next crop

[daveb]

Haha oh no! A "failure" due to it thriving so well, haha. Good on ya mate.

lol ya well i should have thought ahead and done my original plan to just start the tomatoes there then move them ha ha ha ooops, and compounded with leg its making it rough to bend down to the channel and reach in so need to do one of two thing raise them so i can putter around while standing or lower them so proper level while slide a kitchen chair over and sit to work in beds, its too deep front to back to work easy for me with leg now. so a minor revision coming. go from growing too slow to too much i cant get a happy medium this time

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

I think I'd take growing too much over too slow. Can always cut down the excess, but can't stretch the lack.

 

[daveb]

other thing i am doing is just snapping leafs off as i do a salad instead of full cut and watching how it progresses. i am noticing a higher lvl of water use but also its been extreme burst of growth, last week i have had a couple salads a day and yesterday snapped off a bunch for neighbor enough for about 4 salads, The suggested amount is 4 oz of lettuce per salad with other vegetables also in it but just lettuce herbs and the dressing i do 6 oz. . Also been using lettuce in sandwiches so this time I am growing less then the normal amount i set herbs and tomatoes into this same bed so slightly more then half the normal amount of lettuces but still way more then i need.

 

[daveb]

ok so like i was saying it went from growing slow and then got out of control. from channels to the light panel it 13.5 inches ( 34cm ). i was pollinating tomatoes more just a few minutes ago. also you can see how i am taking leafs now off lettuce to harvest for salad but i need to cut them back more they herbs in the back and getting over run ...... yes the back channel is all herbs ha ha ha not that they can be seen. plus noticing lowest leafs on the lettuce getting shaded out

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Wowza! They look amazing though!

 

[daveb]

i surrender lol i cant keep up with lettuce now that it got a good foot hold lol, and tomatoes are showing nice starts lights are at 19 inches up i think i have to measure

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

They look amazing

 

[daveb]

so was in again today pollinating and they ones forming have gotten much more pronounced growth

rear plant, looking under leafs of front plant , and overall to the tomatoes in the corner of bed

 

[daveb]

well finally cut back the lettuce to start another batch, it was getting out of hand more then 2 of use could eat even with 3 salads a day cut, just taking side bottom leave was good to a point but the plants got too tall and the simpson black seed was starting to take on slight bitterness which tells me it was about to bolt.
Mandy you had asked at one point how far root run in the channel, the front channel the second plant from left is a dwarf tomato then 2 lettuces last 2 dwarf tomatoes each spaced 8 inches apart, roots from the left hand dwarf have grown down the channel past the two lettuce and tangle with and gown past tomatoes 24 inches away. Where the roots passed under the two lettuce in-between it actually lifted the lettuce net pots about 1/4 to 5 /16 inch up out of the drilled channel. I raised one lettuce to look at the tomato roots and the roots at 16 inches away they are the size of a pencil lead at largest but most are about 1/2 the diameter of pencil lead so i would judge roughly 1mm in size and a nice healthy cream /cream white color root

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Oh my - that's a lot of lettuce. You could almost sell those for gold, haha.
Yeah, they don't taste too good once they go bitter, so best to replace them. And you can always get seeds when needed if you let them bolt anyway.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

You know what, it's been a while. How have your plants been doing @daveb ? The weather has been weird here. Even if I'd indoor-gardened it'd be too hot. And that for Winter!

 

[daveb]

actually ive been right after them but with this heat i have been taking pic been cut a bunch each day and pick some tomatoes, with the lettuce tomatoes and herbs i've had a lot of salads . heat really isnt a factor inside ive ac units in other rooms the cool enough it helps to lower the temps in the grow areas. biggest factor i have if it also lowers humidity so had to add a drop film on front so its pretty much fully enclosed and monitor the water levels a bit mow often

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Ah yeah. We've been dry the past week or so too, and with the heat, air moisture is ridiculously low at the moment. I think last night it was only 30% humidity. And that for the (sub) tropics!

 

[daveb]

well bee updating equipment and doing some minor repairs, developed a power issue to 2 strips of the light panel i made so had to clean the contacts and re-crimp them on the strips, in process of remaking nutrient manifold going to get away from the 8 tube heads and make 4 tap offs to connect tubing to in the PVC pipe and use a ball valve to adjust flow

So prepping for some heavy duty growing , waiting for filament to come in for 3d printer and will be making lids to cover my net pots to cut down on light on the growing media and less chance of algae issue into nutrient solution , I have used a few ways off and on in various plant cups one of which is sealing top of net pots with painters tape. below shows net pot - rockwool plug vial and a semi finished grow set up for grow pot.


Have new plant beds in process of being put together which will expand me to 10 racks 3 tier high so just under 800 growing slots on NFT to grow and share with elderly and a few friends and those with around that can use the assistance to put some fresh produce on table for their kids. so will be doing some lettuces, Tomatoes , herbs, some dwarf egg plant, and hopefully I can find a dwarf / miniature sweet pepper to try. if anyone know a good variety of a small sweet pepper plant variety let me know

so for seed starting i use a 40 dram plastic vial they use in pharmacies for meds, picked up a couple cases. They fit a 2 inch net cup pretty good although this net pot has a slightly wider top area due to longer lower net cup.

I mark where a the liquid level in vial come up the lower net as shown then as the net cup with rockwool growing media is inserted it draws water up into the rockwool , after an X slit will get cut in top and poke a hole to plant seed in and that is it. one flat down 29 to go for when get set to start seeds. soon as filament gets here for 3d printer i will be making two piece lids to cover the top of pot



so i have a little jig that fits snug on the top of pot and just cut slits with a razor knife and center can fit a 3 mm round dibbler to poke a hole, then just peel tape back and plant seeds

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

Hopefully the repairs were pretty quick and easy.
I look forward to see what you'll be growing! Anything new?

My jalapeno seedlings just emerged, so I'm pretty excited for those.

 

[daveb]

yes got them done and doing some moving around of stuff but i think i will re do light set up slightly a bit later actually cutting back a little on this one because have a whole section with other nft area to tend also

 

[daveb]

going to take one section over to side to test some various head lettuce. Have some tom thumb head lettuce iceberg great lakes and white boston i will try a couple plants, and starting some strawberry plats to mess with also. and trying another variety of dwarf tomato , a dwarf eggplant and looking for a dwarf pepper variety of a sweet pepper

 

[daveb]

was browsing and ran across some links that may interest a few so tossing them up here many of these have heirloom or older seeds that are hard to find. the first is site i found with a break down of various dwarf or micro plants

Have a Small-Space Garden? Try Dwarf Vegetable Varieties - Fine Gardening

I just happen to have handy some dwarf-sized vegetable suggestions.

www.finegardening.com

Bring Your Garden to Life with Rare and Heirloom Seeds

Discover a collection of 1000+ pure, natural, and non-GMO heirloom seeds for your garden. Grow a variety of flowers, vegetables, and herbs with ease!

www.rareseeds.com

Collections

Pepper Joe's has the world's hottest pepper seeds: Carolina Reaper, Ghost, Habanero. Plus rare seed varieties, live plants, fresh peppers, and spicy snacks.

pepperjoe.com

Collections

We sell hot pepper seeds including: hottest pepper seeds, chile pepper seeds, Hatch chile seeds, sweet pepper seeds and Heirloom tomato seeds. All GMO-free!

www.sandiaseed.com

Collections

West Coast Seeds: Untreated seeds for organic growing - hundreds of non-GMO vegetable, flower, and herb seeds and organic growing and sustainable farming.

www.westcoastseeds.com

Welcome to the store

Collections

Offering a wide variety of modern and heirloom/open-pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds.

victoryseeds.com

Johnny’s Selected Seeds | Supporting Farms & Gardens Since 1973

Johnny's helps growers and gardeners succeed with superior seeds, tools and service. Quality vegetable, herb and flower seeds including certified organic seed.

www.johnnyseeds.com

Ohio Heirloom Seeds

Whether you're a seasoned green thumb or just starting out, we have everything you need to cultivate your perfect garden.

ohioheirloomseeds.com

Shop – Heritage Seed Market

 

[daveb]

and if wonder some of the variety of plants past / present grown in hydroponics here is a list, have added a few additional ones coming in or recently arrive and not on list

 

[daveb]

Not dropping the growing but some of the beds i have use and shown here , like the deep water cultures and the NFT will be more long term growing and experiments - pepper, tomatoes, egg plants, strawberries along with some others type plants to give a steady and longer yielding sustainable crop and more control of rotating plants as needed.