My little grow op

[Nick Freeman]

So I figured that I should be moving out of the introduction section and starting to post elsewhere (here) until I get into hydroponics.

A quick update right now before logging off for the night.

People kept saying I was wasting my time and that red peppers wouldn't sprout from store pepper but almost the entire row came up quickly!

Here's the state of my Jalepeno's at the moment. I'm excited about these!

My 3 happy looking (in my mind at least) tomatoes.

The best legs I've seen in basil! If that was only a good thing. When I transplant them I'll burry them down a bit. But they were bad before my new lights came in.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Love the progression and steady imrpovements!

I have had success growing from storebought bell peppers, and they even fruited. I didn't take care of it so it died after only the one fruit (this was in my early, early days), but I bet it could do just fine.

The tomatoes still have a little leggy-ness but thankfully they do awesome being buried deep as they will grow roots from the stem, so I wouldn't worry too much and just see how you go with the new improvements.
The basil looks a little leggy too, but they could be just fine. I've found that when I grow basil they are really sun-loving plants and never seem to get enough. I grew them in my most sunny locations. Basil also does awesome being trained to grow more bushy. On top of that it's awesome to take cuttings from and grow more! I have actually showed how to do that with Lemon Balm once upon a time, but it works the same for basil;

Growing in pots! Hi everyone :)

I love what youre saying about cuttings. I need to do that too. I have really old thyme and rosemary plants and have been looking in to how to propogate them to ensure I always have newer plants around. I love the idea of gifting cuttings to people what a great idea for gifts. I do some...

www.selfsufficientculture.com

 

[Nick Freeman]

The Bush beans and snow Peas are coming along nicely!

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Love it 😍

Are you keeping them in that container, or intending to plant them outside? I've got my first ever peas seeded now.

 

[Nick Freeman]

They're staying in the pots. A bit of an experiment to see how they do. I work up to 14 hours a day and 2 hours of commute so I'm not home enough to harden thing off for out side. I'll be planting some outside once past the frosts to see how they do.

This is why I'm so interested in hydroponics. That I can tend to them when I'm able and I know they'll have what they need while I'm at work.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Fair enough - I've got mine in pots too. Though I don't seem to have any luck at sprouting them... perhaps because of the dry spell because my hoses broke..

Yeah! Definitely talk to @daveb he is awesome at those! And knowing how kind he is, he will likely be happy to help you along at least a little

 

[daveb]

the peppers will grow but be aware of one minor issue you may find, they might now be identical to the ones you get seeds from.

some peppers tomatoes and other produce in big farms for profit are hybrids the as a result the plant grow fast produce more heavier crops but very often then seeds are not viable but when they are many times they will revert to one of the parent plants. if they were to cross the plant multiple generations back the lock the traits then the seeds would produce identical to what you ate. for a number of years i grew numerous test plants peppers and tomatoes documenting the traits for seed company and all the conditions while growing and i did find out that some seeds you get for special applications and some sales for average gardeners is a one shot hybrid made to boost that one growing season and nothing more and they pollinated plants to make more seeds for next year over and over and no real stock on hand.

plants look 100% better bud still a little leggy but that in part was they got leggy to start with if you can bring lights down so about 2 inches above the plant and 4 inches at most and take those tomatoes into a pot where you can bury them about 3/4 to 1 inch below the bottom leaf and all that stem will become root.

one trick when you do plant out side. Plant the tomatoes horizontal leaving 2 or 3 sets of leafs above ground, planting this way is an effective way to make plants stronger, especially leggy ones. Roots will form along the buried portion of the stem. it also solves the chance of placing root ball deeply into cold soil.
get your area prepped to plant till or turned over so it can dry and warm you would gain a huge advantage lay a strip of black plastic where going to plant then bend sone light poly or pvc tube in to ground to make a hoop and cover with clear plastic and weight edges down with some 2x4 basically making mini tunnel green house , when ready to plant pull plastic back and one of two cut slits in black plastic to plant or pick it up. advantage if you get enough real hot days you can bake most weed seeds or get then to germintae early expose them to frost to kill them off so less weeding for a little while.

so you have the same idea as the cold frame they made here

 

[Nick Freeman]

I should really do that! I have some 6 mil poly vapor barrier from by basement reno that I'm doing that I could use.

I'm building a couple raised beds for the sunny front yard 4' x 2' and about 15" off the ground. Do you think setting up a tunnel will help on the raised bed?

 

[daveb]

I should really do that! I have some 6 mil poly vapor barrier from by basement reno that I'm doing that I could use.

I'm building a couple raised beds for the sunny front yard 4' x 2' and about 15" off the ground. Do you think setting up a tunnel will help on the raised bed?

yes extent something like 1 in pvc down along the 2x4 and slip 3/8 or 1/2 pvc in and make a hoop like they did here in this photo . if you orient it east west so the long face is lined with sun path , on lower half on back cover with reflective Mylar plus the plastic to keep as much sun in to warm it. just make sure when you put plants in to remove the mylar or angle it so it is indirect light so you do not bake your plant

 

[Nick Freeman]

So here comes a little update. Some small steady progress. I ate my first Lettuce leaf! I bought a couple small fans for airflow! Been looking for small cheap fans and stumbled over these.

One of my Chives and my mint has this stuff growing on it. Do you know if it's moss or mold or what?

As well 2 of my potted basil seem to have died. Maybe too much water not enough air? Not sure the fans just got bought and set up last night and they were already toast..

The Thai basil in the pot is looking small but healthy.. and the basil still in the tray are Exploding... as is the Oregano.

Also added some other shots of the rest of the grows.

 

[Sunflowers]

Hi there it looks like moss to me. Its nice n green. I love how you grew plants from the so called helpless supermarket seeds. LOL.

 

[Nick Freeman]

I'm really excited to see what comes from them. As Dave said I'm not sure if they're a cross breed and what I'll get but I'll document and save seeds from the ones that I like!

I've also ordered myself a masterblend hydroponics formula kit from a Canadian company! That makes me happy because free shipping is a nice break. They were also the only place that I could find with it in stock at the moment. I'm planning some kratky method tomatoes, peppers and Lettuce to start until I see some success and save up money for pumps and other equipment for and NFT and Bayto bucket setup.

 

[daveb]

I'm really excited to see what comes from them. As Dave said I'm not sure if they're a cross breed and what I'll get but I'll document and save seeds from the ones that I like!

I've also ordered myself a masterblend hydroponics formula kit from a Canadian company! That makes me happy because free shipping is a nice break. They were also the only place that I could find with it in stock at the moment. I'm planning some kratky method tomatoes, peppers and Lettuce to start until I see some success and save up money for pumps and other equipment for and NFT and Bayto bucket setup.

you can do nft system your self simple enough the vinyl downspout i got at home depot. and they also have submersible pond pumps.
the Krakty system is the bug that bit me so to speak years ago on hydroponics I met Dr Bernard Kratky out on hawaii you have also in my article probaly hear me mention a float method or deep water culture they are all similar kratky - deepwater and float.

a couple ways you can start if you want to go deep water or Krakty system, Main key is K.I.S.S. system aka ( keep it simple stupid ) whether it is water jugs painted to block light from getting to the nutrient liquid , plastic storage tote bins , or a wooden 2x8 frame a simp-le bottom and lined with heavy poly plastic film and a foam board flat on top floating ....

main thing is what you feel comfortable with and repeatable i have grown tomatoes - pepper - egg plant - herbs and more in the water jugs be warned not suggested for pepper and extreme water using plants , a five gallon pail or the tote bins would be better

plastic water jugs



plastic bins from home depot ( 4 fit barely inside a 52 inch long frame )



simple 2x8 frames




starter cups to root cuttings

 

[JP 1983]

Moss pops up as cooler weather approaches. It'll die back again in midsummer. Its mostly harmless. You can peel the moss off with your hand and move it to some shady place in your garden if you dont like them growing there.

 

[Nick Freeman]

@daveb you really met him? Thats cool as hell! It must have been a very informative time? I think i have to get me some netcups to plant in. I think the extruded clay balls may be the most cost effective method for filling them. I was thinking those exact home depot totes! Easy for me to grab before leaving one day and rather adorable. I also thought home depot buckets might work.

@JP 1983 Thanks! I was moat worried it was a type of mold... It seemed to green for that though. But I may just remove it as you said.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I'd say it's moss as well, though it seems others have already informed you.
I love having moss around, I just think it looks pretty, haha. And I believe it can help soak up rain and ensure the ground below stays moist.

 

[JP 1983]

Actually, moss is one of the best water absorbers going around, up to 20× its own weight! That's why sphagnum gets used for some potting mixes.

 

[Nick Freeman]

Woot! Today is the start of something wonderful!

And Diesel thinks it's for him...

But is for me.

My Hydroponic Neautriants have arrived!

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Sweet!

 

[daveb]

Woot! Today is the start of something wonderful! View attachment 9304

And Diesel thinks it's for him...
View attachment 9305

But is for me.
View attachment 9306
My Hydroponic Neautriants have arrived!

same content as the masterblend so for lettuces and herbs per galloon , the fertilizer 4-18-38 and calcium nitrate 2 grams each - and the magnesium sulfate ( epsom salt ) 1 gram, for tomatoes and peppers the fertilizer 4-18-38 and calcium nitrate 2.4 grams each - and the magnesium sulfate ( epsom salt ) 1.2 gram. this should give you an EC ( electrical conductivity ) of aprox ec of source water + 2.1 if you have an ec meter . and then adjust PH if needed to 6 to 6.5 range.