Growing in dirt outside
15.7 years ago cilantro, cucumbers, garlic bulbs, indoor growbox, onions, outdoor seed starting, peas, tomato
I haven’t done many posts in a while about regular old gardening in actual dirt so figured a good time to do an update. Though I enjoy indoor seed starting in my LED grow box and computerized grow box, some plants need to be started outdoors. Today my daughters and I planted the last these plants for fall outdoor planting.
A few weeks ago, we planted garlic, onions, spinach, and peas which are doing well. I love growing these plants no matter how late your spring comes these plants are hardy they are pretty hard to kill off.
Today we planted carrots, lettuce, and cilantro leaving a little space left to do some successive cilantro planting in a couple weeks to ensure I have enough for salsa by the time the tomatoes are ready this summer.
Speaking of tomatoes, they along with jalapeño peppers, and cucumbers (actually flowering) are doing great in the computerized grow box. In the LED grow box I have pumpkin, Black Eyed Susan, small sunflowers, and Purple Coneflowers using Grodan Gro-Blocks.
Nice to finally see some stuff in the ground though still hoping the weather gets better before my cucumbers try to escape the grow box.
Tags: cheap, cilantro, garden seeds, garlic bulbs, growbox, led, outdoor plants, pepper plants, salsa garden, tomato plants, vegetables
Growing seedlings with compostable coffee cups
15.7 years ago cheap, compost, indoor seed starting, tomato
Occasionally at work I get a craving for some hot chocolate. When I do, I reach for a company provided compostable coffee cup (I know I should bring in my own cup, but I did say “occasionally”). When I am done with my delicious beverage, I simply dispose of them in the proper “compostable” reciprocal. Last week was different, with my recent frustration with the durability of some of my newspaper pots, I got the idea to extend the life of these cups a little longer and grow some seedlings in them.
This particular type of cup breaks down in 47 days, unless you happen to leave one half filled with liquid overnight on your desk, in that case they magically breaks down a few minutes after you walk out the door. I am planning on growing my tomatoes and peppers in these cups and plant them directly into the soil. To help with more freedom in root growth I will cut out the bottom of the cup. I will let you know how it works.
Now if your work does not use these cups, never fear many coffee shops are featuring these same type of cups with the purchase of an overpriced hot beverage.
Tags: cheap, coffee grounds, compost, garden seeds, led, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Computerized grow box update
15.7 years ago cilantro, computer, computer power control, cucumbers, electronics, indoor growbox, tomato
Haven’t mentioned the computerized grow box for a while, so think it is a good time for an update. The moisture sensor corroded away, but have plans to make a much more beefier one. With the exception of the hard drive failure, the basic functionality of the computerized grow box has been excellent and the plants have been thriving. The only physical improvement I have made is adding some particle board to the top and side (salvaged from packaging material from some furniture we ordered) of the grow box. This helps retain heat and allows the access panel to stay put without requiring tape and/or bags of coffee grounds propped against it. I also mounted the LCD panel securely to the top of the box.
They say as your paycheck increases, somehow your expenses follow suit. I have a feeling same concept applies for grow boxes. As the computerized grow box is about four times bigger than my PC grow box it has quickly getting pretty crowded waiting for the time I can move my summer vegetables outside. I am planning on doing some reorganization this weekend to clean things up a little bit but still going to be pretty tight quarters.
The current inventory in the grow box are 12 tomato plants (was 18 but gave six away at a recent gardening talk), 2 cucumber plants (had one fatality from Peat/WonderSoil experiment, looks like Peat lost), 6 pepper plants (need transplanting), and a cilantro plant which was the source of my first harvest of the year.
Now just hoping Punxsutawney Phil is wrong and we really don’t have six more weeks of winter, though with the snow we got two days ago and the current temperature outside, I think he might be right.
Tags: cheap, cilantro, coffee grounds, garden seeds, growbox, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Gardening products I would buy if I wasn’t so cheap
15.8 years ago cheap, compost, germination, indoor seed starting, tomato
Today I got my Gardener’s Supply Companycatalog, this particular catalog is dedicated to items to assist you with your gardening habit. You should be able to guess from this site I do my best to resist buying anything for the garden I absolutely need, otherwise I make a cheaper alternative. Well the point of this post is to show what I would like to get if I wasn’t as disciplined.
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They sell these Accelerated Propagation System (APS) seed starting kits which have all the basics you expect from a seed starting kits you would find at your local garden store. They include 6 to 40 cells to plant seedlings and a clear plastic dome to help raise the humidity to provide extra moisture for the tender seedlings. The bonus in this setup is it also contains a reservoir which holds enough water to keep them moist for up to a week. With the help of an elevated platform and capillary matting provides just the right amount of water to your plants. At just $19.95 for the 40 and 24 cells sizes this is one purchase I am still considering, since I never have finished my automatic watering system on my computerized grow box and this makes much better use of space than my plastic tub, newspaper pots, and daily watering method I am doing now. |
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Eco-Friendly Cowpots basically planting pots made as a byproduct of processing cow poo. The poo is dried, composted and mixed with natural fibers creating a completely biodegradable pot which holds up well during growth and transplanting but biodegrades in the soil after several weeks. I watched an episode of Dirty Jobs which went through the whole process and it was very interesting and environmentally conscience but, unfortunately due to the price tag (about $1 a pot) these are a little over my budget since my newspaper pots are free. |
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Gardener’s Revolution Planter – You have probably seen something similar advertised between gardening shows on HGTV (Topsy Turvy) , I know my daughter has and has been talking about growing tomatoes upside down for some time now. She even on her own came up with a ingenious design to do this (not 5 gallon bucket) which I will write-up when we get around to that project. In case you were wondering the improvement this year (or compared to the TV advertisement) it is the addition of a 1 gallon water reservoir which slowly releases water to the plant as neededSelf watering must be a big seller this year since there are also many other variances of self watering pots in many shapes and sizes with designs similar to the original (to my knowledge) the EarthBox. |
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Now definitely in the gadget department the Push-Button Kitchen Scrap Composter can take your everyday kitchen scraps and turn them into compost in less than 11 days. The concept on this one is pretty simple:Food + Heat + Spinning = Compost
Of course it crossed my mind of creating something similar myself, but probably would end up burning down the house or if I was lucky just launch partially composted food across the living room at 50 miles per hour. Given the $299 price tag seems like I will be stuck to waiting 3-6 months for my compost to be created. Though it would be much more convenient than walking through the snow to add kitchen scraps to the compost. |
Tags: cheap, compost, garden seeds, growbox, led, outdoor plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Compost bin tomato bears fruit
16.2 years ago compost, tomato
For anyone that has been following the success (or maybe lack of success) of my compost bin volunteer tomato plant, it has nearly taken over the compost bin and finally did bear fruit. What is interesting is that it seems to look like an ugly tomato, which I have grown from seed nor purchased from the grocery store or farmer’s market. I guess the plot thickens, could just be caused by the ill effects of the adverse growing conditions.
Tags: cheap, compost, garden seeds, outdoor plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Brown spots on tomatoes
16.2 years ago blight, brown spots, tomato
Looks like our recent weekly rainy weather may have taken my tomatoes as a victim of blight. Living in the Pacific Northwest I should have known better and protected them with some plastic during our frequent waves of rainy weather. Being an optimist can anyone overturn my diagnosis? Any hopes of saving this fruit?
Tags: cheap, tomato plants, vegetables
