Farmhouse

The latest stage of life has been just to keep house, work and day to day tasks going.  I haven't had much time other than to maintain the hydro plants.  I had some more tomatoes and lettuce for a salad.  The arugala was lost due to aphids, so that went outside and unfortunately just was the way it was to be for them.  The cilantro was saved, and short of some neem and some soapy water, it almost got buggy too.

My big update just has to do with the new greenhouse.  I received it last week, picture to follow and got it setup on the weekend.  Before NJ was to get some nice new snow and hopefully the last of the season.  I tore down a smaller 6x6 plastic one I had and got that out of the yard.  My main reason for a greenhouse outside is stricly for pest control. Keep the munching critters and some bugs out of my veggies....since it seems once there is something red or near-ripe, it gets chewed on.  So, the 8x9x8 unit came, a standard farmhouse model and I set it up...wow is that a big unit.  I hope the neighbors don't care much, since it sticks up above the fence by 2 feet. lol.  Well, its a temporary structure, so Im hoping no one makes a big deal of it.  I moved my shelving and tables into it and put the tarp down.  I have a thermostat and fan for it and probably will use the over-the-top shading which comes with it for the hot sun when it gets to be summertime.  It will have fun sun.  A Mister-misty I will use in it as well for keeping the temperature down as well as a water timer for some watering in the morning.

My intend is to have two hydro systems inside, and some dirt tomato plants as well.  We will see what I can fit, and while it wont be sterile, it'll be managable and we'll keep the squirrels out.  I intend on trapping and baiting in the yard since I or neighbors have no pets and the critters just are not bearable, they chew on everything.  I am surprised the house doesn't have chew marks on it.

Now with the 3-5 inches of snow we received today, knowing it was coming, I put a small heater in there and put it on 60 degrees just to keep the snow from accumulating on the top of the new unit.  I dont want to do a weight test on 5 inches of snow when Im at work, so it'll stay on until tonight or tomorrow, depending when it passes.



More to come...

Lettuce

The lettuce is going well, as always.  There's really no way to mess lettuce up unless you cook it with too many nutes, or burn it with hi intensity lighting.  I grow a few different varieties and just stage them so I have some salad here and there on a regular basis.

I did have a sad note that a cherry tomato vine/plant that I had brought into my dirt garden area at the end of the season, finally gave up and died this weekend.  It has produced about a dozen and a half nice red tomatoes and then was fully wilted the next day, so I guess it just gave its all and died.  I didnt expect it to live as long as it did, but it did have a few runs of more small tomatoes.  Time for the new Ramapo tomatoes to take over and be the producers.

Cloner fill.

Last night I filled up the cloner with the proper amount of water, adjusted to a pH of 6.0 and dropped in a few Thrivealive drops in the container.  As usual, I let the water and system flush through again and then adjusted once it was cleaned and I was ready to load it up.  A small device really just requiring small cuts due to the distance of the  ports where the cuttings go.  So, just for the first round, I had a few basil plants, which probably would root if you tossed them in a puddle outside, they're so easy.  A few Roma tomato cuttings from the mother plant in the growbooth, and some cherry tomatoes from an older outdoor plant.  Finally, some of the hot thai pepper cuttings which being semi-woody, always take forever to even have some primary rooting begin to show on them.  I have the unit in a warm, but not too warm place, not in direct light, and I'll pick up some more foliar spray to get them through the first week.

I saw some wilting today, but I am always careful with the cuttings, I use clonex gel on them and add the remaining amount into the closing water as they recommend.   I do it quickly, with a sterile blade, and its anywhere really from a 90 to 45 degree cut.  I hear everyone has a different opinion even between experts, so I just do it quick and clean and dip them.

I did not fill up all the ports since there is a limited amount of space for these plants, so I have a few extra ports should I want to add some more cuttings.

I will add a photo of this later this weekend when I have time.  My main concern was getting the cuttings settled versus taking photos, so we'll have an update in a day or two.

The Cloner

I ordered a cloner since I didnt have the time to make one, and Im sure I could have made one for about $40, with the pump and all.  I opted to buy it since the footprint of this unit was small and that's what I need until the spring gets here and most plants move to the greenhouse.  Amazon.com is where I ordered it from, here is the link.

It was about $80, but its small and it should work fine. I am about to populate it with some cutting from my cherry and roma tomato plants, the hot peppers and some of the little pico hot peppers.  I have some family who wants some basil plants, so that, as well, will go into this.  Its only the size of a small bucket, a 5 gallon size footprint, but a little shorter.  It seems like it'll work ok, but I dont know how well the plant foam will hold the plants in - they seem like they will be a tight fit, but they shouldn't fall in.  I have a 4 slot cloner which Im finally seeing roots in on the hot pepper plants, so that's a good sign...it just took 2 weeks.  I guess I am impatient. :)

I am counting down the days until the yard is clean and I will order the greenhouse next friday and be all set.  A few tables and I need to get a 12v fan and solar setup with regulator.

Another pasttime in the spring is the bamboo transplanting.  I know how invasive bamboo is so I have been using 4-6mil thick hard plastic boundaries or just some pond liner I picked up at Fairfield garden center.  I have a few patches of bamboo which I planted in the back of the yard to allow me to have some natural boundary.  I have some on the back side where ideally a hottub will go, and that's about 6 foot long and a foot wide trench I planted them in.  My friend Maggi always has plenty of bamboo and I intend on getting some more this year for transplant.  I put them into large pots and a few of them are inside the house for the winter, livingroom, plantroom, etc, so they don't freeze.  The ones in the ground are winterized and live through the NJ winters...which is quite amazing, I think.

The Greenhouse

Its almost time to order the greenhouse.  Just a way to extend the season and to keep those squirrels out.  It doesnt have a screen door on it like my smaller one, but it'll work.  I just need a way to use a fan and get some shelves and I'm all set.  A few hydro systems, or 11 packs will fit in there, along with some other dirt plants, since it won't be a 100% clean system being outdoors.  I just want to keep the treerats out of there for the season.  I have some solar panels (flex) that I can charge a car battery with and keep the fan moving air in and out, but I think a thermostat and possibly some shade panels might be in order once it gets going in July.  Even in NJ, it gets quite hot and I dont want to cook everything.  I have to order it next week and then it'll be a 2 week waiting for it to arrive.  Snow melt most likely by the end of March.

Arugula seedlings

Assistance.

When I do my gardening and hydro, I try not to use any harsh chemicals, since I am eating the crops and well, not all chemicals are good.  So, I use NEEM oil a bit, and it helps keep aphids and spidermites at bay.   Short of a nutty-smelling work area, it seems to do ok.  I believe it slows down the metabolism of the bugs once they ingest it and its organic and safe, so it works well.  The next item would be some foliar spray to use on the plants now and then, help with some extra nutrients in the cloners or just when the plant is a little stressed.

Not shown in this picture is some anti moth corn BT spray for outdoor crops, should I ever attempt to grow corn again in such a squirrel infested area.

Someone always says to grow sacrificial dill and chives to attract the aphids and leaf suckers to them, but I just check my plants regularly.  Im eager for the spring to get here and then we'll have some crops outside with natural predators (bugs, birds) to take care of the little stem suckers.