• Everything other than hot peppers. Questions, discussion, and grow logs. Cannabis grow pics are only allowed when posted from a legal juridstiction.

I'm bored!

W

wordwiz

Growing is dead now in southern Ohio. Yes, I have about 40 tomato and four lettuce plants in the greenhouse, but all they are doing is growing. Some blossoms but no tomatoes.

I have sown some banana seeds, since they are suppose to take weeks or months to germinate, but I hardly care to sit around and see how the soil temp varies!

It's way too early to sow tomato and pepper seeds for next year - I have to wait until at least the middle if not the end of March to do that.

How bad is it? I spent last evening cleaning up my laboratory, even to the point of using a shop vac to clean the floor.

One thing I will be doing tomorrow - I have a spare bedroom where I want to raise some banana plants (if seeds ever sprout). It should be interesting and keep me busy: I have a 54 watt red and blue panel, a couple of 14 watt red/blue panels that are what one sees for sale on e-bay, a 14-watt panel that has a different wavelength of red/blue, a completely red panel and a panel that is all blue. And the HPS lights.

I probably will need to cover the one window, less passers-by wonder what I am growing!

Mike
 
Mike, glad to hear I'm not the only one...not a lot to do until it's time to start seeds after Christmas. I've sorted and resorted all the seeds, everything is organized to the hilt. Now what???? We need something to take us through this down time...hmmm there has to be something else to grow or plan or do..any ideas?
 
well i have the same kind of prob to ... i think that was 1 reason i got into growing hydro and indoors.. i can grow all year long i always have something to keep me busy .. it does cost a little bit... but i enjoy doing it, so it dont matter!!! just my 2cents later:)
 
redeyes,

I am growing stuff, sort of indoors. In a greenhouse, but the plants are at the stage where there is next to nothing to do! Water them once a week, trim a leaf or two - that's about it. At least last year, I was busy building a grow chamber and a bench for seed trays, installing lights, hanging Mylar.

I knew I should have started a bunch of plants back in August - I would be picking tomatoes now!

Mike
 
When I had more time I used to grow gourmet mushroom during the winter but there's quite a big learning curve involved when starting.
This winter I'm trying to get into growing various types of sprouts since they are incredibly nutritious and easy to grow even with very little light.
I may even grow some wheat grass this winter. Although its juice is highly nutritious I just can't imagine it being very tastey so I may just end up growing it for my cats
 
I hear you Mike. I have to fight the urge to start seeds. Two more months before the fun starts again. I've considered winter crops like garlic, lettuce, broccoli, but didn't try this year.
 
Wow Zander - only two months? Thankfully, AJ sent me some superhot seeds last year that I have saved, so I will start them the day after Christmas, but I have to wait until at least the middle of March to start most everything else.

I managed to hang about six LED panels and an HPS lamp in a room - just in case some banana seeds come up. I'll have about an 8-foot span I grow them under, though I will probably be lucky to have one or at the most three seeds germinate. But it is still boring.

Mike
 
Any weeds in the garden Mike? The first thing that used to come out of my mothers mouth when i complained i was bored was "go and weed the garden".
I quickly found other things to do!
 
Novacastrian said:
Any weeds in the garden Mike? The first thing that used to come out of my mothers mouth when i complained i was bored was "go and weed the garden".
I quickly found other things to do!
Click to expand...

No weeds in the garden, or if so not worth looking at. I sowed rye grass as a cover crop.

I do have some weeds growing in the containers of tomatoes, but I'm letting them age a bit so they will be worth adding to the compost pile. Their roots are not deep enough to deprive the plants of any nuits or moisture.

I guess I can go process the tiny bit of horseradish I have. If nothing else, it ought to open my nostrils a bit!

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Wow Zander - only two months?
Mike
Click to expand...

I'll be starting peppers in early January. Around here you can bring them outside very early, but it's slow going from there. This season was especially mild; the summer didn't really arrive until late August. It's nice to have a long season, but not without it's challenges.
 
Ciao Mike-

LOL, you're bored? :crazy: I'm still canning! Pumpkin today and more chocolate mint jelly later in the week. Then coq au vin from leftover American Thanksgiving turkey next weekend. Plus, I'm still ripening tomatoes in large flat Costco cardboard boxes downstairs and pureeing/freezing them. And cherries, I'm still drying cherries. And threshing flower seeds. And helping Duane make ristras with his peppers. And then I've got piles of pots, trays, cell-packs, and IKEA buckets to wash/sanitize. :shocked:

Too funny, it never ends for me, so I've yet to experience boredom.
 
Sorellina,

Would you be upset if I strangle you - slowly! Good grief girl, about the only things I can do to entertain myself is water plants and turn the heater/fan off or on.

You just wait until I win a lottery (some day I may buy a ticket), get a farm and have 20 acres of garden space! A 40,000 sf greenhouse and when I spend four days a week at Farmer's Markets.

All I need is the right 5 or 6 numbers!

Mike
 
Found some cucumber seeds from Reamers [SIC} - Tasty Jade and Holland Hothouse. Figured I might as well sow them. Reamers told me they will not germinate because - I lie to you not - they will ultimately be grown in a hydro. These must be smart seeds - they know what their future holds and apparently they are afraid of water.

Nevertheless, I have space in my GH and a tub that has some lettuce in it, but one that gets a lot of sun (when it shines!) and plenty of room to grow.

It will probably be February or later before any fruits are ready to harvest, but that's okay.

If I could raise hydroponic bacon and eggs, I would be one happy camper, especially if the lettuce, tomatoes and cukes grow up to be cowboys.

Mike
 
Not anymore

I couldn't take it anymore. :onfire: Thankfully, the tomatoes in the GH are growing nicely so I added a layer of string to the weave in one row and put up a weave on another row.

Because I'm still getting no fruit set on any of the hydro plants (but lots of blooms), I started some more tomato seeds. On Monday, I found some GH cucumber seeds (Tasty Jade and Holland Hothouse) and sowed them - two are up today. The are parthenocarpic so I won't have to worry about pollination.

I also sowed some more lettuce seeds in rock wool cubes - one head in the GH is large enough I can harvest leaves from it now.

The banana seeds have yet to germinate - it's only been a bit over two weeks, but I figure I have plenty of seeds, I'll try another five. They have been soaking in warm since yesterday evening. I will probably soak these for five days; the last ones I soaked them for 24 hours.

I also added another heater to the GH. It's a 450 watt Envi convection heater. I'm running another 600 watt heater with a fan and between the two of them, the temps on a sunless day or overnight stay 20-24 degrees above the outside temp. Once I replace the 15 amp fuse with a 20 amp, I can run the fan heater at 1200 watts or use a kerosene heater.

Nothing like something to do to break the boredom!

Mike
 
Again

Darn it, I want to sow seeds, water plants - I would almost be willing to deal with aphids. I'm going to the feed mill tomorrow to pick up 80 quarts of potting mix and to the supermarket to get a bunch of small bowls to start banana seeds in, but geez - how long will it take until March gets here! :(

No grow chambers to build, no lights to buy and then hang, no Mylar to put on walls. It will be at least another couple of weeks until I have tomatoes ripe enough to harvest.

Can't order seeds yet - I want to see how some varieties of toms I am trying in the GH turn out. The only thing left is to rake leaves from the yard, street and neighbors' yards and scatter them on the garden.

I hate winter!!!

Mike
 
personally, I am kinda enjoying a little break before seed starting time...it seems I mess with the peppers 11 months a year
 
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