61 Charlie 2019

First year with rainwater harvest system up and running out at airport. Growing peppers in containers ...

I intend to use this GLOG to share and learn.

Pics and commentary to follow.




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[rfchisholm]

This is pic of early spring garden site. Rainwater collection system in shade. Stacked IBC totes wrapped with materials matching hangar.

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[PaulG]

to the Hot Pepper, Ron!
 
Good luck with your 2019 grow! I am interested
in seeing more pics of your rainwater collection
system. Oh, yeah, and the peppers in containers,
too!

 

[rfchisholm]

Southern porch on corner of building. Full sun ... 'cuz it's an airport. Sixteen feet of gutter diverting rainwater to collection system on left side. Two short raised beds in front for some basic crops; rhubarb, radishes, lettuce, onions, garlic, strawberries. Peppers in white containers sitting on a pallet with casters. Raspberries with trellis on far left.

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[rfchisholm]

Infow on upper right with first-flush collection set-up. Main stand-pipe feeds bottoms of two stacked IBC totes wrapped in steel skins same as building. Overflow (after full) on right-side as well. 550 gallon capacity. Gravity fed outflow at stand-pipe bottom feeds manifold with blue hand-valves feeding raspberry patch and raised beds (lower left).

 

[rfchisholm]

Peppers in white food-grade containers; free from local bakery. A couple in 5-gal buckets. Some other crops in felt pots. Egg plant in black bucket.
Figured casters on platform will let me move lot indoors if rough weather arrives. Hangar has plenty of floor space in a pinch.

 

[rfchisholm]

A closer look at my peppers. The Habanero at the bottom of pic was just transplanted yesterday; others have been transplanted/hardened over past week. ALL were purchased from nurseries. Hope to start from seeds next season.

 

[rfchisholm]

Sweet pepper came with flowers. I'm thinking I may want to 'top' it, however, don't know if i have enough season to do so on a common plant. What do you think?

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[rfchisholm]

Habanero just transplanted yesterday. It is much greener than my others. Not sure why ... Probably not stressed yet.
Some buds on top. Wondering if I should top this one? Figured I would give it couple days. Temps in upper 50s today. I’m sure none of the peppers like that.

 

[Mr.joe]

Interesting setup should be fun grow to watch

 

[rfchisholm]

Garden up and running.

 
I started my tomatoes in my shop, with insufficient light, so there are a couple of spindly ones there.  We'll see if they recover now that they are outside.
The black buckets are being bottom fed.  They have perlite medium; started as top-fed dutch bucket.  
All my peppers are in white buckets, of various designs/holes/drainage, etc ...

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[PaulG]

Really nice to see how your grow space has
developed, RF. Ten days has seen a lot of growth.
Looks really good, nice and tidy. Your rainwater
catch system is awesome, as well. How much
rain do you get there? How long is the WI grow
season?
 
Good luck going forward!

 

[rfchisholm]

Paul ...
Wisconsin rainfall averages about 35 inches per year.  Like many others in the mid-west, we've had a particularly wet spring/early summer this year.
 
My problem at the airport is that I don't have access to water, except for what I can capture and hold.  It is also wide-open to wind and sun, so it can get pretty parched during summer months when the rain doesn't fall.  I hope to take care of the dry-times with the harvested rainwater.
 
Growing season is typically from early May to early October ... I figure about 150 days.   I attempted to extend it a bit this year with a small dutch-bucket set-up in my shop this spring.

 

[PaulG]

Not too much different than our climate here.
We are at about 45˚N latitude, Not sure about
Ft. Atkinson.
 
Our problem here is that May is usually decent,
then June is a crap shoot. Especially the past four
seasons. I call it the June Suck.
 
The garage Dutch Bucket set-up is nice. You should
get some good tomatoes from those vines! Looks
like a squash and pepper in there, too.

 

[rfchisholm]

That’s a cucumber in first bucket.


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[rfchisholm]

First sweet pepper pod of the season.
Garden took a nice hit in T-storm yesterday. Peppers did okay. Can’t say the same for the tomatoes.

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[Downriver]

Nice lookin setup Chiz!
 
How do you control water-flow? Manual or do you have something automatic?

 

[rfchisholm]

DR ... automation.
I have (had) a reservoir with heater/aerator and pump on timer.

 

[PaulG]

DR ... automation.
I have (had) a reservoir with heater/aerator and pump on timer.

I hope the doesn't mean that it was a victim of the t-storm.
 
One pod down, many to come!

 

[rfchisholm]

Picked up an Espelette plant at local farmers market.
Will be adding it to garden this afternoon.

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