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Chilliman`s GROW THREAD 09` - & Construction of my pollytunnels
- Thread starter chilliman
- Start date
AlabamaJack said:
AJ, it's interesting that we've done exactly the opposite with the orientation of our growing structures even though the winds in our areas more or less come from the same direction. Of course, our climates and weather patterns are wildy different...
Luckily, we don't often get winds of the speed during the summer months. We might get a day or night of it towards the end of the season (October/November), but apart from that, it's not an issue here thankfully.
POTAWIE said:
I wonder if the polytunnel covering is opaque and not a clear cover; would the former give enough protection for you, Chilliman?
LancelBracken said:Haha @ action doggy in third pic
TO THE RESCUEEEEE!!!
You just know that the leap was preceded by a very loud BOING!
Very nice setup. I wish I had the space to grow a lot more varieties. Well, I would also need the climate too, and the time, money... Maybe in another lifetime.
Summer I will....POTAWIE said:
Penny said:
LOL, yep really really busy !
Tim said:AJ, it's interesting that we've done exactly the opposite with the orientation of our growing structures even though the winds in our areas more or less come from the same direction. Of course, our climates and weather patterns are wildy different...
Luckily, we don't often get winds of the speed during the summer months. We might get a day or night of it towards the end of the season (October/November), but apart from that, it's not an issue here thankfully.
I wonder if the polytunnel covering is opaque and not a clear cover; would the former give enough protection for you, Chilliman?
So your orientation works for your area ? I have alot of trees and other garden that I had to fit it around.
We are at the base of Blue Mountains so we have some wicked coastal winds that reaches us and mixes with mountain air and unleashes furry.
Blister said:You just know that the leap was preceded by a very loud BOING!
Very nice setup. I wish I had the space to grow a lot more varieties. Well, I would also need the climate too, and the time, money... Maybe in another lifetime.
LOL - If you asked be 2 years ago what aill you be doing in 2 years ? - This was the last thing on my mind for this age, I thought MAYBEY i will get here by 40....!
Here we are before Im 30.
chilliman said:
Yeah, north/south orientation works very well for me, but as I said to AJ, we don't often get gales during the summer, and if any were on the way, I'd just put the doors back on their hinges for the duration. We're more likely to get that kind of weather during our autumn, winter or spring, at which time the chilli plants wouldn't be planted out in the tunnels (with possibly the exception of autumn but it would be end of the season anyway).
I have a lot of trees too (birch trees), although all but one of the tunnels are at the bottom of the property where the plants receive full light. I have some young birch trees around the tunnels which will provide some shade in the not too distant future. I have opaque covers on my tunnels which diffuse the light enough to be able to do away with shade cloth/netting.
As I said, my main reason for going with a north/south orientation was to do with air flow and being able to maximise it. We have very high humidity all year round and during the summer when natural air flow is often non-existent, botrytis can become a real problem for all plants under glass or in polytunnels, so any air flow is welcome.
I'm looking forward to following your progress, Chilliman; it seems that we are on the same path, albeit on other sides of the planet :-)
We have really hot summers here too 40 Degree ++ !
So I will have to consider that too ! Though My thoughts is to use the tunnel for winter and vacate it during summer. And use the great outdoors.
Are you running heating during winter ?
My plan is to run a wood/coal oven. Like I have seen in Potawie tunnel .
Also so I can boil the kettle and and make morning coffee on the wood stove
And i probably be out there alot so it will provide some atmosphere ! Me the chillis settled down to nice cuppa in front of the fire.......lol
My beds are arriving on Mon - TUE next week ( 20MT of organic soil )
So I will have to consider that too ! Though My thoughts is to use the tunnel for winter and vacate it during summer. And use the great outdoors.
Are you running heating during winter ?
My plan is to run a wood/coal oven. Like I have seen in Potawie tunnel .
Also so I can boil the kettle and and make morning coffee on the wood stove
And i probably be out there alot so it will provide some atmosphere ! Me the chillis settled down to nice cuppa in front of the fire.......lol My beds are arriving on Mon - TUE next week ( 20MT of organic soil )
chilliman said:We have really hot summers here too 40 Degree ++ !
So I will have to consider that too ! Though My thoughts is to use the tunnel for winter and vacate it during summer. And use the great outdoors.
Are you running heating during winter ?
My plan is to run a wood/coal oven. Like I have seen in Potawie tunnel .
Also so I can boil the kettle and and make morning coffee on the wood stove
My beds are arriving on Mon - TUE next week ( 20MT of organic soil )
Our summers don't quite get that hot! Our summers aren't reliably warm enough to make use of the outdoors either; at least not for plants being grown for a commercial enterprise where plant health and fruit yield is everything.
I did heat one of the smaller glasshouses for germination at great cost. A 2.2 Kw heater costs £5 ($10 AUD, $7.60 USD) to run for 24 hours. Maintaining the temps required for germination meant that it was running for more of those 24 hours per day than not. Electricity prices (like everywhere I suppose) have gone through the roof here. Just today I recieved my new bill; apparently my monthly bill needs to go up from £86 per month to £192 per month. We will be having words with our electricity supplier...
Anyway, back on topic, the wood burner is probably the cheaper option; they are becoming very popular in the UK for heating homes. I might look into it myself for next year.
I'm not using heat anymore; the plants out in the beds in the tunnels have to put up with whatever the weather throws at them. Temps have dropped lower than I would like to see (just 5 degrees above freezing on a few occasions during the night), but it's for a relatively short period of time and the plants look unaffected. Fingers crossed that they are unaffected.
AS I am looking to sell my fruit, you right I have to ever so picky and careful of the environment, feed, hormones, water, etc.
I would like to have my own cultivar in 5-8 years too.
I think a cheap old pot belly stove will do the trick for heating on larger scale.
I was also considering SOLAR heated (water) mats or lines?
Has anyone used those ?
& POTS or BEDS ??? - I was going to do half of each ? Whats your thoughts ? ie - beds in half - gravel out the other half. (long ways)
&
Drippers or sprinklers ?
I would like to have my own cultivar in 5-8 years too
.I think a cheap old pot belly stove will do the trick for heating on larger scale.
I was also considering SOLAR heated (water) mats or lines?
Has anyone used those ?
& POTS or BEDS ??? - I was going to do half of each ? Whats your thoughts ? ie - beds in half - gravel out the other half. (long ways)
&
Drippers or sprinklers ?
chilliman said:
I'm not sure how your materials compost, pots, etc.) compare to ours in relation to cost, but for me it would be much more expensive to have my stock plants in pots than it would to have them in open beds inside the tunnels, hence the reason I went with the latter. The only additional cost for me was half a ton of well rotted manure for each tunnel.
I will be keeping the superhots in pots this year but only so that I can over-winter the strongest and get a head start for next year.
I will do a half / half senario I think.
I would like to run HYDRO tables for half and run a few beds also.
As my tunnels are late to arrive I have built my Propagation station today - (will try get the hydro setup pics up soon !)
Will hold around 500++ seedlings. 2 level.. 3rd level above to go on if needed.
BEFORE I PUT COVERS ON !
Turbo tank , and seedling shelf. (TOP)
mini green house , and sealed Co2 box on bottom with another box to go in.....
With temp winter covers - only to keep a little humidity and heat in ! (brother will plaster board it soon ! )
I would like to run HYDRO tables for half and run a few beds also.
As my tunnels are late to arrive I have built my Propagation station today -
(will try get the hydro setup pics up soon !)Will hold around 500++ seedlings. 2 level.. 3rd level above to go on if needed.
BEFORE I PUT COVERS ON !
Turbo tank , and seedling shelf. (TOP)
mini green house , and sealed Co2 box on bottom with another box to go in.....
With temp winter covers - only to keep a little humidity and heat in ! (brother will plaster board it soon ! )
I put a cheap compost & soil mix together! I have used my trusty mix for potted flowers, fruit, veg and veggy patch! Not for chillis so we will see how it goes ! Plastic pots are cheap ! If not free ! And outdoor NFT tables second hand are cheap !
I just use a basic compost ; wheat straw, horse & chicken manure and gypsum (calcium sulfate) with hydrated lime, pot ash. organic soil, wormcastings, mixed with coco fiber....
There are a variety of ingredients that I add as well. A brief outline of some materials I use in making composts follows:
Straw:
serves as a carbon source (carbohydrate) source
wheat - considered the best - contains xylan
oat, barley - break down more rapidly than wheat
rye - breaks down slower than wheat also corn cobs, oak and leaves, etc.
Other Carbohydrate Sources:
Rice straw, molasses, brewer's grains, cottonseed meal (provides the fatty acid - linoleic acid -which is reported to stimulate yields.)
Manures:
nitrogen source, composting horse - , poultry - dry pig and sheep - - used partly dry
Other Nitrogen Sources:
Blood meal (dried blood), bone meal urea, ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) Gypsum: calcium sulfate (CaSO4) - helps to prevent the loss of nitrogen (from the breakdown of proteins during the act of composting) by chelating the ammonia
Optional Mineral Sources:
Superphosphate; is said to promote vigorous flowering growth, but an excess may make the beds too acid too soon which depreciate the crop. It should not be used if there are a lot of droppings that r fresh) in the compost.
potash; for Phos , and Potassium . Also going to try some silca on the new beds, for fruit weight. Big pods mmmmmm.
Activators; compost "activators" can be obtained from nursery and garden stores and assures the presence of the organism essential to composting.
MY Compost Recipe at the moment:
The following recipes create about half ton of compost. Half ton of compost will provide enough compost for about 60 square feet of beds (surface area).
I do this in winter every year then additives are introduced to pile.
have started a new pile 3 months ago!
5 bales wheat straw,
100kg Mushroom compost used ( x mushroom farm )
trailer load (half ton) horse manure,
2kg . activator,
70kg . chicken manure,
70kg . Blood & bone meal
1kg Pot ash
Worm castings - as much as you can get
Hydrated Lime - few hand fulls
5kg gypsum,
This is what I do to prep!
To prepare compost, the straw must be soaked for several days until it just about, but not quite falling apart, squeezes water out in your hands. The compost pile is then built by stacking alternating layers of straw, activator, manure and gypsum etc etc . The stackwas 4-6 feet high.
By the fourth to sixth day the temperature in the interior of the pile should reach 160°F (71°C). Tmperatures over 71°C are undesirable.
Mine is new had to start over (moved) and on the ground at moment
, but I want to elevate it ! So I can make tea
I then mix the compost (30%) with oraganic soil (30%), perlite (10%) , coco(30%), and plant !
CM
(this is an old thread of mine from another gardening forum revamped !! lol )
And I am makeing a big worm farm in next week or two also !
I just use a basic compost ; wheat straw, horse & chicken manure and gypsum (calcium sulfate) with hydrated lime, pot ash. organic soil, wormcastings, mixed with coco fiber....
There are a variety of ingredients that I add as well. A brief outline of some materials I use in making composts follows:
Straw:
serves as a carbon source (carbohydrate) source
wheat - considered the best - contains xylan
oat, barley - break down more rapidly than wheat
rye - breaks down slower than wheat also corn cobs, oak and leaves, etc.
Other Carbohydrate Sources:
Rice straw, molasses, brewer's grains, cottonseed meal (provides the fatty acid - linoleic acid -which is reported to stimulate yields.)
Manures:
nitrogen source, composting horse - , poultry - dry pig and sheep - - used partly dry
Other Nitrogen Sources:
Blood meal (dried blood), bone meal urea, ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) Gypsum: calcium sulfate (CaSO4) - helps to prevent the loss of nitrogen (from the breakdown of proteins during the act of composting) by chelating the ammonia
Optional Mineral Sources:
Superphosphate; is said to promote vigorous flowering growth, but an excess may make the beds too acid too soon which depreciate the crop. It should not be used if there are a lot of droppings that r fresh) in the compost.
potash; for Phos , and Potassium . Also going to try some silca on the new beds, for fruit weight. Big pods mmmmmm.
Activators; compost "activators" can be obtained from nursery and garden stores and assures the presence of the organism essential to composting.
MY Compost Recipe at the moment:
The following recipes create about half ton of compost. Half ton of compost will provide enough compost for about 60 square feet of beds (surface area).
I do this in winter every year then additives are introduced to pile.
have started a new pile 3 months ago!
5 bales wheat straw,
100kg Mushroom compost used ( x mushroom farm )
trailer load (half ton) horse manure,
2kg . activator,
70kg . chicken manure,
70kg . Blood & bone meal
1kg Pot ash
Worm castings - as much as you can get
Hydrated Lime - few hand fulls
5kg gypsum,
This is what I do to prep!
To prepare compost, the straw must be soaked for several days until it just about, but not quite falling apart, squeezes water out in your hands. The compost pile is then built by stacking alternating layers of straw, activator, manure and gypsum etc etc . The stackwas 4-6 feet high.
By the fourth to sixth day the temperature in the interior of the pile should reach 160°F (71°C). Tmperatures over 71°C are undesirable.
Mine is new had to start over (moved) and on the ground at moment
, but I want to elevate it ! So I can make tea I then mix the compost (30%) with oraganic soil (30%), perlite (10%) , coco(30%), and plant !
CM
(this is an old thread of mine from another gardening forum revamped !! lol )
And I am makeing a big worm farm in next week or two also !
I cheated and bought my first, canO worms... cheap from KAZAN worms !
Included 2000 worms - for $159 Delivered..
I am going to build a big farm soon, but this will get me started.
Included 2000 worms - for $159 Delivered..
I am going to build a big farm soon, but this will get me started.
chilliman said:
Same one I've got Ian, had it for a few months now and they're going good
