Search results

After a couple weeks of searching around locally we finally found some quinoa to grow.  We're trying a couple different grain crops in small amounts as their essential in John Jeavons method of growing.  We found lots around, mostly outside of Canada and costing an arm and a leg once shipping...

Botanicare pure blend pro is a complete fertilizer, with balanced macro/micro nutrients ( made up mostly of the suggested amendment listed above, with additional not strictly organic additives to round it out) already.  Why do you feel you need to add more?  A common trap I saw people fall into...

In most plants as far as I know senescence is brought on by a shift in plant hormones, noticeable an increase in abscisic acid and ethylene gas, shifting growth for a vegetative/flowering/fruiting growth into dormancy/death. Fairly easy to mitigate as long as the plants are kept healthy and...

I've never heard of that Scarecrw, I'll have to keep my eyes out and see if there's a price difference. @Birdfather; that was the price last time I checked, of course that was in town, I sure you could get it cheaper from a farmer/mennonite. I was debating whether to spread straw over the beds...

Lower it. EC is a measure of the mineral salts (nutrients) in the solution, higher EC, more fertilizer salts. If the EC is too high, it'll literally reverse osmosis and suck water out of the plant instead of the plant sucking water/nutrients in. So like I said, seeing the leaves wilt with no...

I'll always go with HID lights given the chance, from everything I've read they're the most efficient while still being intense enough to be useful.  It's also important to mention that CFL's aren't 100% par watts either, usually cfl's have a lower par rating then HID (either HPS or mH).  The...

That would have been smart, here ya go... http://thehotpepper.com/topic/39616-straw-as-mulch/

There's also different grades of straw, we use a clean straw and like I said don't have a problem with weeds.  We may spend 5-15 mins weeding a week at the most, really only at the beginning of the year.  So I haven't noticed any increase in weeding with straw mulch.

Try cutting the ec in half and see if it perks up, it's always surprising how well most plants will do on very little nutrients. Otherwise the plant does look healthy, the roots look a bit under-developed but there's no brown mushy rot or other signs of problems. So the most likely cause of not...

I can't tell from the pic, the lower leaves could be drooping (he mentioned two broke off, don't know if that means something hit them or they dropped during the night) indicating a lack of available water to maintain the transpiration stream or it could just be the angle of the pic. Like the...

In another thread I was asked about my experiences using straw as mulch, well specifically why we use straw and since we use it as a mulch we have this thread. I know, kinda convoluted but that's generally how I bounce through life. For pics or a description of the garden check out the blog...

Thanks for the compliments A-f-C, I don't want to hijack this thread with a discussion of straw though so I'll start another thread about straw as mulch.

If you're seeing wilted leaves on an otherwise healthy plant like yours, my first guess would be something is causing the EC to spike, decreasing turgidity as the roots struggle to bring in enough water.

We've got 7 heirloom varieties growing in total, 2 for production and 5 to try new plants: Moskovich (15 plants); very early, hardy plant, cold tolerant and heat resistant produces medium sized crack resistant fruit. Brandywine (11 plants); mid to late season, potato leaf variety, large fruit...

I had a little surprise waiting for me in the mail when I got home yesterday, so another has safely arrived. Thanks again and I'll get some pics up once they start growing.

moulds also grow in specific pH ranges, dust your surface with a bit of sulphur, baking soda (sodium bi-carbonate) or better yet potassium bi-carbonate (used in wine making) as it'll also fertilise and kill the mould spores.

You should have a fan on them all the time during the day (ie whenever they're under light). Plants don't have lungs, so rely on the wind to provide fresh co2, whereas we can breath in and out supplying our lungs with fresh oxygen. Without air movement, a leaf will use all the available co2...

Anthocyanin is a pigment present in all plants that compliments chlorophyll, except it appears purple as it absords all other light. Carotenoids and Xanthophylls are the other pigments (yellow and red), although we generally only see the chlorophyll as it's more predominant.

Could you reference this? I've used both mH and HPS for years and never noticed a difference in heat output.

This is a really hard question to answer because so many other variables (like base ppm of water, humidity, light intensity, air flow, etc) all modify the ideal ppm. So it's best to invest in a good quality, complete fertilizer and start at roughly 1/4 there recommendations, then adjust from...