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Post by lynnee on Feb 9, 2024 20:12:54 GMT -5
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mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661
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Post by mike on Feb 9, 2024 20:39:56 GMT -5
Setup looks good. You have any issues with leaking where the feed tube enters the bucket? I could never get that to last long before it started leaking.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 9, 2024 20:46:42 GMT -5
Are you using the AG grow light panel with that setup, scarfguy? Seems like it should work great.
Today I started more seeds for my outside raised beds using some regular seed starter soil in plastic trays, as well as tomato seeds in a Harvest seed starter. I have 2 Harvest seed starters, one Sprout seed starter, and a Harvest slim seed starter so I should have plenty of seedlings once I get everything going.
My broccolini plants are looking good but no sign of any "heads" yet. It can take up to 90 days and they are at Day 56. Sorry this picture looks purple-ish; I didn't turn the light hoods off before taking the pic...
Here's a 181-Day old mega cherry tomato garden. I have gotten TONS of great little tomatoes off of these and had planned to terminate... but then I noticed a new crop of flower buds today so it gets to hang around a little longer.
I got the new Bounty Basic a couple of days ago and transplanted two banana pepper plants into it. When I say I am maxed out on "Garden Room Real Estate" I am not kidding.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 9, 2024 21:50:47 GMT -5
Setup looks good. You have any issues with leaking where the feed tube enters the bucket? I could never get that to last long before it started leaking.
I assembled the unit and filled it with water to the top to see if the plug leaked. So far so good.
You can see in the pic that I have a small tray under the plug just in case. that's large enough to catch a drip but not big enough to hold the entire 3.5 gallons!
In anticipation of the worst, I bought a tube of marine caulk!
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 9, 2024 21:59:24 GMT -5
Are you using the AG grow light panel with that setup, scarfguy? Seems like it should work great.
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I have an AG light panel at the top of the rack just to provide ambient light. For growth lighting, I have one of these bad boys about a foot above the plant:
It's 250 Watts. I've got it set at 50%. I've never had to use it any higher than that. It throws a lot of heat though.
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Feb 9, 2024 23:46:32 GMT -5
When I say I am maxed out on "Garden Room Real Estate" I am not kidding.
You have reached the point of Aerosaturation.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 10, 2024 13:38:47 GMT -5
When I say I am maxed out on "Garden Room Real Estate" I am not kidding.
You have reached the point of Aerosaturation. Indeed. And the electric meter's a-whirling.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 10, 2024 13:44:40 GMT -5
Today I ditched the sage plants (2) in a Harvest Elite, then cleaned the machine and started some more Red Robin cherry tomatoes. I'm about to terminate some Veranda Reds that are in a Bounty, then start Sweet Heat peppers in that one. For some reason I don't like the Veranda Reds so I won't do them again. They produced well but the plants just don't look pretty like the Totems and Red Robins.
I'm also thinking of terminating a really big poblano plant in my Farm. If the root ball will come out of the plastic cage I will transplant it outside. It is blooming but not a single pepper in sight. The last AG poblano I grew had small peppers on it and I want the big, stuffable poblanos. I have a grocery store pepper in the fridge so I'm going to save those seeds and see what I can do.
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mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661
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Post by mike on Feb 10, 2024 14:21:13 GMT -5
Are you using a bloom booster for your Poblano, SLW? I use GH Liquid KoolBloom on all of my pepper plants. This stuff is great. But do not use the recommended amount. It recommends between 2.5 and 5 ml per gallon. My first use I had a plant that wasn't producing, like you are. I had a large fully grown Aji Limon pepper plant. I added 5 ml per gallon (10 ml per Farm it was growing in). It shocked the plant and it dropped ALL blooms. I changed the water. Then I started at 1 ml per gallon, (2 ml). I have come to the conclusion that (for me) it works best when at 28 day I add 1 ml per gallon. Then, 2 weeks later I add 2 ml per gallon. Each feeding after that, I add 2-1/2 ml per gallon. GH Liquid KoolBloom
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 10, 2024 15:27:20 GMT -5
Are you using a bloom booster for your Poblano, SLW? I use GH Liquid KoolBloom on all of my pepper plants. This stuff is great. But do not use the recommended amount. It recommends between 2.5 and 5 ml per gallon. My first use I had a plant that wasn't producing, like you are. I had a large fully grown Aji Limon pepper plant. I added 5 ml per gallon (10 ml per Farm it was growing in). It shocked the plant and it dropped ALL blooms. I changed the water. Then I started at 1 ml per gallon, (2 ml). I have come to the conclusion that (for me) it works best when at 28 day I add 1 ml per gallon. Then, 2 weeks later I add 2 ml per gallon. Each feeding after that, I add 2-1/2 ml per gallon. GH Liquid KoolBloomFor the most part, I only use AG nutes in everything, Mike. Occasionally I add a bit of food-grade hydrogen peroxide. The only time I tried Kool Bloom I killed a perfectly healthy plant so I never used it again. I'm sure that was my error but I don't like to make things any more complicated or my hobby starts to feel like a job.
Since I'm on the cusp of terminating that poblano, I'll try some Kool Bloom in the tank and see what happens. I appreciate the tips!
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 11, 2024 14:43:42 GMT -5
ISSUES OF THE DAY...
So today, I terminated the Bush Champion II tomato plant. I screwed up again... about 2 weeks ago I did the first R&R. The seedlings were only about 6 inches tall. I forgot to wait until my RO water had come up to room temperature. This time of year, the tap water is really cold. I did the R&R and about an hour later, the seedlings were laying on the deck! I nursed them for the next two weeks but they never really recovered from the shock. I decided today, it wasn't worth the effort. Time to move on... I cleaned the AG and planted a yellow taxi tomato. This was my first tomato plant a couple of years ago and, as it turns out, it was better than any tomatoes I've grown since.
=== My yellow wax bush beans will be ready for harvest this week. Beans really grow fast. Ready at about 50 days. Last time I planted 2 in a bounty. This time I tried to grow 3. That's one too many. They grew quite well but as they are maturing, they are pushing each other apart. They are now leaning off of the sides of the AG and may break the stalk at the deck line.
2 work great in a bounty. I'm thinking about trying to grow 1 plant in a harvest XL. Since they have only been growing to about a foot tall, it should work well.
=== The cantaloupe vine I transplanted to the DWC a couple of days ago is STILL ALIVE! I hope it continues to do well and enjoy the additional root space. The other 3 melon vines each have 1 large maturing melon. 2 of them each have 2 more small melons developing. I learned a lot by using my dissolved oxygen meter. As the AG bowl becomes full of roots, the pump is unable to move the volume of water necessary to keep the oxygen up. (I can't really lift the deck to trim the roots because the vines are well established on the netting and lifting the deck may damage the stalk.) I added an air pump and air stones to each AG to supplement the pump. They are working very well and raising the dissolved oxygen to acceptable levels.
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Post by lynnee on Feb 11, 2024 20:22:11 GMT -5
scarfguy, I'm looking forward to more melon, bean, and tomato pics! Just wondering about your flattened seedlings: Did you prop them up with little wire trellises when you first found them? That has always resuscitated my extra-sensitive seedlings.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 11, 2024 20:30:59 GMT -5
scarfguy , I'm looking forward to more melon, bean, and tomato pics! Just wondering about your flattened seedlings: Did you prop them up with little wire trellises when you first found them? That has always resuscitated my extra-sensitive seedlings.
I thought it was really odd. All the leaves wilted at first, then after 24 hours the plant perked up all but the bottom leaves. Over the next two days, they curled, withed and dried up. Then the new growth that had originally perked up started to curl, wither, and dry up. It continued to try and grow new leaves but every time they would curled up and wilt (kinda like edema). My only thought was that I did some permanent damage to the roots. It was not really recovering at all.
Cut my losses and moved on.
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mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661
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Post by mike on Feb 12, 2024 7:18:25 GMT -5
Yesterday, I cleaned and sanitized my last Farm basin. I have water running through it now.
I was going to grow Red Veined and French Sorrel. Those are smaller plants than I thought. Plus, I read they have a sour taste to them. Now I need to figure out what to grow.
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 12, 2024 10:06:03 GMT -5
BEAN HARVEST DAY!
These could go a little longer but I'm concerned about the weight of the fruit breaking the stems.
As I said above, I tried to plant 3 plants in a bounty. As they matured, they pushed each other off the sides of the deck. Stick with 2 plants per bounty. Also, the yield from 3 plants is about the same as my previous crop from 2 plants. I don't know if that is due to them being planted too dense OR if it is just the difference in yield from one variety to the other. These are Gold Rush wax beans from the Etsy seller BoxGardenSeedsLLC. I left quite a bit of unripe beans so we'll see if I can get another small harvest next week.
Today is day 42. With such a short growth period, you can really dedicate a couple of AGs to bush bean production and have a nice side dish every few weeks.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 13, 2024 15:49:59 GMT -5
I terminated the chard garden today and after a good cleaning I started two AG mega cherry tomatoes (Totem) in that Bounty. I seem to be losing my enthusiasm for the AGs :gasp:, so I probably should have just let that one sit in dry dock for a while.
Tomorrow I'm ditching the Veranda Reds tomato plants; I won't grow those again.
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mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661
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Post by mike on Feb 13, 2024 16:35:09 GMT -5
It goes in cycles for me. I did just order some new herb seeds. That will fill the last open Farm.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Feb 14, 2024 10:12:32 GMT -5
It goes in cycles for me. I did just order some new herb seeds. That will fill the last open Farm. I guess it's just my personality; I tend to go overboard with stuff and then get overwhelmed. I have nearly 30 gardens that are active right now so that's a lot of upkeep. I just need to scale things back, especially since it's almost time to plant my outside gardens.
I have a seed order coming today, too. I ordered some potato seeds which I plan to start in grow bags. I have never grown potatoes from seeds!
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Post by scarfguy on Feb 14, 2024 10:28:04 GMT -5
I have a seed order coming today, too. I ordered some potato seeds which I plan to start in grow bags. I have never grown potatoes from seeds!
Has anybody ever considered growing tuber crops (potatoes) or bulbs (tulips) in an AG by removing the pump and the deck and filling the bowl with soil
Basically, you are just using the AG as a pot with a timed grow light.
Clovis Sangrail might find this is a good way to grow a whole bunch of green onions!
(Notice that I used the term "green onions" just to aggravate Clovis!...cause everyone knows by now that: Some people call them green onions, but really, they're scallions. )
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Feb 14, 2024 12:59:41 GMT -5
I can report that my cilantro does seem to be doing somewhat better in my office than in the kitchen! There are still brown, dry spots, but there are also a few sprigs without, that could actually be harvested for a change. It's doubled in size since I cut it back to near nothing. Maybe we just need to LOSE WINTER for my cilantro to grow! Unfortunately, sounds like we may get some snow this evening.... The microgreens are growing, but aren't very tall at 9 days, around an inch or so high. One side looks quite lush, the other less so. I added nutrients on day 4 and also made sure to pH balance. Yesterday, at 8 days:Did a rinse and refill and general clean up of the Italian Dandelions yesterday. One that flopped over, is upright again this morning. I removed two non-thriving plants, repositioned another that was growing, but very, very spindly, and got roots out of the water level sensor. I'm going to harvest some greens for juice in a bit and lower the lights.
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