Indoor Garden 2018-2019 Revisited - Page 4

February 6, 2019

It’s always a dilemma when financing intersects our hopes and dreams, since I suspect none of us are millionaires. Your project has come so far and inspired many of us.

SQWIBB · February 7, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlainJane

It’s always a dilemma when financing intersects our hopes and dreams, since I suspect none of us are millionaires. Your project has come so far and inspired many of us.

That's very kind, thank you.

I guess the wife unit lets me do these hobbies because I really don't do other "money" things that normal folks do like go to football games, concerts, movies, go out to eat, I have really turned into a "home body", I think she likes it that way because it keeps me out of trouble and she can keep an eye on me!!

SQWIBB · February 7, 2019

February 6th, 2019

The new Viaprspectra 450 came in, so I installed that. I removed the Roleadro Galaxy Hydro led's. What I like about the 450's over the Galaxy Hydro's is, I can tweak each individual set of wavelengths. The Roleadros were great for starts, but felt I could get better results with the Viparspectra's.

My starts and greens do great under the 6000k led bulbs in the ceiling.

I adjusted the fan to go on twice in a cycle for two hours each, 16 hours was totally unnecessary.
Arugula, Mustard Greens, Rocky Top Lettuce, Some Bok Choy and misc plants.

Every morning and evening I have been pollinating with the bee. It's actually pretty neat when hand pollinating, every once in a while I see this little puff of yellow pollen. The tomato plants need a good watering about every 24 hours. I top off the humidifier if needed, I believe around every 3-4 days. This weekend I may do some more culling.

Jetstar

Abe Lincoln

Totem F-1

taboule · February 7, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by SQWIBB

I guess the wife unit lets me do these hobbies because I really don't do other "money" things that normal folks do like go to football games, concerts, movies, go out to eat, I have really turned into a "home body", I think she likes it that way because it keeps me out of trouble and she can keep an eye on me!!

Our wives must be sisters.

SQWIBB · February 11, 2019

February 8th - 9th, 2019

Replaced my adjusting straps on my ceiling grow light for easier adjusting.

Harvested the Rocky Top Lettuce mix, and some Arugula and was pleasantly surprised by the dinner salad.

Placed the greens back under the lights and watered with a tiny bit of fertilizer.

SQWIBB · February 11, 2019

Topped of a few pepper plants.

Decided to terminate these two Jimmy Nardello pepper plants and replace with two healthier looking ones, then I topped them off.

Replacements

Topped

Topped the soil with coffee grounds in an effort to keep the aphids population down, I'm pretty sure that this is a garden myth but at the least, it will act as a mulch and fertilizer, well thats what I'm telling myself, lol. If the grounds form a shell I'll work them into the potting mix.I still have one back up Jimmy Nardello under the ceiling grow area with the greens.

It was a sad day in the grow room today, looks like a real bad case of BER. I made a slurry of Lime and added that to the all of the plants. I also tossed in a pinch of Epsom salts and in hindsight should not have done the Epsom salts, ooops.
Inconsistent watering, too much Nitrogen, Not enough calcium, who knows? The tomato plants in the trial potting mix and my original potting mix have been affected, I am hoping this problem goes away after the initial fruit set.

On a much happier note, my Rosemary cutting seems to be doing ok on the windowsill in the basement bathroom. The Rosemary is showing new growth.

Topped two of my Jetstar Tomato plants, these tomato plants are for experimenting with.

SQWIBB · February 11, 2019

I dont know why it keeps saying I am posting 42 images when there is 10 photos.

Found this rogue bean plant, I did plant bush snap beans back in mid December, I'm going to let this guy go and see what he can do.

Added some Neem oil to my Aphid X spray and sprayed some of the plants.

February 11, 2019

Sorry about the aphid battle and the BER. Must be frustrating.

SQWIBB · February 12, 2019

Yes it is frustrating but a learning experience.
I have come to the realization that if I cant get fruition that is BER free from the plants, I will use the grow tent to start my spring garden extremely early next year. Like in January.

I'm just hoping that the BER was limited to the first onset of fruit.
I'll be fertilizing with Jobes 2-7-4 this weekend

I also think that I'm gonna do some clones and plant some tomatoes, peppers and eggplants this weekend for an early start this spring.

Tomzhawaii · February 12, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by SQWIBB

That's very kind, thank you.

I guess the wife unit lets me do these hobbies because I really don't do other "money" things that normal folks do like go to football games, concerts, movies, go out to eat, I have really turned into a "home body", I think she likes it that way because it keeps me out of trouble and she can keep an eye on me!!

Sqwibb,
I have gradually slid into the same state of mind. I have seemingly found my disconnect. And I'm good with that. Living in an urban area can get busy and down right too much to deal with.
I laugh, that if I had more space my garden would look like a commercial grow.
And it's very true. The wife likes being able to keep an eye on me too. She loves the Manoa lettuce and has become worse than a rabbit or deer. Anyway, as long as we stay outta trouble it's a good thing. Aloha & Enjoy mental stability
Tom

SQWIBB · February 12, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by taboule

Our wives must be sisters.

Then we are both very lucky spouses.!!

SQWIBB · February 12, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomzhawaii

Sqwibb,
I have gradually slid into the same state of mind. I have seemingly found my disconnect. And I'm good with that. Living in an urban area can get busy and down right too much to deal with.
I laugh, that if I had more space my garden would look like a commercial grow.
And it's very true. The wife likes being able to keep an eye on me too. She loves the Manoa lettuce and has become worse than a rabbit or deer. Anyway, as long as we stay outta trouble it's a good thing. Aloha & Enjoy mental stability
Tom

We are very lucky indeed!

SQWIBB · February 13, 2019

February 11th-12th, 2019

Getting a bit of leaf curl, not sure if this is a problem or not, it may be related to the BER issue. The plants seem very healthy otherwise.

I am getting a lot of fruit set but still have some signs of BER

Peppers and Eggplants are growing slowly.

Topped Jetstar plants after three days.

SQWIBB · February 18, 2019

February 14th-17th, 2019

Took all of the tomato plants out of the tent, fertilized with Jobes Organics Vegetable and Tomato 2 - 7 - 4, added some lime slurry, topped with potting soil, trimmed, placed back in the tent and watered real well.

The tomato plants are all loaded with fruit and the plants look very healthy.

I inspected the plants and BER is still a problem, I am leaving the fruit on the plants to see what happens. A lot of the newer fruit doesn't have what I would call typical BER but there is something going on, there looks like little tiny bruises forming on the fruit. Everything seems to be pointing to a calcium deficiency, curling leaves, BER.

My first thought would be stink bugs or some pest, but I don't see any insects, even the Aphids have seem to have dissipated.

Some of the earlier fruits I'm leaving on the plant.

Leaf curl on some of the larger leaves

The topped Jet Star tomato plants have really come back.

The tomato plants have to be watered heavily every single day or they will dry out.

Cleaned up my Parsley and chives

My Indoor Salad garden is doing real well.

Planted some Waltham Broccoli, Sun King Broccoli and Baby Bok Choy. This is my last attempt at growing Broccoli, this is actually the start of my 2019 gardening year.

I just keep thinking to myself, MAN! I have to put all this stuff away!

SQWIBB · February 20, 2019

February 19th, 2019

I have quite a few tomatoes on the plants and the newest ones don't seem to have any signs of BER yet (fingers crossed).

I have kept the soil fairly moist the last few weeks, or at least I think I have lol. I am not convinced that watering is the problem and I haven't had any plants droop due to inadequate watering. I have barely lost any leaves or had any brown or yellow, everything is very green and lush.

My current setup is the grow bags sitting in 5 gallon bucket bottoms (1.5” high). The problem is that the tomato plants are in 3 gallon grow bags and fit pretty snug in the 5 gallon drip trays so I can't really bottom water or even see if water has made it to the drip pan, there is no room.

When I water the plants, sometimes the water comes out of the sides and lands in the drip tray, so even if I could see water in there, it really wouldn't be a true indicator of the plants being watered thoroughly. I have been going by the weight of the grow bag and using a finger testing for moisture.

The fact that I am using grow bags, increases evaporation. I could mulch the top with cardboard or something but watering is already a PITA.

If I go any bigger with drip trays, the plants don't fit, using a 5 gallon size gives me 4 plants in either direction.

I have been thinking about this all day and recall a pan for a rabbit hutch that may still be in the yard. If I can find that old rabbit hutch, I think it had a 24” x 48” tray, that would be perfect, if not I was going to cut a few more 5 gallon buckets about 6” high and see if that helps, if either don't pan out, I'll look into purchasing a few garden trays to sit the plants in.

I have thought of Global Buckets, earth buckets, wicking buckets, self watering setups and the like. I really want to try and Avoid using 5 gallons worth of media for a plant. I probably could come up with a wicking system using a 5 gallon bucket and the three gallon grow bag but overflow would be an issue without getting into an elaborate setup.

I really want to keep it simple, but if it don't work out using drip trays I'll try using 5 gallon buckets tied in together with a control bucket, this way I'll only have to water one bucket.

I can also do a tray with a Kerick float valve hooked into a control bucket, but don't think that will be needed.
Ebb and flow is out.

Also looked into one of those oasis automatic watering systems but don't think it would help me in my situation.

...... Later that day. Got home and found the tray, wooohooo!

Moved out the plants and wiped up the tent tub floor.

I took some photos when I had the plants out.

I haven't really been hand pollinating these much lately but they seem to have no problem pollinating on their own.

First set of tomatoes with BER and a few new tomatoes (fingers crossed).

I have had almost no flower drop and most of the flowers are pollinating with or without intervention.

Bottoms of the above picture, the fruit on the left has potting mix on it from my hands, so far no signs of BER or any thing else wrong with the fruit but it may be too soon to tell (rubbing my rabbit foot).

Soil on the tomato.

February 18, 2019	#59
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	February 14th-17th, 2019 Took all of the tomato plants out of the tent, fertilized with Jobes Organics Vegetable and Tomato 2 - 7 - 4, added some lime slurry, topped with potting soil, trimmed, placed back in the tent and watered real well. The tomato plants are all loaded with fruit and the plants look very healthy. I inspected the plants and BER is still a problem, I am leaving the fruit on the plants to see what happens. A lot of the newer fruit doesn't have what I would call typical BER but there is something going on, there looks like little tiny bruises forming on the fruit. Everything seems to be pointing to a calcium deficiency, curling leaves, BER. My first thought would be stink bugs or some pest, but I don't see any insects, even the Aphids have seem to have dissipated. Some of the earlier fruits I'm leaving on the plant. Leaf curl on some of the larger leaves The topped Jet Star tomato plants have really come back. The tomato plants have to be watered heavily every single day or they will dry out. Cleaned up my Parsley and chives My Indoor Salad garden is doing real well. Planted some Waltham Broccoli, Sun King Broccoli and Baby Bok Choy. This is my last attempt at growing Broccoli, this is actually the start of my 2019 gardening year. I just keep thinking to myself, MAN! I have to put all this stuff away! Last edited by SQWIBB; February 20, 2019 at 08:52 AM. Reason: corrected photo (date corrected to 61 days on gardeners delight picture)

February 6, 2019	#46
PlainJane Guest Posts: n/a	It’s always a dilemma when financing intersects our hopes and dreams, since I suspect none of us are millionaires. Your project has come so far and inspired many of us.

February 7, 2019	#48
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	February 6th, 2019 The new Viaprspectra 450 came in, so I installed that. I removed the Roleadro Galaxy Hydro led's. What I like about the 450's over the Galaxy Hydro's is, I can tweak each individual set of wavelengths. The Roleadros were great for starts, but felt I could get better results with the Viparspectra's. My starts and greens do great under the 6000k led bulbs in the ceiling. I adjusted the fan to go on twice in a cycle for two hours each, 16 hours was totally unnecessary. Arugula, Mustard Greens, Rocky Top Lettuce, Some Bok Choy and misc plants. Every morning and evening I have been pollinating with the bee. It's actually pretty neat when hand pollinating, every once in a while I see this little puff of yellow pollen. The tomato plants need a good watering about every 24 hours. I top off the humidifier if needed, I believe around every 3-4 days. This weekend I may do some more culling. Jetstar Abe Lincoln Totem F-1

February 11, 2019	#50
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	February 8th - 9th, 2019 Replaced my adjusting straps on my ceiling grow light for easier adjusting. Harvested the Rocky Top Lettuce mix, and some Arugula and was pleasantly surprised by the dinner salad. Placed the greens back under the lights and watered with a tiny bit of fertilizer.

February 11, 2019	#51
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	Topped of a few pepper plants. Decided to terminate these two Jimmy Nardello pepper plants and replace with two healthier looking ones, then I topped them off. Replacements Topped Topped the soil with coffee grounds in an effort to keep the aphids population down, I'm pretty sure that this is a garden myth but at the least, it will act as a mulch and fertilizer, well thats what I'm telling myself, lol. If the grounds form a shell I'll work them into the potting mix.I still have one back up Jimmy Nardello under the ceiling grow area with the greens. It was a sad day in the grow room today, looks like a real bad case of BER. I made a slurry of Lime and added that to the all of the plants. I also tossed in a pinch of Epsom salts and in hindsight should not have done the Epsom salts, ooops. Inconsistent watering, too much Nitrogen, Not enough calcium, who knows? The tomato plants in the trial potting mix and my original potting mix have been affected, I am hoping this problem goes away after the initial fruit set. On a much happier note, my Rosemary cutting seems to be doing ok on the windowsill in the basement bathroom. The Rosemary is showing new growth. Topped two of my Jetstar Tomato plants, these tomato plants are for experimenting with.

February 12, 2019	#54
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	Yes it is frustrating but a learning experience. I have come to the realization that if I cant get fruition that is BER free from the plants, I will use the grow tent to start my spring garden extremely early next year. Like in January. I'm just hoping that the BER was limited to the first onset of fruit. I'll be fertilizing with Jobes 2-7-4 this weekend I also think that I'm gonna do some clones and plant some tomatoes, peppers and eggplants this weekend for an early start this spring.

February 13, 2019	#58
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	February 11th-12th, 2019 Getting a bit of leaf curl, not sure if this is a problem or not, it may be related to the BER issue. The plants seem very healthy otherwise. I am getting a lot of fruit set but still have some signs of BER Peppers and Eggplants are growing slowly. Topped Jetstar plants after three days.

February 20, 2019	#60
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	February 19th, 2019 I have quite a few tomatoes on the plants and the newest ones don't seem to have any signs of BER yet (fingers crossed). I have kept the soil fairly moist the last few weeks, or at least I think I have lol. I am not convinced that watering is the problem and I haven't had any plants droop due to inadequate watering. I have barely lost any leaves or had any brown or yellow, everything is very green and lush. My current setup is the grow bags sitting in 5 gallon bucket bottoms (1.5” high). The problem is that the tomato plants are in 3 gallon grow bags and fit pretty snug in the 5 gallon drip trays so I can't really bottom water or even see if water has made it to the drip pan, there is no room. When I water the plants, sometimes the water comes out of the sides and lands in the drip tray, so even if I could see water in there, it really wouldn't be a true indicator of the plants being watered thoroughly. I have been going by the weight of the grow bag and using a finger testing for moisture. The fact that I am using grow bags, increases evaporation. I could mulch the top with cardboard or something but watering is already a PITA. If I go any bigger with drip trays, the plants don't fit, using a 5 gallon size gives me 4 plants in either direction. I have been thinking about this all day and recall a pan for a rabbit hutch that may still be in the yard. If I can find that old rabbit hutch, I think it had a 24” x 48” tray, that would be perfect, if not I was going to cut a few more 5 gallon buckets about 6” high and see if that helps, if either don't pan out, I'll look into purchasing a few garden trays to sit the plants in. I have thought of Global Buckets, earth buckets, wicking buckets, self watering setups and the like. I really want to try and Avoid using 5 gallons worth of media for a plant. I probably could come up with a wicking system using a 5 gallon bucket and the three gallon grow bag but overflow would be an issue without getting into an elaborate setup. I really want to keep it simple, but if it don't work out using drip trays I'll try using 5 gallon buckets tied in together with a control bucket, this way I'll only have to water one bucket. I can also do a tray with a Kerick float valve hooked into a control bucket, but don't think that will be needed. Ebb and flow is out. Also looked into one of those oasis automatic watering systems but don't think it would help me in my situation. ...... Later that day. Got home and found the tray, wooohooo! Moved out the plants and wiped up the tent tub floor. I took some photos when I had the plants out. I haven't really been hand pollinating these much lately but they seem to have no problem pollinating on their own. First set of tomatoes with BER and a few new tomatoes (fingers crossed). I have had almost no flower drop and most of the flowers are pollinating with or without intervention. Bottoms of the above picture, the fruit on the left has potting mix on it from my hands, so far no signs of BER or any thing else wrong with the fruit but it may be too soon to tell (rubbing my rabbit foot). Soil on the tomato.