2017 gardening thread.
- Thread starter Blood
- Start date
good start
Blood
Driveler Emeritus
I planted a coupla rows each of kale & spinach in a wicking bed.
This wicking bed is a cut-down IBC tote with 4" drain pipe in the bottom as a water reservoir.
The ones I did last year lasted for weeks without watering and watering from the bottom is suppose to be most beneficial to the plants while allowing the surface to remain dry.
A dry surface discourages mold and bad bacteria as well as maintaining an inhospitable environment for pest.
I planted the spinach and kale on the South side thinking the tomatoes I'm planting later would shade them out.
Dumb thing to do because the greens will bolt and get bitter once it gets too hot.
DAMMIT!
This wicking bed is a cut-down IBC tote with 4" drain pipe in the bottom as a water reservoir.
The ones I did last year lasted for weeks without watering and watering from the bottom is suppose to be most beneficial to the plants while allowing the surface to remain dry.
A dry surface discourages mold and bad bacteria as well as maintaining an inhospitable environment for pest.
I planted the spinach and kale on the South side thinking the tomatoes I'm planting later would shade them out.
Dumb thing to do because the greens will bolt and get bitter once it gets too hot.
DAMMIT!
Blood
Driveler Emeritus
I calculated the reservoir to be very close to 20 gallons.
I reached this conclusion by using nerd math.
OR...
by filling a 5-gallon bucket and pouring it in the bed 4 times...
I don't recall which.
@ironpony
@Skateboard
@Hammer166
I reached this conclusion by using nerd math.
OR...
by filling a 5-gallon bucket and pouring it in the bed 4 times...
I don't recall which.
@ironpony
@Skateboard
@Hammer166
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Blood
Driveler Emeritus
I put a new cover on the tiny greenhouse that has the aquaponic tank with expanded shale grow medium and planted 20 each of kale and spinach plus 10 cauliflower. The tank uses a pond pump plugged into a manual timer to flood the bed just below the surface for 15 minutes every 2 hours between 6 am and 6 pm. That may actually be a bit much in this weather but I doubt that it makes much difference since the expanded shale has countless pockets and fissures to hold moisture and beneficial bacteria.
I used rock wool cubes which I had good luck with in the past...
haven't used them for a year or two before this.
You can really crowd the plants in this type of setup since they don't have to compete for nutrient or water.
If you decide that they're over crowded they come out very easily and transplant to a similar bed without shocking the plants like you would see in dirt.
I used rock wool cubes which I had good luck with in the past...
haven't used them for a year or two before this.
You can really crowd the plants in this type of setup since they don't have to compete for nutrient or water.
If you decide that they're over crowded they come out very easily and transplant to a similar bed without shocking the plants like you would see in dirt.
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Blood
Driveler Emeritus
The black pipe is 4" pvc used as a guard around a 1 1/2" PVC stand pipe which is adjustable to prevent the water level from exceeding whatever height you choose, generally an inch or two below the surface to keep the surface dry preventing mold and other undesirable effects.
After planting this bed I put a bottle of water over the stand pipe to flood the bed once to make sure the seed got soaked good.
The surface will pretty much stay dry normally.
After planting this bed I put a bottle of water over the stand pipe to flood the bed once to make sure the seed got soaked good.
The surface will pretty much stay dry normally.
gearjammer
jammer
whats that in them red solo cups?
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
Of course the "greens" are going to grow if you pay them to... but the broccoli & cauliflower aren't doing squat!
But the broccoli requires more than that, and cauliflower doesn't accept cash.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
Looks like mostly dirt.
Blood
Driveler Emeritus
Rutgers and Roma tomatoes
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
Oh great, now I'm not gonna be able to mooch any tomatoes from you this year because I made fun of them.
On a completely unrelated topic, the green bell peppers look like they're growing nicely.
Duck
Sarcastic remark goes here
I'm really good at growing weeds.
Blood
Driveler Emeritus
My wife juices to alleviate allergy symptoms.
Leafy greens are one the most important components...
AND one of the most heavy treated crops for pesticides/herbicides.
'Certified organic' doesn't mean what it should so besides being pricey consumers are being somewhat misled in many cases.
I'd like a do-over on my greenhouse using 4x4 or even 6x6 post with large open gaps from end to end so I could use my forklift to set the wicking beds in & out according to the seasons because I'm dubious about the effects of growing indoors.
If you don't harden off starts before planting outdoors UV radiation from the sun will kill them.
A study found that while tomatoes homegrown outdoors posses over 300 different elements, hothouse tomatoes posses less than 50.
NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium) is mostly the only thing used to grow crops.
They're known as macro nutrients. Get it grown n green in a hurry is all that matters to corporate farming.
I believe that the absence of micro nutrients is the cause for a lot of the health problems we face.
Anyway...
now I'm just driveling.
that's good, cuz you can eat dandelions.....at least..the greens.....I'm really good at growing weeds.
Blood
Driveler Emeritus
Many of the 'weeds' that we try to eradicate from our yards were brought here originally for medicinal value!
Dandelion.
Plantain.
Lamb's Quarter.
Polk Sallat.
etc, etc, etc.
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