Aussie 2007 Season

[Spatzbear]

*scheming to see what other seeds Cosmic might be tempted with*

Full Moon, glad to hear you nipped it in the bud. It's really stressful this spring. All these babies to look after. Worries after worries. I even dream about these babies. Drowning. Starving. Getting fried. Awful nightmares. Won't get better when I plant them out. Then the worries about a very, very late frost. Bloody neighbour's cat, rabbits, cutworms, slugs, vermin, etc.....

Gardening is supposed to be relaxing. *hurrummphhhh*

[cosmicgardener]

Nasties!
Since the stick insect nipped all my capsicums I'm super alert for beastlies. I saw a couple of earwigs in the potting mix. Put a shallow dish of used cooking oil level with the ground. It attracts the earwigs. Sure enough there was one in the hothouse this morning, drowned in extra virgin. So I may have falsely accused Mr Stick and relegated him to the cold outdoors in error. I hate earwigs. By the way, if you get white fly or those tinyt black midgie things ( technical term) in the greenhouse, try putting little bowls of vinegar here and there. It attracts them and they kark it. And you have instant salad dressing available! Now rabbits - that is another thing - we have a plague of them on the hill behind us. We managed to get rid of the possum ( who is really entitled to be here) by removing his tree. He has gone next door

[Spatzbear]

Lucky neighbours!

Oh, and I don't have a greenhouse!

Did you say you needed capsicum seeds?

[cottonpicker]

cosmicgardener.... ""and they kark it""..... what's "kark" in
Aussie speak?????? eat, devour??

Thanks,
LarryD

[cosmicgardener]

Haha - I got 8 sorts from Craig and have planted those - under protection. Plus the usual suspects have been planted again. Nice Try! I've got masses of pumpkin seeds if you are interested: Anyone?

• Jack be Little
• Wee be Little
• Waltham Butternut
• Table Queen
• Spaghetti Squash
• Baby Bear
• Peek a Boo
• Long Island Cheese

Plus the usual ones - Hubbard, Kent/Jap, Qld Blue, Walthams Butternut, Luxury Pie ( ready to come home to SA?)

[cosmicgardener]

Cottonpicker" In Australian to Kark is to Die. Don't ask me why, but it might refer to the sound of drowning earwigs. Maybe one of the native born Aussies would know, I'm only here 35 years.

cosmic

[cottonpicker]

I was just "karking" to know the meaning!!!

Thanks!!!!
LarryD

[tessa]

okay...that's the first time i've seen it spelled...but i've always assumed that kark...is a derivitive of carcass. so maybe it's carc. LOL.

[Spatzbear]

Hmm...you know, Cosmic, some of your pumpkins are tempting. But I am aware that I have a problem. So I shall got to bed now and hope to be better in the morning.

[Full Moon]

Here is my attempt at the Self Watering Tub. I got most of the design ideas from bits and pieces from posts and pictures I've seen in the "Growing in Container" section.

I was on a tight budget so decided to use only 1 container instead of 2.

Pic #1 These are the parts I ended up with after snipping, cutting, and drilling.

Pic #2 Four piece of 4" pipe used for support the middle one is the wick. You can't see very well in the picture but the wick one has saw cuts (sliced) all around. (I'm not sure it's going to be a big enough wick)

Pic #3 Cut out of the container's cover drilled and fitted on top of the supports. The hole in the top end right corner is for the 2" watering pipe.

Pic #4 Geo tech fabric to prevent the dirt getting in the bottom part of the tub. I tidy it up and cut out the extra bits as I put the soil in.

Pic #5 The finished product. This is a test run so the little seedling in there is self sacrificing. Now isn't the little yellow flag cool or what! That was hubby's idea to quickly know the water level. Once the flag hits the white pipe...time to water

There is a little hole on the side of the container for overflow.
The black plastic will be replaced by mulch when the temperature heats up a bit.

I'm hoping to grow the dwarves in these.

Total cost of material (minus soil) : $5.00 (hubby is a plumber so we had all the parts except the container.)

So do you think it will work?

[mcsee]

F.M. - Well done, the wick system looks like it will perform very well and you have all the requirements covered to perform the same task using one tub as it would using the two tub system.

The best part is the inexpensive cost.

Forgot to add the flag is a terrific idea.

[dokutaaguriin]

fullmoon,
Just a couple of questions on your set-up:
How and with what are you fertilizing?
What is the white pipe made out of?
Jeff
thanks for posting your pics

[Full Moon]

Thanks Mc I hope you're right about the wick. We'll soon find out anyway and since I didn't silicone anything in it will be easy enough to take it apart and make adjustments.

Jeff, the white pipe is PVC. 40mm (1 1/2") for the watering one and 100mm (4") for the supports and the wick. This is what we had on hand I know Mantis used 6" but I think his tubs were bigger than mine.
As for fertilising I will go with Mantis suggestion

I use a granular rose fertiliser and I cant remember the brand at the moment. It has an NPK of roughly 4.5:6:6 and contains good amounts of calcium. It is put down in a strip along the top front edge of the tub just under the surface. This is Earthbox directions and seems to work well.

I will most likely use the organic one though.

[mcsee]

F.M. More on the fertilizer in message #107 this thread.

[Full Moon]

hmmm....must have missed than one. Thanks mc

Mantis why did you go for azaleas/camellias fert instead of Sudden Impact?