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Transplant Sunday

It's looking like the 15th is going to be the day for some of my plants to get a new living room. The idea was to let them go as long as possible in their group home before they have to move to a dorm with far fewer siblings. For good or bad, they are growing quicker than I expected and if I wait much longer, I won't be able to transplant to the bottom leaves. Cayennes, Tabascos, Bell Peppers, a few Bhuts and Savinas, as well as maybe a half-dozen toms. Hopefully, no more than 100 plants.

Mike
 
AJ,

If you can call their home a starting tray, yeah. The trays are octagons that are 10" wide; the soil in the latter ones I sowed is about 2" deep, less than that in the early ones.

Here's the Bell Peppers from the side:

212peppersside.jpg


And from the top:

212pepperstop.jpg


No, those are not aphids, it is dried residue left from safer soap.

Here's the toms:

212toms.jpg


The toms seem to be infested with aphids as are some other peppers. Hopefully, they are dying as I post this: Safer soap mixed with tomato leave extract and garlic powder. I'll get something stronger tomorrow but this organic growing is stifling me!

One other pic:

212basil.jpg


Either Genovese or Thai Basil (I have one of each and didn't check the tray to see which one this is). The plants will have to be thinned out a bunch but never before have I had this good of germination. It was sown on 2/7.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Millworkman,

In tobacco beds, this would be considered a very poor germination!

Mike

We are not talking tobacco, and we are not talking about hundreds or thousands of seeds. Maybe 10-20 seeds of of the "I can't belive I got these" kind.

Anyway, shouldn't really be a problem, but it would have been so much easier if seeds where planted alone in eggtrays or other small containers.

Tobacco growers would probably grow their plants in plug trays too if they had the room and the money to invest. The harvest per planted seed would probably increase a lot:-)
 
Started a day early. Transplanted only 60 seedlings: 24 Bell Peppers, 24 Cayenne, 12 Tabasco and 6 Bhuts. Only the Bhuts disturbed the soil significantly, but I had sowed them the day after Christmas and the potting soil was not very deep. All but the Bhuts went into 2"L x 2.25"W x 3.25"D containers, the Bhuts got a 3x3x3.5 home.

I'm hoping to have at least 18 toms to transplant tomorrow - the rest of them can all wait another week or so. Although, I may try a slightly different method. Similar to setting out transplants in a garden where one uses a small spade to dig into the ground, hold back the dirt, drop the plant into and then press dirt around it. Only on a much smaller scale.

Mike
 
The initial operation was a success, now I need to see how the 18 patients do. It was much, much easier. Last evening, I filled the 3" square, 3.5" deep cells with potting soil and let them it in water until they were throughly soaked. Let it dry until a couple of hours ago. Using a plastic knife handle, pulled back a slit of the soil and stuck the plant down it, then pressed the PS around it. It was way, way faster, by a factor of at least 10. Tomorrow should tell me if it works or not. I watered them again from the bottom, to help settle the dirt. They are under about 35,000 lumens now. Transplanted ones from this batch

212toms.jpg


though they have grown a bit taller than I would have preferred. Only once did two plants come up at the same time.

Hoping to do 18 more tomorrow and another 18 Tuesday. They are my Flag Day Tomatoes, 55-75 days. By April 1, they should be more than large enough to transplant into large containers and placed on a patio or deck. They will need to be protected some nights - FF here is May 15, but these are cold-weather maters. In these parts, a ripe tomato by Independence Day is a lofty goal, last year it was two weeks later. I'm hoping to appeal to that fringe crowd who wants to be first on their block.

Mike
 
Twenty-four hours later, none of the plants have died or even wilted. Hopefully, that is a good sign, especially since they are under some intense lighting. Transplanted another 18 this evening, will do another 1.5 dozen tomorrow.

Thankfully, my "seed bed" has not been hurt. It's the tray that has all the seedlings. I soak it in water after pulling up the transplants. None of them wilted at all today.

Aphids remain a MAJOR problem. I can't seem to kill them, only keep their population under control. Kill a thousand one evening, there is another thousand replacing them. Thankfully, they don't seem to have a chance to hurt the plants but I suspect I will have to spray the plants daily.

Mike
 
I don't anything will really wipe out aphids inside. I'm glad your seeding scheme is working out for you, though.
 
Pam said:
I'm glad your seeding scheme is working out for you, though.

Pam,

It is working a treat! I still have a bunch to learn, such as not sow so many seeds in a given amount of space. But part of the problem, at least in every experiment I have tried over the months, is that tomato seedlings get leggy - it doesn't matter how many lumens they get, from what kind of light source they get them from, what the temp is. I probably need to try a MH light at some point, but unless I win a lottery, it will have to wait until after I sell a few dozen plants. But it should make for a good experiment this summer:

Ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to the grow-off. On the left-hand side is a 150 watt bulb, weighing in at 4100K and 12,000 lumens - please welcome Metal Halide!

Now ladies and gentlemen, look in the middle of the box. Tilting the scales at a measly 105 watts and 5000K and offering only 6,900 lumens, greet our underdog, CFL!

Lastly, on the right hand side is the disputed champ. He packs 15,000 lumens into his 150 watts and has a 5000K rating, High Pressure Sodium.

This battle will last one round, 45 days. The winner will be determined by a combination of height, lack of internodal length and number of leaves.

May the best light win.

Mike
 
Pamela,

You'll have to figure it out and steal it while you are stealing my peppers and tomatoes!

OK, seriously, if I really want to get into the area of growing more than a few hundred plants for sale, I need to determine how to get the best looking plants using the least amount of resources (read: electricity). Customers don't like leggy plants, even though they will grow just as good and perhaps better than short, stocky ones. No, they go for the 8-10" tall plants with six sets of leaves and preferably a few blooms. So my experiment would be to see which set of lights does what customers want.

Geez, just think of Tim Taylor from Tool Time and his interest is not power tools but lights. Instead of horsepower, substitute lumens!

Don't forget, I have cats guarding my garden and what I'm on.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Pamela,

You'll have to figure it out and steal it while you are stealing my peppers and tomatoes!

OK, seriously,

Not hardly. You, sir, are giddy.



if I really want to get into the area of growing more than a few hundred plants for sale, I need to determine how to get the best looking plants using the least amount of resources (read: electricity). Customers don't like leggy plants, even though they will grow just as good and perhaps better than short, stocky ones. No, they go for the 8-10" tall plants with six sets of leaves and preferably a few blooms. So my experiment would be to see which set of lights does what customers want.


Huh, most customers wouldn't know leggy if they were to trip over it. If the plant looks half way healthy and has blooms or, even better, small green tomatoes, they will buy it.



Geez, just think of Tim Taylor from Tool Time and his interest is not power tools but lights. Instead of horsepower, substitute lumens!



Ok, now you're drooling.


Don't forget, I have cats guarding my garden and what I'm on.

Mike

I shall ply them with Kitty Crack, also known as the Fancy Feast Florentine series. They'll lock you in the garage and give me the keys to your house.
 
Pam,

You're right about some customers. I saw a guy leaving a hardware store who was giddy about paying $5.95 for a tomato plant because it was in a 6-inch pot and had a small tom on it.

BTW, I don't lock my house so the cats won't be able to tell you where the keys are!

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Pam,

It is working a treat! I still have a bunch to learn, such as not sow so many seeds in a given amount of space. But part of the problem, at least in every experiment I have tried over the months, is that tomato seedlings get leggy - it doesn't matter how many lumens they get, from what kind of light source they get them from, what the temp is. I probably need to try a MH light at some point, but unless I win a lottery, it will have to wait until after I sell a few dozen plants. But it should make for a good experiment this summer:

Ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to the grow-off. On the left-hand side is a 150 watt bulb, weighing in at 4100K and 12,000 lumens - please welcome Metal Halide!

Now ladies and gentlemen, look in the middle of the box. Tilting the scales at a measly 105 watts and 5000K and offering only 6,900 lumens, greet our underdog, CFL!

Lastly, on the right hand side is the disputed champ. He packs 15,000 lumens into his 150 watts and has a 5000K rating, High Pressure Sodium.

This battle will last one round, 45 days. The winner will be determined by a combination of height, lack of internodal length and number of leaves.

May the best light win.

Mike

Mike, if you are using shoplights why don't you try overdriving them?

Dale
 
Dale,

No shop lights, though I have three of them hanging around (in case I run out of room).

I don't want to get into growing stuff in a greenhouse half-cocked. Though early in the year, I'll get plenty of daylight from the sun, by late October, it will only be about 12 hours a day. If I decide to grow from December-February, I will need artificial light, some days more than others. I need to cover a space of about 16x3, maybe 16x4 feet. I want to maximize my production while minimizing my expenses (Pure Capitalism!). Does this mean using CFL, MH or HPS lights? Soil or hydro?

I want to start harvesting produce by September at the latest, which means I have to set it up by July. Though in honesty, I won't have to worry about lighting until at least October; ditto for heating. Perhaps I will need to have lights that can use either a MH or HPS bulb; as I understand it, the MH is better for vegetative and the HPS for blooming. But what do I know? Last year, all I used were some shop lights and 23 watt CFL bulbs and that was just to grow seedlings!

Mike
 
Transplanted some more today. Couldn't do all I wanted, due to poor planning. But the score:

Siletz Tomatoes: 54
Bell Peppers: 33
Cayenne: 36
Tabasco: 24
Hungarian Hot Wax: 36
Jalapeno: 30
Red Habenero: 29
Sweet Banana: 26
Red Savina: 22
Kenaf Hibiscus: 10

Mike
 
I'm feeling your pain. This transplanting large numbers of plants I won't be keeping is taking up all the time and space I could be using for more interesting endeavors. I'm at around 110 germinated/sprouting now. I won't be grumbling so much if I can recoup a few $ to help expenses though.
 
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