ikeepfish's 2014 grow log...season's end is nigh

Helvete · Mar 23, 2014

beerbreath81 said:
Looking good over htere buddy, how bout another shot of the aquaponics kale? Also whats the deal with the farmall rebuild? have you guys started?

The Farmall Cub belonged to my grandfather who bought it with some of his GI money when he returned from the Pacific theater, he was in the Navy and drove Higgins boats unloading Marines on beaches and also stayed behind for a few years during post-war occupation. He kept the tractor under a carport or in a garage for this entire time, and it even still ran until about 5 years ago. He's still alive and just turned 89, we have some issues with some family feuding over some of their items and my uncles are trying to lay claim to heirlooms even though Pop is still alive and sharp as a tack still, so he went ahead and sold it to my dad. My dad is a "retired" Army officer who still works in Arlington and comes home on weekends and works on restoring it when he has time. It still has almost all of its original parts and is in relatively good condition. We're just repainting it and replacing mostly non-metal pieces that have degraded. Me being a machinist I've had to fabricate a few things but it's coming along nicely. We're probably going to take it to fairs and things like that, My dad already has a work tractor so the Farmall won't be doing any actual plowing or anything like that.

and here's some fresh shots of the kale and romaine:

one of the Romaines didn't like it for whatever reason...I'm going to be putting broccoli in it as soon as I find another spot for the tray of annuums

beerbreath81 · Mar 31, 2014

ikeepfish said:
The Farmall Cub belonged to my grandfather who bought it with some of his GI money when he returned from the Pacific theater, he was in the Navy and drove Higgins boats unloading Marines on beaches and also stayed behind for a few years during post-war occupation. He kept the tractor under a carport or in a garage for this entire time, and it even still ran until about 5 years ago. He's still alive and just turned 89, we have some issues with some family feuding over some of their items and my uncles are trying to lay claim to heirlooms even though Pop is still alive and sharp as a tack still, so he went ahead and sold it to my dad. My dad is a "retired" Army officer who still works in Arlington and comes home on weekends and works on restoring it when he has time. It still has almost all of its original parts and is in relatively good condition. We're just repainting it and replacing mostly non-metal pieces that have degraded. Me being a machinist I've had to fabricate a few things but it's coming along nicely. We're probably going to take it to fairs and things like that, My dad already has a work tractor so the Farmall won't be doing any actual plowing or anything like that.

and here's some fresh shots of the kale and romaine:
one of the Romaines didn't like it for whatever reason...I'm going to be putting broccoli in it as soon as I find another spot for the tray of annuums

Its sad to see family arguing over items that each feel "entitled" too. In your case it sounds like it puts a burden on your grandfather that is unessasary. Hope they get it all figured out and everyone stays on good terms. Its good to hear that your father has got the tractor and has good ententions for it to "live on". Great idea to place in fairs/parades and such. We look forward to some pics of the progress along the way. My thanks to your Dad and Grandfather for their service.

Your plants seem to be doing well in the aquaponics. I hope to have mine up and going in a few weeks. Your peppers look happy in the background too!

Helvete · Apr 3, 2014

Ok, stepped up a couple of plants to 5" pots, I have my LAST (I swear) round of seeds finishing up right now. I had to nix the yellow brains, they just will not germinate other than ONE that died almost a month ago. I also received some Nosegay seeds from a THP member that I started a couple yesterday.

I also have started my rockwool for my DWC, 7 Pot Merlot, Carolina Reaper, Bhut Jolokia white for the hydro this year. And BS yellow (fingers crossed XD). The 7 Pot Merlot seeds have already spread wings and I may end up having to start some buckets way ahead of schedule which is going to mess me up as far as indoor space goes, unless anyone has any good tips for keeping seedlings alive in straight rockwool.

The Romaine and Kale is doing phenomenally well in the aquaponics, the Romaine on the left is starting to act like it wants to head already O_o :

Two of my three Poinsettias are growing very rapidly, I stepped them up to 5" pots.

As well as my speedy Fatalii:

And some sad news, I left my overwinters outside overnight about 3 days ago because the forecast said it was going to be warmer at night than it actually was, I may have killed some Thai plants

I'll find out in about a week when the rest of the overwinters start forming leaves.

beerbreath81 · Apr 4, 2014

looking good over there man, so jelous of your aquaponics system. I cant wait to finish my upgrade and get mine going. Whats the story on the question mark plant (second pic)? Hopefully you can get the OW to bounce back.

Helvete · Apr 4, 2014

beerbreath81 said:
looking good over there man, so jelous of your aquaponics system. I cant wait to finish my upgrade and get mine going. Whats the story on the question mark plant (second pic)? Hopefully you can get the OW to bounce back.

The "?" plant is completely a mystery, I found it under a jiffy pellet germinated in a mixed tray of annuums and chinenses, it could be one of like 7 varieties. I can't really tell at this point even with the leaves coming up...it's stalled and has some gnarled leaves...I'm thinking it's a chinense at this point but it's hard to say with the leaves all mangled looking. I considered pitching it but I'm just too curious now. It could even be my elusive yellow brain that I can't get to grow this year lol.

Tomorrow I'll probably put the broccoli in the aquaponics system, they're starting to get root bound a little.

Helvete · Apr 17, 2014

Some updates.

The Grow Tent of Pain:
Topped a few of them, have repotted some. All here are chinenses except the Nosegay and I think the ? pepper is an annuum. The Fataliis have started getting hardened. Almost lost my last remaining Scotch Bonnet Brown a couple of days ago but it's doing fine now.

The annuum tray: the Poinsettias near the front have been topped and are doing VERY well. with the exception of my tinies on the right, this tray has been getting hardened as well. The Poinsettia in the lower right of the picture was developing some yellow splotching about a week ago, it's starting to clear up now but you can still see it.

Aquaponic Romaine is heading, another few weeks and I'll be ready to harvest them. Broccoli goes in the aquaponic DWC next along with possibly some annuums.

Ah, these two fellows are Corno di Toro cayennes (cowhorn) that I "rescued" from a local hardware store. We had a 29º night a few days ago and the jerks at the store would have let them freeze on the outdoor rack. They were the only "hot" peppers there, just these two guys. They're already hardened and have been enjoying the daytime weather. I topped both as soon as I got them. They're actually smaller than some of my other annuums but they're a step ahead because they can be outside

Paid $50 for this cheapo greenhouse at Big Lots, chances are it will only last one season. Right now I'm patiently awaiting the return of leaves on my overwinters...SO sick of these cold nights.

And in other news, I got 6 buckets of a sample of "Presidential" manure...my friend at work lives next to Montpelier (home of James Madison) where they mostly breed horses nowadays. They have compost piles the size of HOUSES that are years old that they're giving away for FREE. I'm going on Saturday to pick up a truck bed load of it. It's LOADED with worms. I mean completely saturated with them and it's black as my hair. Awesome stuff. I'm sure Madison would be proud of the high quality feces produced at his plantation.

Helvete · Apr 20, 2014

Got a whole truckload of the "Presidential Poop" today. It's been composting since 2012 and it's absolutely amazing. There were mountains of it there. Completely free other than the cost in gas to travel about 20 miles away to pick it up. I don't want to see a shovel for another week.

This is actually a tomato and bell pepper grow bed.

You can barely see my dad working on the Farmall in the last pic in the Garage-mahal bay.

Helvete · Apr 24, 2014

Here's pictured the majority of my plants that are taking in the sun quite nicely. Some of them would be ready for outdoors full time if it wasn't for the freak frosts we keep getting. That guy on the left in the 20" pot? that's my speedy Fatalii, I topped it about a week ago and it's starting to fill in nicely. I can see the difference in my short, bushy, beefcake plants that were grown in my grow tent compared to the live mailed ones that were grown outside. I live in Virginia, we have pretty volatile weather and I need all the short beefy plants I can get

There are a few more inside, mainly my rockwool starts and there are a couple already potted up in the greenhouse.

Helvete · May 4, 2014

PLANT OUT BEGINS!!!!! :mouthonfire:

I started transplanting to the outdoor homes, they're in fabric bags from the dollar store. I'm still keeping them close to the door so I can bring them in and stuff them in the basement if it gets too cold. In a few weeks I'll have them in nice rows behind the house. I've got a lot of work cut out for me and I definitely underestimated the amount of soil I'm going to need XD. I have over 70 plants right now and have barely made a dent in potting them up...although most of the annuums will be in the raised bed down hear the woodline.

My soil blend (no exact measurements, sorry...I just kind of eyeball it

)

topsoil
compost (various types...horse, cow, kitchen, leaf litter etc.)
earthworms (already in my compost)
bat guano
bonemeal (both packaged organic pelleted and also my homemade ground deer antler mix)
epsom salt
perlite (non-fertilized)
and a little bit of my secret ingredient

got 20 pounds of Krum horticultural perlite for $16.99...I probably need two or three more bags of it XD

some of the lucky winners. I even have one LUCKY Fatalii that got planted in the half bag of Ocean Forest I had leftover. The rest are hardened other than my "houseplant" peppers....they're going in DWC buckets in a few more weeks.

I also updated my grow list...this is a busy time so expect more updates soon!

John1234 · May 4, 2014

Nice score on the wicked looking compost

Free is the golden price.

Wish I had space, I've got to be content with mooching off other peoples piles for now

Congrats on starting plant out, I look forward to watching them grow and fruit out.

Helvete · May 7, 2014

I'm going to be busy as hell the next week or so because on top of potting up peppers I also have our normal farming stuff to start taking care of including a half acre of sunflowers, and possibly a half acre of amaranth. I'm really glad my parents haven't decided to do any livestock so far. I've only lived with them for about 2 years now and I'm actually enjoying the use of the 42 acres we have here. I'll have a lot of pictures coming up soon...here's a look at the forecast for 23170. :dance:

sicman · May 8, 2014

beautiful place cant wait for more pics. i want to know whats in them woods. really stoked about the tractor :woohoo:

pics when shes done. going to look so good.

best of luck on the gardens.

Helvete · May 8, 2014

sicman said:
beautiful place cant wait for more pics. i want to know whats in them woods. really stoked about the tractor pics when shes done. going to look so good.

best of luck on the gardens.

The woods are mostly old growth white oak, holly, and gum. The deer bed in here and eat soybeans from a 1000 acre field right next to us. We have 3 stream beds. One of the holly trees by the house is so big you can't put your arms around it. We had a guy come and look at it that said it's a 350+ year old male Ilex opaca and may be the oldest he's seen in this region. About 37 acres of the property is forest, my driveway is a half mile long. From an archaeological standpoint this is part of an old plantation ground and there's traces of old buildings all through the woods, and there's a documented slave cemetery on our property line that has a 2 foot brick wall still standing. This is the site of the largest cavalry battle of the civil war ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Trevilian_Station ) and there are earthworks all throughout the entire region. There are a few unmarked graves near the cemetery that are likely Union soldiers. This is part of the major game trail on the eastern seaboard and we can find native American artifacts like spearheads and pottery shards just by going out in the garden plot and looking in the dirt for a few minutes.

Space view:

This picture is probably 7-8 years old but this is the massive holly, it's so large the photograph doesn't do it justice.

Maybe one day I can get my speedy Fatalii to get that big

I did an intentionally brutal hack job when I topped it and it's filling in like a big dog now, just taken:

Helvete · May 10, 2014

Been semi-busy today getting as much as I can on a rainy Saturday.

annuum organic raised bed

Fataliis

Sangria flowering

Reaper

My Black Krim tomato strain

Peach Bhut Jolokia

Aji Pineapple from Jim Duffy

Mystery pepper, definitely annuum. Still not sure what it is though.

c

can I get a bump please?

Seacowboy · May 10, 2014

Bump, keep the good pics coming.

beerbreath81 · May 10, 2014

Bump. Great idea with the cinder blocks

Helvete · May 10, 2014

Thanks guys

hopefully all the ones still in pots will be bagged up by the time the weekend is over

Nosegay from floricole, Pimenta de Neyde, Bhut X PDN. both from Jim Duffy. I'm probably going to top the Tigers, they seem really fragile and they're getting nodes.

Jamaican Mushroom yellow from Jamison, and Primo

White Bhut Jolokia

rainy day bonfire, also a cremation ceremony for the overwinters that didn't make it

My DWC specimens, White Bhuts, 7 Pot Merlots, and Reaper, and a dead Reaper. These guys are NOT taking hardening well at all

I didn't think to take a pic before I harvested the two heads of Romaine on the left, but they were almost touching the light, which as it stands is about 2ft high. I left the stump so hopefully it will leaf out again. the root system was so insane it was reaching into the sump tank down the stand pipe XD. I'm going to put some of my excess Bubblegums in there tomorrow as well as an additional air stone.

and the Romaine's cruel fate

And I'm worn out, I only mix enough for two bags at a time. I only have maybe a dozen left and I just couldn't do it anymore.

I'm sure they'll get spaced out a bit more if they develop wide canopies on them.

The raised bed is near the woodline, and in the back on the right side of the pic is a semi-wild blackberry patch.

Helvete · May 18, 2014

I have officially gotten MOST of my planting done. I still have some seedlings that I'm going to baby for a bit in the greenhouse.

Reaper, middle two are 7 Pot Merlots, far right is white Bhut. Running in Fox Farm Grow Big and fulvic acid for right now at 1/2 strength. I have one more white Bhut in the aquaponics right now, and I'm probably going to throw some BBG 7s in there tomorrow after work if I'm not too exhausted.

Processed some powders from some dried pods I got from Jamison, also maced myself in the process XD

A healthy Pimenta de Neyde

white Bhut that has doubled in size in a very short time

Decided to pick up some hybrids at the store and try to maybe stabilize them. Dragon Cayenne and Golden Cayenne. i also got some more Thais because my overwintered plants didn't make it

Czechoslovakian Black

D3monic · May 18, 2014

Sweet property. I am Highly Jelly. Love the coloration of the Pimenta de Neyda

Roguejim · May 18, 2014

Nice set-up! I really like the outdoors shots, man. Pod photos to come, I'm sure.