Growing Chiles in HEL - 2019

Today I took 27 pellets off the heat mats and transplanted them into their first small pots. Then I moved them into my temporary grow room (sauna) under the lights where they will spend the next 60 days or so until it's warm enough to move outside for the summer.
 
I've still got another 75 pellets on the heat mats and will move them to the lamps as they pop.
 
On the tray in the photo, there are two separate LED lamp rigs.
 
The lamp specs: 
 
Strip Length: 61 cm
Watts: 15 watts per strip (45 watts per rig)
Kelvin: 6400K
Lumens: 1500 per strip
PPFD (at 100mm distance): 399 µmol/s/m2 per strip
 

 

[podz]

Heck, when you're done with your deck invite me over next time you grill up a big mess of cheeseburgers. 

 
Sure thing!
 
Pulled up 450 pieces of 12x12" concrete patio pavers yesterday evening, stacked them to the side, leveled the ground a bit, put down black landscaping fabric, threw some gravel on top of it, restacked the pavers into evenly spaced support pillars. Leveling work this evening and maybe even the start of some framing work tomorrow. Friday will be a free evening for R&R as I plan on working all day Saturday and Sunday to try to get this project finished before the lumber starts twisting and warping real bad as it dries in the pile.
 
My main goal is to get this project finished BEFORE I start my summer vacation, which will probably be either 3 or 4 weeks during July. Thus, we are working on evenings and weekends.
 
All this to make a better platform for my pepper garden!

 

[podz]

Putting down the foundation - needs to be strong enough to hold a hot tub! Each of the black supports can hold 800 kg.
 

 

[PaulG]

Wow, that is a serious foundation, Mika.
You should be able to dance on that!

 

[podz]

Wow, that is a serious foundation, Mika.
You should be able to dance on that!

 
Has to be serious because my wife wouldn't let me use 2x6 joists as it would make it too tall. So I am using 2x4 joists spaced 50cm OC. Need to add a serious amount of noggins between the joists to keep it strong enough. I mean, do you know how much a hot tub full of water and 4 people weighs? :-)
 
Trivia question: did you ever wonder where the saying "I'll smack you in the noggin, boy" comes from? In days of old when nights were bold and air nailers weren't invented, you used a framing hammer to nail your noggins and joist bounce was prevented :-) Occasionally, people would miss the nail and smack the noggin instead :-) Or something like that.

 

[PaulG]

I have wondered about that ever
since I was a little kid.

Great parody, Mika

 

[PaulG]

I have wondered about that ever
since I was a little kid.

Great parody, Mika

 

[PaulG]

I have wondered about that ever
since I was a little kid.

Great parody, Mika

 

[podz]

So this is how far we got by the end of this day. The three long perpendicular 2x4s are screwed down into the joists with 140mm (5-1/2") screws to pull them all up to the same level. That makes leveling the whole frame easier and I will remove them when the frame is leveled with the adjustable footings. Also makes installing the noggins much easier but some of the joists are warped a bit and will need to be freed first.
 
Hope to get the frame finished and leveled by Wednesday evening and then start putting on the lid on Thursday. Weather is much better now so everything should proceed quite nicely.
 
 

 

[podz]

One of my Montufars is kind of happy!
 

 
 
About to pop a flower!
 

 

[podz]

Weather has been great and everything is growing sort of explosively now that the sunlight is more than 19 hours per day. Padrons and Medina have several pods each and lots of flowers. Star Flame has an insane amount of flowers. All the pubes (9 in total) are launching lots of flower buds. And one of my Montufars (the one above) is growing at a phenomenal rate, it will probably be a monster after a few more weeks - might need to pot it up after I finish the deck.

 

[PaulG]

Glad to see your weather has turned for the better.
Hope all those flowers set pods for you!
 
Good luck finishing your deck. Can't wait to see
pics of the finished project.

 

[podz]

Glad to see your weather has turned for the better.
Hope all those flowers set pods for you!
 
Good luck finishing your deck. Can't wait to see
pics of the finished project.

 
 
We got major work accomplished during this weekend. I cut all the noggins today and my wife fixed most of them into place with 4" structural wood screws, except the ones on the perimeters which were held in with joist hangers and me swinging my big-ass Fiskars framing hammer. Still a few minor adjustments to the frame then it's time for one more leveling with the adjustable feet.
 
We'll be putting the lid on hopefully during the evenings this week.
 
One thing is for certain, anybody who builds a deck should definitely have a cordless impact driver - you can sink lag bolts and screws with the greatest of ease and nothing gets stripped.
 

 

[PaulG]

Thats awesome!

 

[podz]

Some progress made - five boards installed, resume work tomorrow with the big saw. First two against the wall were done with normal screws and the last three were done with hidden screws using a Camo Marksman Pro NB 1.6 tool and Camo 60mm deck screws. Will be quite nice having no screw holes on top of the boards. Barefoot friendly!
 

 

[PaulG]

Great progress, Podz.
What kind of wood are those planks
made from?

 

[podz]

Great progress, Podz.
What kind of wood are those planks
made from?

 
Thanks. I'm using pressure treated pine. Basically the only other choice available here in FI stores would be composite, which costs 5-6 times as much. We don't have hardwoods or cedar available.

 

[podz]

Small update today:
 
Garden containers have been a bit neglected due to the deck building project but most are doing quite well anyway. Could have been doing much better, but there is only so much time in one day.
 
Did 3 hours deck building work today after I got home from work and it's supposed to rain all evening tomorrow. Friday is my day of evening rest, so I will have to resume on Saturday and put in a full day. Also full day on Sunday if needed. But anyway, two more days of work then I'm on vacation for a solid month!!!

 

[PaulG]

Enjoy your vacation, Mika.you deserve a break!

Whats even better is the deck will be done
so you can enjoy it!

 

[podz]

Enjoy your vacation, Mika.you deserve a break!

Whats even better is the deck will be done
so you can enjoy it!

 
Oh, the work won't stop there. I've got to build storage benches, set up the entire drip irrigation system, move all the plants, get some new outdoor furniture, etc!
 
Right now, though, my back is not agreeing too well with the plan. Hopefully I am able to get a hot tub out there, let's see.

 

[podz]

Actually, I think this is set to be a really good year for the pubes - nighttime lows over the next 10 days are predicted to be 11-12c (51-53f) with daytime highs between 16-20c (61-68f). We are also having a lot of days alternating between overcast-rain and sunshine. This is happening exactly at the time the pubes are going to flush heavy with flowers - they are already starting to get quite full of flower buds now.
 
As hot as it was last summer, it took three flushes of blooms before my Manzano Rojo found cooler nights and set fruits. Central Europe + Iceland, Norway and Sweden are in the midst of one of the worst heatwaves ever and we are nice and "cool-ish" here in Finland now :-)