2018 - The Farm

Well, I've been gone a few years from the board, and away from growing peppers, but looks like life is pushing me back that way again. 
 
I recently (last month) closed on a 25 acre farm in Central Illinois with some primo soil, and I'm going to give a commercial grow a test run. 
 

 

 
From up on the roof, when I was doing some roof repairs on the outbuildings. Not much as far as the eye can see, but cornfields...
 

 
 
Has a 4 stall garage and a horse stable on the property
 

 

 

 
Probably do my grow room upstairs here after I insulate it
 

 
Built some doors for the horse barn and patched the roof last month
 

 

 
 
Anyway just dropped a cold grand on seeds from pepperlover and buckeye, going to hit a greenhouse supplier up for other materials next week.
 
Have plans to build a 30x72' greenhouse in the spring, and a ~1200 sq foot dedicated grow room. Too late really to help with this year's grow, but next year it'll save me a lot of hassle on hardening off. 
 
The greenhouse, I am going to do a piped infloor heat slab, with a horizontal loop geothermal system (I own a mini excavator) that is solar powered. So heating should be nice, uniform, not create heat / cold bubbles, and not dry out plants like forced air would. I build circuit boards in my day job, so I will also build a microcontroller to handle the automated watering system with soil moisture monitors and actuated plumbing valves on the water supply.
 
Also plan on building a "deep winter" greenhouse for year round production. Got blueprints I made from a couple of years back, those are walled on three sides with heavy duty insulation, with the glass wall side angled to face winter solstice, so you can grow in the deep freeze months of the north. In the summer, those get hot enough to use as a natural dehydrator, replace the tables with racks for bulk drying.
 
Only doing a half acre or so of peppers to start with this year, the balance will be put in corn. I can't manage more than that with the labor I have available. (When you start talking thousands of plants, simple tasks like up-potting grow in to hundreds or thousands of man hours...)
 
Going to hire some local kids to help, school has a good ag co-op program for high schoolers, they can get school credit working on local farms. Since the plant out and harvest doesn't conflict too badly with corn, shouldn't have a problem finding labor around here.
 
Anyway, that's the plans.
 
We'll see how it goes.. er.. grows.
 

 

[Chilidude]

Look at all this talent gathering in the same topic, now you cant disappoint us by failing your chili growing or something:

we will be watching.

 

[PtMD989]

TrentL, there are many of us companies that rely on your circuit board rebuild talent. Not all of us can afford to upgrade to the latest and greatest. We rely on guys like you to fix “rebuild “ our “power supply boards”. Technology is passing some of us by, but some of us still rely on the old stuff. [emoji846]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PtMD989]

 
Look at all this talent gathering in the same topic, maybe we should start group hugging trees or something.  

This world could use some love![emoji22]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TrentL]

I actually managed to recruit my wife into helping me get some seeds buried today. I'm thinking of adding some castings to the mix if the ones I presoaked already look like they're gonna pop soon or have already popped. I'll try a couple different mixes. I don't have much time for trial and error so hopefully all works out

 
I'm running out of time too, not sure if I will find a good potting soil mix for the pot-ups in time. 
 
I'm remaining hopeful. The temperature of 'fish gut batch' was 104F when I turned it over this morning before I hit the sack, it's still composting and busy making me loads of nitrogen. Cat piss batch is mellowing out some. That had so much NH4 in it, it's ridiculous. Once it quits smelling like piss it should smell like 'good earthy dirt', when it gets there, it's frigging game on. Same with the pile that's still composting. 
 
This weekend, I'm going to mix up a ton of that stuff and get it cooking so it's settled by the time I get the annuums ready. 
 
It's kind of funny, the entire farming operation is currently hinging on my scent gland to tell me when this random mix of stuff, stops smelling like cat piss.
 
We really are just monkeys pushing buttons.

 

[Edmick]

I'm actually really liking this coco coir. It's clean and super easy to work with.

 

[TrentL]

Oh my.
 
THIS, gentlemen and ladies... is what we like to call "RESULTS."
 
Two trays, of Aji Cereza, seeded the same day. 
 
The one on the right got 40oz of Great White 4 days ago. You can tell the bacteria have gone to work on the media - coco coir and various dry organic fertilizers, converting it in to something very rich and black. Both trays had the same organic components added in.
 

 
Tray that got Myco (the empty plug was transplanted out);
 

 
Tray that didn't:
 

 
Those were both seeded on 2/11/18 and the differences are striking.
 
BUT.. it's not the organic fertilizers... I thought "oh, must be the {whatever I shoveled in there}..." 
 
But check this out. Four days ago this tray was yellowing, nutrient starvation. I added 40 oz of mycorrhizae solution. There are NO organic fertilizers and NO liquid fertlizers have been added; the bacteria and fungus went to work converting the straight, 100% coco coir to harvest nitrates out of it for the plants to use;
 

 

 

 
Comparison tray, which did NOT get myco, seeded about 16 hours after the one above;
 

 

 
note how the tray that didn't get myco is showing signs of nitrogen starvation; interveinal chlorosis
 

 
 
 
 
But it's repeated, so not a fluke... MOA scotch bonnets, 100% coir with 40oz myco added, bacteria started converting coir to harvest nitrates, 4 days later;
 

 
Coir is turning a nice black color now, and the plants have REALLY greened up in the last few days. I've already pulled some transplants out of it for testing.
 
Meanwhile tray that didn't get anything except 6.5pH water.. just kind of stalled out.
 

 
There's really only one conclusion to draw from this. Well, maybe a couple.
 
Adding mycorrhizae solution to a starter tray after first leaf development causes bacteria to begin converting coir to usable nitrogen for the plants.
 
I thought "meh it's just going to prep some microbiotics for when I transplant them to get that process kick started"
 
But instead, I discover "holy crap", the light bulb goes off, and I realize that the microbiotics go to work converting COIR, to SOIL.
 
That's frigging AWESOME, if you think about it because Coir is generally a "sterile" media with ZERO (or near enough to zero to be insignificant) nitrogen supply.

The same thing is happening in the "big bins" - every day, they grow darker and darker and now are just about *black* in appearance. Meanwhile the coir without bacteria and fungus added just sits there looking that wonderful shade of brown it started out as.
 
That also means it can potentially serve as a good base for an organic soil mix. Maybe even a fantastic one. WITHOUT adding manure, compost, etc.
 
Check this out; straight 100% coir vs. hydro-in-coir. The passive hydro liquid fert pot didn't get mycorrhizae, it was just straight coir with no amendments other than some perlite to keep it from compressing from top waterings.
 

 
The interesting thing here is after a couple of days, the seedling in the hydro pot is pulling out of it's NIIIITRROOOOGEEEEN infused madness and is going pretty good. I expect it'll start overtaking the starter tray comparisons in the next few days.
 
However, that's ALSO holding true for soil mix J and L; although J is hit and miss.. with J3 is showing some odd things. (Trying to figure that one out still)
 

 
 
So... how's the new soil tests doing?
 
Look at these maters after 48 hours;
 
Hydro (left) and worm turd mix (right)
 

 
Soil Mix J (stinky fish mix)
 

 
Now Mix J - left 100% on it's own, is composting rapidly in the bin. HOWEVER, diluting it 1:1 with straight coir, stopped that compost process - the soil hasn't "cooked off" in the pots as it did last time (when it was formerly known as Mix F, G, and H...)
 
Speaking of, this is how those are doing. 100% pepper fatalities and it looks like it's also 100% fatal with tomatoes after 2 weeks.
 

 
But if you let it "cook off" for even just a few days, dilute it down with straight coir... man it takes off like a rockstar!
 
 
 

 

[TrentL]

Finally happy I'm getting some positive results for a change. 
 
Hopefully I can get this episode of the grow behind me soon and focus on the next stage... 
 

 

[PtMD989]

You are going to need a vacation when this is done [emoji846]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Edmick]

Finally happy I'm getting some positive results for a change. 
 
Hopefully I can get this episode of the grow behind me soon and focus on the next stage... 
 

Are you doing all this alone or do you have some help?

 

[Edmick]

Those are some good looking toms too by the way. I have around 1200 plants going right now. Berkeley tie dye, Indian striped, zebras and Japanese trifele black.

 

[Chilidude]

Now they are starting to look more normal, so keep up the good work...

 

[Trident chilli]

Impressive... glad everything working well for you now ... plenty of healthy seedlings

 

[TrentL]

Are you doing all this alone or do you have some help?

 
So far the plant part is nearly 100% solo. Wife helps a little by turning on my grow lights and fans in the morning, and she's begun pitching in a little on a few things here and there, like mixing up water for me when I am running short on time (have to get the right pH, every 5 gal bucket I haul from upstairs, needs tested). She watered the tomatoes one morning, and helped me organize the seed stock in to a fishing lure type box thingy. She also helped when I hung lights, and pulled 12-2 through the basement, kind of a 2 person job on that stuff. But otherwise, has been totally hands off. Oh, she holds the thermometer laser thingy while I turn over the composting bins as I have to use both hands, and don't have a free one to watch max temp.
 
She tends to pitch in when I'm running late on things; it is a lot of work and sometimes I don't get out of the grow room for 6-8 hours after I get home.
 
The day tends to go like this;
 
wake up
get coffee on my way downstairs
head to basement, make sure nothing is going to die one me by being too dry
go to work
get home, head to basement, make sure nothing is dead or dying
eat, maybe watch a hockey game
go back downstairs, do plant counts, water, mix soil, start trays, rotate trays and pots (like to keep them rotating so the same one isn't always directly in front of the fan), whatever. Sometimes that takes 2 hours, sometimes 10+ hours (like when I started a bunch of new trays Fri night)
head upstairs, do data entry, read a book for a while, pass out.
 
It's pretty much like having a second job now, I'm averaging like 6-8 hours a day just managing plants, weekends are 12-16 hour days. "Downtime" is spent reading.
 
It's been challenging to keep this up for so long, prep work started early January, lighting and room prep was done a week before seeds hit the dirt (while I was working 12+ hours on the day job on a project, which sucked), then seeds hit the dirt 2/25.
 

Now they are starting to look more normal, so keep up the good work...

 
They're getting there! It's been frustrating but I think I'm finally getting some answers to how to make this work.
 
 

Impressive... glad everything working well for you now ... plenty of healthy seedlings

 
Thanks, it is a much better feeling in the morning when I see them now, and don't see a room full of dead or dying plants.
 

Those are some good looking toms too by the way. I have around 1200 plants going right now. Berkeley tie dye, Indian striped, zebras and Japanese trifele black.

 
Sweet!  I have 3242 in the pepper seeds in the dirt according to my spreadsheet, and had 72 cells of tomatoes. I've transplanted some up; others are still in holding pattern. I start 5 or 6 trays of Amish Paste tomatoes today, so tomatoes will go up, fast... now that I have something not lethal to put them in.
 
Amish paste are the only ones I'm putting in the dirt, I figure if I keep the crap homogeneous I can cultivate seeds for a much bigger grow next year. I'd like to do a few acres of tomatoes but waiting to see if I can get the organic stuff down, and get certified this year. Having all one type will eliminate cross pollenation concerns - I am several miles away from any residence (well, the closest house is just over a mile away), and 15+ miles away from the nearest tomato nursery, so the farm is just about the perfect isolation test bed. If I were only growing one type of pepper I could harvest pure seeds on a large scale and not even worry about isolation. But I can't bring myself to do that with peppers, as I am with tomatoes.

 

[TrentL]

Damnit,  I checked the roots of my tomato transplants, and across the board, they're looking bad. The plants are starting to show a little yellowing in some cases.
 
I ran a mess of soil tests today trying to pin it down. 
 
My old mix (F1; coir, perlite, blood meal, bone meal, azomite) I still had some pots with dead 'maters in it. The soil tested very low on available nitrogen, despite smelling strongly of ammonia. Something clearly stopped the process of converting the ammonia to nitrate. Phosphorous was low, and potassium was medium. pH was the big surprise. I stirred some soil in to a glass of distilled water (which tested 7.0, neutral), let it rest for a few minutes, then filtered it through a coffee filter in to a clean cup. The resultant solution PEGGED the pH test strip, immediately. Much higher than my tap water - went bright pink on contact (which is 8.4+ on the test kit I have). My tap water has a much slower reaction before hitting light pink (8.2) after 30 seconds.
 
Huh. That's odd. How the hell could the pot be MORE alkaline than my tap water was that fed that batch originally?
 
OK so I've been feeding two soil bin tests with 6.5 pH adjusted water. Let's try that same thing. Distilled water and mix J soil.
 
Same result. Pegged the strip, 8.4+. Higher than my tap water, even. 
 
 
 
Whoa.
 
So I teast the coco coir.
 
Coco coir tested 6.8, just slightly lower than the distilled water that I put in there. 
 
So what the hell gives here? I don't understand what is going on. How could these pots be going so alkaline, so fast? 
 
It's gotta be a an amendment I'm using.
 
Mix K tested 8.2 as well. (Coir, perlite, worm turds, blood meal, bone meal, myco treatment)
 
The perlite tested neutral.
 
Starter tray of 100% coir (planted 2/8) with a mycorrhizae treatment tests 7.0.
 
Starter tray planted 2/9 of Coir, vermiculite, kelp meal, no mycorrhizae treatment tests 7.0
 
Starter tray planted 2/11 of Coir, worm castings, kelp meal, and azomite, treated with mycorrhizae, tests 7.0.
 
 
So...that rules out the coir, perlite, azomite, kelp meal, worm castings, mycorrhizae treatments.
 
So... bone meal (ruled out blood meal, the only remaining component, as that slowly lowers pH), evidently raises pH to the point it's hostile to plant life in the quantities I'm using.
 
Continuing to narrow it down... 
 
 

 

[TrentL]

Seabird guano on the way. Ordered two types to compare side by side.
 
One isn't ORMI listed organic, another is, but both should give phosphorous without raising pH.
 

 

[Chilidude]

Seabird guano on the way. Ordered two types to compare side by side.
 
One isn't ORMI listed organic, another is, but both should give phosphorous without raising pH.
 

 
What about bat guano(guanokalong)?

 

[TrentL]

Bat guano is high nitrogen, doesn't have as much phosphorus (9-3-1 NPK)
 
Seabird guano is high phosphorous. One I ordered was peruvian seabird guano (pelletized) which is 11-11-2. The other seabird guano I ordered was powder, was non ORMI, and listed at 0-11-0.
 
 

 

[Chilidude]

Well, we could eat the bat guano like in the Ace ventura movie if it is no good for your chilis.

 

[Chilidude]

This is your new goal:

Using compost and chicken poop pellets.

 

[fcaruana]

It's the ammonia! Ammonia is a decently strong base.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk