I do hydroponics. Been messing around with it for about four years. I've only done deep water culture. I've grown in Rubbermaid tubs, five gallon buckets, and hydrofarms. I have a 5' x 5' grow tent.
I've been having issues with my hives, down to 3 and not sure they'll all make it. Have more ordered for next year. Might call the extension agent and get her input. Look forward to pics of the flow hive and it at work.
Not much to add, other than to say that I'm happy to see the gardening thread getting regular bumps in late December.
There's a pretty hardcore group out there that swear plants do better in veg with a MH bulb instead of hps. I switched from a cheap hps bulb a couple of years ago to eye hortilux bulbs and it really made a difference. They are expensive, but definitely give results.
from what i understand MH puts more on the electric bill, so i dunno if im going to use it or not. ive read the same thing about mh for vegetative growth and hps for fruiting
I'll try to find it but I read an article recently about Cornell (I think) did a study and found that the difference was very small lumen for lumen and hps puts out about twenty percent more lumens per watt, so hps actually provides more usable spectrum. Something like that.
It was Utah State Taques. Here's a summary someone put together. I've started using hps year round since I read this. There's definitely a difference in plants stretching more with hps. Not sure why. Some points to ponder from my discussions with two university professors (Professor Bugbee at Utah State and Erik Runkle at Michigan State) who have studied horticulture and supplemental lighting for many years: • HPS is about twice as electrically efficient as metal halide. • Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) is what really matters to plant growth, and delivery of usable PAR is better with HPS than metal halide. • The enhanced blue in metal halide does not lead to increased plant growth compared to HPS in the “veg” stage. • Metal halides deliver, on average, about 80,000-110,000 lumens per standard 1,000-watt bulb. For the same wattage, HPS bulbs delivers about 130,000-155,000 lumens. This increased light output far outweighs other considerations when trying to maximize plant growth indoors under electric light.
I was eyeing some 600w/400w hps/mh combo lights for when I need to replace lights next a pepper or tomato plant could be a little leggier under only an hps, but nothing I'd worry about unless it becomes an issue Really though LED needs to fast forward about 30 years and the indoor gardening game would be too delux
so grape vines.... anybody have em, have tips on how to trim em back? and when here in Texas? I planted this vine about 4 years ago, never realized I should be trimming it back, so it has grown pretty long now and branches out all over, but has never produced a single grape I figure that is because I have never trimmed it back
We have a few grape plants. Haven't ever really done much. We also have some blueberry and blackberry plants. Yield is very weak but maybe it's because of our location? There isbsobmuch clay here its awful.
For SC, but good info. http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/vegetables/small_fruits/hgic1402.html
I've decided I'm doing a garden this year. Going to buy the supplies this weekend, and me and the GF are going to try and build an above-ground one next weekend. Help me out with my shopping list. I want to do a raised bed, think it'd be the safest. Wouldn't buying one of these be easier than constructing one on your own? I assume they sell them at lowes/home depot. What about soil? I am completely new to this, and going to read up this weekend, but need to get pointed in the right direction. Anything to look out for re: types of soil? I'm going to try and keep it simple for my first attempt: (a) 1-2 types of peppers (b) jalapenos (c) kale. Honestly not a big tomato eater, so probably going to pass on those. What else would be good for a beginner, or is that good as-is? Definitely don't want to overdue it this first attempt. Was going to put chicken wire or something similar around the edge of it to keep my dog from eating/pissing in it. I also have a lot of squirrels in my neighborhood, any advice on preventative measures? Also any other miscellaneous advice would be much appreciated. What kind of price range should I be looking at for wood/bed, soil, and everything else?
I did this last year. It's easy enough to make one yourself if you have a mitre saw. Moving the 15 or so yards of soil was a bitch though. Get it delivered exactly to were you need it if possible. I think I paid 16/yd. I'm looking into fencing for this year because the deer got into my tomatoes last year. I trained my dog to not go into the garden and I didn't have any problems with squirrels, but the birds were relentless always stealing my blueberries. http://the-mainboard.com/index.php?threads/new-official-gardening-thread.120533/page-5#post-8858391
Try some cherry tomatoes, the taste difference between home grown and grocery store is drastic. Can't hardly eat them from the grocery store but the ones from my garden I'll eat like snacks.
BamaNug How big are you going to make it? If it's not going to be bigger than 6 x 6, 2 yards of soil should fill it up. When you go to your local garden center (if you have one), make sure you get the gardening compost and not just the regular filler compost. The center near my house had both kinds and I went with the cheap filler compost. All last summer, I was digging candy wrappers and other odd bits of trash out of it. If you have any experience with building stuff, it's easy enough to make your own. Question for CharlieKelly and anyone else who knows tomatoes: I'm looking for a good canner. High yield, large fruit, and resistant to fusilarium wilt and early blight. Any suggestions?
My yard is entirely clay so I built boxes last year for the first time. If you have a power drill, would recommend just building your own boxes. I made 3 boxes 4'x6'x4" each. Recommend using cedar as its not pressure treated (you don't want the chemicals in your soil) and has a higher resistance to rotting, it will eventually but not as quickly. Lowes sells 10'x4"x1" sections of cedar, so I needed 2 boards per box and had them cut a 4' section off each, then wood screws in each end to hold it together. (Make sure your boards are straight) Also screwed in some stakes in each corner to prevent the box from moving across the ground, 2"x1"x8" long. Way cheaper than any kit in the end plus it will last longer. I had to go the bagged dirt route for my top soil because the local place in town couldn't get into the field in time for me to plant. I used the giant bags of miracle grow, 64qt size and it took 3 per box to fill half way but the soil was great, just expensive. Plants: should try at least 1 tomato plant, early girls are super easy (slicing tomato) and sun sugars (grape tomato) are amazing. Also Strawberries are good, but really won't get the payoff till year 2 and they do well in a container, squash and cucumbers are easy, broccoli is great but it stretches out, like squash. Banana peppers and jalapenos produced really well for me, bell peppers not so much. Favorite part of my first year garden were my bush (green) beans, make sure you get string less type. Melons need a lot of water to really grow up and be good, they really really stretch out. Onions, raddishes and carrots all go in the ground so you need a lot of soil to get a good crop, your box would need to be pretty deep to use them. I ended up digging up part of my yard and replacing it with the miracle dirt to give the plants space to grow. I tried a lot of things my first year which was fun, excited about this year.
This is my plan for this year so far. Still need to decide which tomatoes are going in and adding a 4th box as well. Adding Nappa cabbage, Zuchinni, Egg Plant, Cauliflower and red onions plus the new Tomatoes. The 2 beds at the top are my in-ground beds.
Probably not very big for my first attempt, most likely 6x6. I'm not exactly a handyman, but it also looks pretty easy to construct yourself, and it'd just be something fun to do. How long did it take you to build this, a few hours? How much did the wood cost for one box?
I've got a raised bed that my wife talked me into layering cardboard into three weeks ago, to provide more organic material for worms and stuff. The rain immediately quit so it hasn't broken down at all. Supposed to rain tomorrow. I can grow just about anything in that bed. I've got a 25'x30' area tilled up behind it that's always a good garden too. The raised bed is about 5x10' and it took maybe $20 worth of lumber. I got non treated wood and rubbed it with linseed oil I already had before I put it together. It's seven years old and probably has a couple more years left, no biggie. Some years I keep the whole garden set up and rolling from March til November with everything I can from cold weather crops to typical summer stuff. Other years I let it get away from me and it all goes to hell around August and I say fuck it. Either way it's a lot of fun and I don't sweat it too hard. Start off with a small raised bed and start you some easy early spring crops like radishes or spinach or something that germinates and grows fast, just to see some success.
for the soil here is what I'd do, first go to express and get yourself some clean bracelets seriously though, some rough numbers here for a good mix that will grow just about anything better than bagged soil unless you're spending a lot more on said bagged stuff.. just a little more leg work, but mixing dirt is good for ya -peat moss 33% -topsoil 20-33% -good (thermal) compost ~20% -smaller breweries give away rice hulls, they make a good aeration amendment and break down in time. 0-15% depending on the consistency of the above three. peat is airy so it would work without -a couple of buckets worth of fine sand/river bottom silt or clay if your topsoil heavy clay or sand -if it's around add some leaf litter that would work beautifully if the compost is worth a shit. I would check craigslist and see if there is a worm guy or someone making proper compost or as mentioned gardening compost from a nursery depending on the quality of the compost it should have take care of calcium and trace minerals, but see if you can't find some crab shell meal. good source of calcium, it's made out of chitin which is the same thing aphids and other pests are made of.. which means the microorganisms that break down the shell are in abundance in your bed, thus slowly consuming the exoskeletons of pests. also it signals to the plant that it is under attack which boosts the plants' natural defenses, preparing it for a fight that never comes. pests naturally attack weaker plants. gypsum also works for Ca without the other benefits. or oyster shell meal used to feed chickens from a feed store. Ca is important. Also some kelp or dried & chopped seaweed if you're by the coast there in AL, both contain almost every trace mineral. great stuff
They can cut the wood into the dimensions you need at Lowe's, right? Another question: what about a compost pile/box? I've always thought that it'd make sense to recycle like broccoli stems/asparagus ends/other pieces of veggies that you don't eat. Anybody tried one?
I've got one of these http://www.amazon.com/Yimby-Tumbler...F8&qid=1455453165&sr=8-2&keywords=compost+bin It's worked pretty well. I just put the compost in with the seeds when I plant them. I know other people that have the trash can ones that they like too.
did the same as Boar with pallets at my old place. in the back behind this mess of plants and daddy fat sacks pup takes quite a bit of matter to heat up and breakdown proper or a lot of time. Planning to start messing with bokashi composting this spring for my food scraps. plus if you've got animal or dairy waste the bokashi will handle that while it's not the best for piles. will then feed that to my worms. a couple of buckets stacked with holes in top one, add the scraps and bokashi bran, then drain the bottom catch bucket as needed. this article explains it pretty well
oh like this? stick my chest out real tough like looking all stoic and shit.. ya bitches will love that. too bad I don't have nuts -inner thoughts of rosco
I emptied it last year so it doesn't have much in it now, but it's been handy. My wife actually uses it more than I do.
Another question: I think I'm going to do two 6x4 boxes, and then maybe a compost box/pile (need to read up more on it). Speak to me of buying seeds versus buying plants already started for you. Is it fairly difficult to grow the seedlings? I think for one box I'm going to try seeds from the start, and for the 2nd box do plants so that I'll at least grow something (hopefully). My current schedule is: -2 peppers -jalapenos -squash and/or zuchini -eggplant -cherry tomatoes -maybe lettuce/kale/some greens.
I'd buy the (bell?) peppers, eggplants, jalapeños, and tomatoes since you're starting off. The rest grow easy from seed planted direct, as long as you're on schedule. If you go to a local nursery, you can get better deals and better variety than big box stores. Since you're starting small, you could go to a Home Depot if you wanted and still not be out a lot of money. I've started seeds before when I want a particular variety of tomato or pepper, or when I'm planning to plant a shitload of em. Most times I'll just buy a flat of plants from a nursery and mix and match whatever they've got. Look up your state's garden calendar if you haven't already. Usually your co-op extension office will have a year long planting guide that's handy, along with a ton of other useful information about weed/pest control, etc.
Bell Yea, I have a planting calendar I'm loosely following. I'm in a very warm climate with lots of rain, and have plenty of time. It also looks like I dont necessarily need to start planting for 3-4 weeks. Is there any drawback to building the boxes, and going ahead and filling th with soil, and then letting them sit for a few weeks? Or should I wait to fill the boxes until I'm about to plant?
Might want to check extension from state universities in Alabama. UF hort puts out a good amount of information on Florida crops for growers and gardeners, easy to find with google.
sooner the better also, water it in good once you get it in. gotta let those microbes wake up and get to work
Like blotter said, sooner the better, also lets the worms find it. Gives you an excuse to work in the yard this time of year too. Having said that, if you build it, pile good dirt in it and soak, then plant it the same day, you'll probably still get fruit out of it. When I built my raised bed, I peeled off the top layer of grass then took a pickaxe and broke the ground up directly underneath. I used 2x10 lumber so the top is 10" deep from the natural ground (9-1/4" I know), but I broke up ground at least 16" beneath that. I can grow some good deep rooted vegetables in it. Moreso than my regular garden.