so dark, cold, and foggy, things came out on the blurry side.  The squash in front doesn't like the cold, however it managed to double in size since then in the three sunny days since the pic.  Only the cabbage seems to be thriving  Finally a few cherry tomatoes among the lanky vines  Another typical July day, its 6:30 pm, 58 degrees, I'm wearing a coat, we were under flood watches all day. We had a couple sunny days after I took these pics, but today was cold, cloudy and rainy again.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2009 06:23
|
|
|
kid sinister posted:edit: actually, that kind of looks like a black raspberry... That's what I said a day ago!
|
|
#
¿
Jul 9, 2009 05:44
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:Just in case you're interested in a more historical reference to plant cloning and how it weakens a line, you might check out the book The Botany of Desire ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Botany_of_Desire ) which is a very interesting read, and it goes over apples tulips and marijuana, and how cloning has affected the plants' evolution, essentially due to their desirability to people. The tulip portion is very interesting - I'd never known that variegated veins on tulip flowers were actually due to a virus infection, and it's pretty interesting to find out how essentially cultivating a sick strain of plant, became a huge affect on the plants as a whole. I’m a huge fan of Michael Pollan and the Botany of Desire was a fun book to read. I won’t give too much away, but he was talking about the story of Johnny Appleseed. The US, being prudish, has repackaged the story of Johnny Appleseed as this wholesome guy who selflessly gave apples to the settlers, romantically spreading his seeds everywhere. The real story is much more fascinating. His apple trees were grown from seed in nurseries he planted by riverbanks, and as mentioned, apples grown from seed display amazing randomness, but are invariably barely edible. There were lots of sources of cultivated varieties, but because they were grafts, they cost more, and Johnny Appleseed was able to sell his wild apples for less. However when you crush wild apples, they make cider just fine, and before refrigeration, cider wasn’t this sweet drink you gave to kids at picnics, cider fermented and could become quite strong. In essence, Johnny Appleseed was bringing the gift of intoxication to the settlers.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 14, 2009 16:15
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:You can thank Disney for that, in large I believe. Johnny Appleseed was a pretty badass mofo, and a lot more savvy than people assume from popular myth. It’s been awhile since I read the book, but if I remember right, in the winter, they could freeze buckets of apple cider, and because the water preferentially freezes out in the ice that forms, you could concentrate the cider into a brandy that could easily become 20 or 30% alcohol. People universally liked Johnny Appleseed, and they enjoyed his visits, his stories, and the news he brought, but on the other hand, they all agreed that something about him was very queer. There is speculation that he may have been a homosexual since as far as anyone knows, he never married, dated, or courted any woman.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 17, 2009 19:12
|
|
|
Mr-Spain posted:Can someone ID my bush and the tons of berries I got off of it? For a little background, the house was prevously owned by an arabian dude and there is a loquat tree and mint everywhere. There's this bush about 8' tall with shiny leaves and fruit about 1-2 inches across. Here's some photos. Those look like Hawthorns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crataegus_monogyna
|
|
#
¿
Aug 28, 2009 15:47
|
|
|
Shazzner posted:For some reason all my squash & zucs died suddenly, while my tomatoes and everything else remained fine. I'm not sure what happened but I can only assume it was disease. Actually, all mine did too, and I was talking to my sister. Hers did too. We had these little black bugs that ate through the base of the vine to about a foot up, and then it rotted. Was yours similar? I had a couple plants that somehow managed to send roots down further up the stem and I'll get something, but it ended up being at least an 80% loss. Was yours similar, and does anyone have any advice for us?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2009 16:12
|
|
|
Does anyone have any suggestions for permanently blocking tree roots? If anyone wants to see the type of roots I’m blocking, please go back to page 9, middle of the page. What I’m trying to do now is clear out the area between my garden and the lawn that the previous owners landscaped, but now is overgrown, such that it is not quite landscaping anymore, but not completely wild yet. Those massive roots I dug out of my garden came through that area, so if anything the roots will be even bigger there. I want to plant massive amounts of daffodils in there this fall, and next year put in a mixture of ferns, hostas, and some shade tolerant annuals, in back azaleas and forsythia and a few holly bushes. My goal is to put something between that huge maple and my new flower bed, completely surround it so the tree roots never invade again. Right now the roots reinvaded the garden and grew into my compost pile, and managed to suck out all the composty goodness out of it. I saw this online http://www.cspoutdoors.com/noname12.html But does anyone have any ideas that might cost less than $7.00 per linear foot?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2009 17:30
|
|
|
Marchegiana posted:From the pictures you posted the tree in question looks to be a silver maple, if so then nothing you put in there is going to stop those roots. I've heard stories of roots from a silver maple planted too close to a house growing through basement walls. Most maples have a pretty shallow root system too, so if you do extensive root pruning you may unbalance the tree to the point that a strong storm could blow it down. Personally I'd either do my best to plant around the roots, or replace the tree altogether with one that's friendlier to surface plantings. It is a silver maple. I have three huge silver maples on my property, the trees are mature and nice to look at, and will probably be expensive to remove, so I’m stuck with them for the time being. I thought the rule was to not remove any roots 3 times the diameter of the trunk. The tree trunk is 4 feet thick, and I’m not planting anything within 25 feet of it, so I should be OK. Right? Either way I’ve already hacked off the roots. I’m not too worried because the tree will still have access to the rest of the front yard and a big part of my neighbors yard, and the soil is rich, loamy, deep, and well drained. I just want some barrier that is at least semi permanent between it and everything else.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2009 21:45
|
|
|
I’m about ready to put the garden to bed for the winter, pull most of the stuff out except for a late crop of lettuce, some chard that is still going, and some potatoes that still have green vines. I have some leftover compost mixed in with a few kitchen scraps that are now half decayed. I’m undecided whether to incorporate the compost in the top 8 inches of soil (fertilize and aerate the root zone) or broadcast it on top (preserve the soil structure, let the worms mix it in over the winter).
|
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2009 17:41
|
|
|
El Bano posted:I had some space between my driveway and my neighbor's fence that was filled with a berry producing bush. It didn't look very good and it spread like a weed so I'd have to go over to the neighbor's every week and prune it out(neighbor is like 97). So we decided to get rid of the brush and do something useful with the area and build a series of 3 garden boxes with benches between for enjoying the yard. Is there a good reason why you would need to isolate the beds you are building from the rest of the yard (like tree roots)? If so I would invest in some good landscape fabric that lets water through, and doesn't contain tar. If you don't have a reason to separate the soil, then I wouldn't put anything. Depending on the material you are making the boxes out of, it might not be a bad idea to put something on the SIDES of the box, otherwise your moist rich soil will cause the wood you are making them out of to rot surprisingly fast.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 16, 2009 03:41
|
|
|
El Bano posted:Using pressure treated wood put together with treated screws, so I am not expecting much rot anytime in the near future. There are no nearby trees or significant vegetation, however I am building these on top of the berry bush site without removing the roots. I assume with a 20 inch soil depth, the bushes won't come back up though. If I were you, since this is going to be a semi-permanent part of the landscape, since you are doing a fair amount of carpentry, I would take the time to remove the bushes before you put your raised beds over them. At the recommendation of someone here who recommended a pick-ax to cut through roots for my much larger project this past spring, I think you should get or borrow one, use it to slice through the soil. Use pruning loppers to cut through roots as you expose them. Kid Sinister is right. Bushes can grow through 2 feet of soil, but if you destroy the crown and the majority of the taproot, they won’t. Plus whatever you put in there will have access to the entire soil column and it will drain better. You can look at page 9 to see the roots I was dealing with in my vegetable garden, as well as the trees the previous owners let grow inches from the foundation. One of them was six inches in diameter and you can tell that for years they just chopped it down every time the shoots it sent up got too big.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 16, 2009 14:55
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2009 17:01
|
|
|
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?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2009 19:14
|
|
|
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 |
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2009 19:32
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 16, 2009 22:48
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2010 21:50
|
|
|
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?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 26, 2010 15:35
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 26, 2010 22:31
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2010 15:52
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2010 17:13
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:http://www.territorialseed.com/ I’m a seed catalogue junkie, and I somehow got on their mailing list. It is a fun catalogue, beautiful, huge selection of unique hard to find plants including a lot of heirlooms. Everything they sell has such detailed instructions on how to grow that you could use it as a reference guide. It seems like everything is very much on the pricey side though.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2010 22:01
|
|
|
Most herbs thrive and develop their strongest flavor when they are hot and dry. Depending on what soil you are using, along with putting gravel on the bottom, you might want to mix some sand in the potting soil.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2010 17:19
|
|
|
Since you are in the Mohave desert, I would not stress out too much about having a gravel layer, how deep it is, if you have landscape fabric or not. It will be on the dry side no matter what you do. I would just have a porous, sandy soil with some organic matter added to it, make sure you add some drainage holes for when it does rain or you overwater. I would specifically avoid styrofoam peanuts unless portability is important for you for the simple reason that if and when you are ready to move on and dispose of the contents of the barrel, if it is soil, gravel and sand you can just dump it in a low spot in the yard or spread it out, but if there is styrofoam, you will have these dirty, gross things you will have to pick out.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2010 17:41
|
|
|
Jonny 290 posted:This thread is awesome. I am reading through it all to try to get a handle on what I want to do this year. There is something I find deeply rewarding about producing even a small part of my own food. Its not always true homegrown tastes better, especially if you get sidetracked and forget to pick something, and it probably doesn’t save time or money, but it connects me to the natures rhythms and when you overcome problems, gives me a greater appreciation for what farmers have to overcome, except for them it is 100 times over. The quickest and easiest thing to do would be to spray the area with roundup, but you are not talking about too huge area, so you could get by with digging the sod out piece by piece and shaking as much soil out as you can. Lawns can often get quite packed, so you might want to double dig. You will dig a trench a foot deep, make a pile on the opposite side of the plot with the soil, and loosen the soil at the bottom of the trench another foot deep. Then you cover it with the soil next to the trench, form a new trench one foot in, loosen, repeat. Unless the soil is very poor, you don’t have to mix compost or organic matter into the bottom layer, but if you have enough, it’s a good idea to mix it into the top layer. It’s also a good time to remove any rocks larger than a tennis ball, or smaller if this is an area you will use a tiller in the future, and any construction debris. Get the soil tested to see what you are working with as far as pH an fertility. If you plant some tomatoes, salad greens, pole beans, etc. you should be able to get quite a bit of produce out of it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 18, 2010 19:27
|
|
|
dwoloz posted:Please don't do this. Not only is it costly but its toxic I'm not going to convince anyone who is of the belief if it is a chemical, it must be evil crowd, but Glyphosate is one of the safest chemicals used in agriculture. In addition, it is not costly. It has very low mammalian and insect toxicity, is quickly broken down by sun and microorganisms, and leaves zero residues. It works on an enzyme found only in plants. For someone who only has a hundred square feet, it is kind of pointless. Just do it by hand. Yet in the US alone, close to 100 million pounds are used, and I have not seen evidence that it has led to a single death or injury when used properly. Even in intentional poisonings where someone intentionally drinks as much of the stuff as they can, the vast majority of people do not die.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2010 00:59
|
|
|
krushgroove posted:I think the reply to your suggestion is that it's just a little surprising that someone in a grow your own thread would recommend something made by Monsanto, and Roundup to boot. Monsanto does stuff I don’t agree with, but they are not the antichrist either, and they make a good product. Competitors make it too. In my case where I put my garden last year was completely overgrown with shrubs, brush, milkweed, tall grass. I used it in the fall before to knock down the grass, covered it with leaves after that, and in the following spring the grass was dead. It was an uphill enough battle to get the woody stuff out of there, and all the tree roots made the area untillable, but without it I would still be fighting the grass. I plan on using it to kill the ivy that is growing up the other side of the house, because for some reason the previous owners thought ivy growing on wood was a good idea. Getting rid of ivy is the worst. I would not have used it if I was just putting in a small garden in an old lawn, but it is a safe product, and no one is forced to use it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2010 16:40
|
|
|
dwoloz posted:Costly in comparison to sheet mulching, which is free and arguably more effective This debate of the merits of (very) limited use of chemicals vs nothing at all doesn’t belong here. I don’t go into D&D that much anymore, but if anyone wants to discuss it there, let me know.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2010 15:03
|
|
|
I should clarify, but when I say nothing at all, I mean no man made chemicals at all, not no mulching, cultivation, crop rotation, and anything else that enhances plant health. There are cost/benefits to everything we do. Even if you are talking organic gardening, there are “natural” pesticides that are still available to you, but still are deadly to bees and beneficial insects, still leave residues, still can be highly toxic, still must be used according to label instructions if they are to be used safely.quote:If we think organic gardening means vegetables free of any chemical pesticides, we don't have the story quite right. Some of the organic ones are in the “Danger” category. By comparison, Roundup is merely in the “Caution” category.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2010 17:14
|
|
|
Getting back to gardening, has anyone had any success in starting very tiny seeds like lobelia, coleus, and begonia? These seeds, especially the lobelia are beyond tiny, almost like dust. I tried starting some a few weeks ago with what can be described as mixed success at best. Actually more of a failure. I used a brick of Wonder Soil, and thinking that it would be easier later on, and minimize transplant shock, I started each seed in miniature individual cells instead of a larger pot before moving them to individual cells. Two things happened. Between the bottom heat and the intense light these seeds need for germination, the soil tended to dry out quickly, even with a humidity dome. Even when I misted the soil morning and night, it still dried out. If it got too dry I bottom watered, and the soil soaked up the water like a sponge and got very wet. In spite of that, things did germinate. But then they started disappearing. I tried to move the survivors to larger cells that are easier to keep moist consistently, and noticed that the roots had for the most part rotted off. Did the plants die from the wet/dry cycles, or from the choice of soil?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2010 18:03
|
|
|
It’s pretty fine for the most part, but because it has coconut fibers in it, it has some bigger chunks of longer fibers. These seeds are so tiny you have to plant them on the surface, so misting is essential. I’ve noticed that when it gets wet, it can get very wet.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2010 19:08
|
|
|
kid sinister posted:Sure, just an undershelf fluorescent fixture, then get a grow bulb for it. Take some measurements and hit up a hardware store or even an aquarium shop and see if you can find a grow bulb that will fit underneath your shelf, then get a fluorescent fixture to take that bulb, making sure the fixture will also fit underneath your shelf. Pay attention to the bulb sizes when buying a fixture, there are 2 diameters of fluorescent bulbs used for under cabinet lighting, T5 and T8, and either one doesn't fit in the other's socket. I did some research when I set up mine, and the conclusions that I came to were that comparing T5 and T8, T5 (the number refers to the diameter of the bulb in eights of an inch) is a superior technology in a lot of ways. They are smaller, brighter, and more efficient. But, and this is a huge BUT, they are WAY more expensive. I don’t think the benefits outweigh the cost yet. T12 is a still older technology, and you will get a lot more choosing T8 instead and still pay something very reasonable. The other thing I found out is the grow bulbs are nice, but you will get almost as much out of regular cool white bulbs. Cool light is mostly blue light, promotes shorter stockier plants. Warm light is more red, its necessary to induce flowering, but too much of it you get taller, thinner plants. I would avoid what are sold as plant lights or aquarium lights, as these produce mostly green light. Our eyes are most sensitive to green light and they are designed to make plants and other things under them pretty, but plants do not utilize green light well (that is why the are green, that is the only color they don’t absorb well and only green light is reflected)
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2010 15:23
|
|
|
Blckbuster posted:could a mix of red and blue LED's serve for this function? Not sure if it would work. Fluorescent lights work good because they emit an entire spectrum of wavelengths. The cool whites emit mostly blue, but the yellow and red are not zero. Same with the warm ones too. Let me know if I'm wrong, but colored LED's emit only one wavelength, and you would probably miss a lot by not having all the shades and intermediate colors. Edit: It seems that there are specialty LED grow lights, but I don't think the regular single color ones are it. Zeta Taskforce fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Feb 27, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2010 01:28
|
|
|
Marchegiana posted:Most seeds will sprout without light. There are a few exceptions, lettuce being one I can think of off the top of my head. As a general rule, the tinier the seed, the closer it need to be planted to the surface, the likelier light is needed. I know light aids in the germination of lettuce, and fairly intense light is needed for many flowers. Other than lettuce, I don’t know of any other vegetables where it is needed.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2010 19:39
|
|
|
landis posted:Omg you guys check this out. Zeta Taskforce specifically but some of you may remember a short discussion about growing tea in the beginning of the thread. I was wondering if anyone tried growing it. I still want to try, but there is a bunch more stuff I want to do to the yard first. Either way it’s going to be marginal in New England. It looks like cuttings or buying the plant through a mail order nursery is the way to go. Last year I posted this link for Sochi Tea, which I’m guessing refers to the same city in Russia that will be hosting the 2014 Winter Olympic games. But before you get the idea of tea thriving in the Russian Taiga, Sochi is more known for its beaches and people are still scratching their heads about its choice as Olympic venue.  Another image slightly  Marchegiana posted:you can see their selection of sinensis here. Thanks! One of those is hardy to Zone 6B. I'll really have to try it. I have no excuses now. Zeta Taskforce fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Mar 2, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2010 19:49
|
|
|
Something like that might benefit a houseplant languishing in a shady corner of your living room, but would be inadequate for starting seeds or anything else.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2010 19:53
|
|
|
What tomato varieties is everyone growing? I just started 6 kinds on Sunday, three hybrids Celebrity, reliable main season Polfast, small, bushy, very early Sweet Chelsea, a large cherry and three open pollinated Black Krim, an old dark Russian Variety Kellogg Breakfast, a large orange beefstake Matt’s Wild Cherry, a sprawling vine with lots of tiny fruit
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2010 22:52
|
|
|
I don't grow zucchini, or cucumbers for that matter. Once the growing season is in full swing I am never without.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2010 23:00
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 08:21 |
|
|
Jonny 290 posted:I have three happy zucchini plants in my starter tray. You will be up to your ears in zucchini, but they are fun to grow. Once the hot weather starts, the plants practically explode from the ground; its neat to check them in the morning and then come back at home in the evening and suddenly they are another foot bigger. When do you intend to transplant them? One mistake over enthusiastic beginners make is to start things too early. Zucchini is usually direct seeded directly in the garden. You can gain a bit of time transplanting them, especially if it is only a few plants, but even then, they grow so fast that you don’t want to more than a few weeks before you intend to transplant them.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2010 20:02
|
|