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GeorgeJ's 2013 Tokyo-a-grow-grow - finishing off this season

Hey all.

First time growing from seed.
Thought I would start off with the grow box I built.

My apartment is so cold that I've built this box to sit in the closet and using a heat mat To keep things warm throughout. Not enough space or money to do everything separate.

So I built this box from Styrofoam and aluminium insulation sheeting. Managed to get everything from the 100 yen shop (japans version of the dollar store).

Here's it from the outside, in the closet (no gay jokes please) :
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On the inside there's a 50w fluorescent strip light I got for free with my axolotl tank. It's suspended from bamboo canes on wires, so I can adjust the height of the light as well as hopefully flexing in an earthquake.
To the left hand side, a small fan (also from an aquarium) which is pretty gentle to help toughen up the seedlings and prevent damping off.

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It was alot brighter before putting the heat mat in, so I may put some thin aluminum foil over it. Thoughts?

I'm gonna prep the seeds and pots, so that's it for now.
 
Click to expand...
not gonna do a big update, but thought this was worth sharing a picture of

Dorset naga is branching nicely, only about 7 inches tall right now but already 4 branches on it

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i'm gonna hopefully pot up a few this weekend into bigger containers and get them outside (but sheltered from the rain). or still in the living room, but my wife is going away for 2 weeks - she might be suprised when she comes back and finds i chucked out the furniture just so there was more space for my peppers ;)
i've run out of space on the chilli shelf, and the pots are full of roots, so i think it's time.


my space issue illustrated
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Hey G, they look like they're more than ready to go outside. Hope this "rainy season" stuff does its thing soon so you can get your chiles outside pronto. Cheers mate!
 
i can get them out on one side of the house (not so direct sunlight) but it`s not gonna have the rain hammer down on them. 
it`s west facing, but my tomatoes love it out there. i`m gonna try grow my trinidad varieties more there because i heard 7 pot orange and yellow cope well in the shade.

Regardless, this weekends work is to get them into bigger pots, give a few away to good homes and make myself a bit of space to stretch out and have their next burst of growth.

planning to buy square pots. melt 2 holes on each side at the top, then have S hooks go through the holes and then onto all the railing etc around my house (then bailers twine tied through to re-enforce, should an earthquake jolt the S hooks from the housing).
square pots, because round isn't easy. why holes on each side? for when the plant leans toward the sun, i can move it so it leans back the other way. ghetto i know, but it`s the only way i can do things.

Expect another update soon!
Pots will be smaller than some might recommend. but its all i can do unless i move house.
for this first season, the engineering and setup ingenuity side of it has been the most fun bit! working in breweries i loved problem solving more than actually brewing.

oh and the other good news is that rainy season started this week. earlier than expected, so hopefully finishes earlier too :)
 
here's how things are gonna happen. one of my red hab OWs is being the model for this shoot.

From inside
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From the side
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View from the street below
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It's working out alright with round pots. i couldn't find any square pots that i'd really wanna have hanging off that.
 
Nice job G! Why not just get a small spool of soft Iron wire and a pair of pliers and wire it right to the railing? Another thought is to hedge your bet, and get some steel cans large enough to hold the plastic pots (like coffee cans), drill/punch drain holes in the bottom, spray paint them black and wire them to the railings, then put the pots inside... That way the wire can't work its way through the plastic and dump the pots on the street below. Just a thought...
 
If your wife/GF (sorry, I can't remember which :oops: ) objects to something that looks jury-rigged, you could just get a window box that's made to clamp to a railing and put the pots in that.
 
I had been experimenting with stainless wire and pliers, it ended up bloody hard work with round pots (I'd tried with the hab plant) so went back to the drawing board.

My wife likes pretty things, but forgives a bit of wabi sabi if it means pods for her belly.

I had looked at the window boxes. The ones I saw are shallow and designed for squat planters. It had been my original idea but, Given the earthquake frequency here over time I decided against them, because a good jolt could leave my plants falling 18 ft to the ground.

They are also no cheap. Ten times the cost of me buying a pair of s hooks from the hundred yen store and melting a couple of holes in a pot.

I think I've finally nailed the plan for this season. Hopefully move to a bigger place next year and ramp this Shit up!
Also wiring straight to the railing presents problems. When the plant starts to lean to the sun, I want to rotate the pot. Wire means cutting the tie and re doing it - a lot of work and risking dropping the pot.

Basically been thinking about this since last september! Haha
 
If you wired a steel can to the railing and put the plastic pots inside you cans you could still rotate the pots... ;)
 
Think of it like a pot holster.
 
i had thought about something similar/making a holder, but couldn't find any materials at an affordable price to do so. 
Off to the home centre and dollar store soon :) pots and S hooks, yes it's gonna be a busy afternoon.
 
That's amazing. Loving that setup. It really is mind boggling how we adjust to our needs and situations. You will have loads of pods in a few months and I can't wait to see how this progresses. Watching with anticipation
Rick your a semi genius
 
Cheers for the kind words and encouragement guys! :)

I'm gonna be potting up a few tonight (went to a different home centre today which only had 3x 2 gallon pots, so I'm gonna pop by my normal one tomorrow).

2 gallon pots was the final choice. I don't wanna rip off the railing by having anything heavier. I also don't believe in needing 5 gallon pots, I had some good productive habanero plants growing in 1.5 litre pots last year. My space dictates that 6ft Bhut plants aren't wise too ;)
 
Potting up! getting them outside albeit a small canopy protecting them.

originally planned on doing the (L>R) Butch T, Dorset Naga and Bhut tonight.
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QUICK! before the wife gets home!
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Only had time to do the Butch T and the Naga.. far too busy at the moment!
They look pretty happy and alot sturdier in their new shoes, eh!?
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georgej said:
Potting up! getting them outside albeit a small canopy protecting them...

Only had time to do the Butch T and the Naga.. far too busy at the moment!
They look pretty happy and alot sturdier in their new shoes, eh!?
Click to expand...
 
Mos' def' G... Carry on!
 
cheers!

I'm gonna have to re-enforce the holds. the hooks are working fine at the moment, but at first they were bending (i gave the soil a good drench, but it's aood drainage so it's not nearly as heavy right now)
I perhaps need 3 hooks instead of 2 to share the load for a 2 gal pot at watering. admittedly they are hooks from the dollar store though..
 
Potted up a few today.

This bhut definitely needed to stretch it's legs. nice lookin roots!
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Top: Thai chilli i was told is called 'ni'
L>R: Jays Peach Ghost Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia, Yellow 7 Pot, Burgundy 7 Pot.
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