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Patrick's Grow Log

patrick said:
I was out checking plants and came across this little fellow, an Asian Ladybug larvae, and I couldn't be happier.

IMG_5359re.jpg


I love the spot it chose to guard too, Red Savina pods. I'm taking this one out for a beer later once it's shift is over and the next shift comes on.
Click to expand...

Nice pic shutter bug. :cool:
 
I finished mixing up my last pool load of potting mix today hopefully and decided to figure out just how much dirt and such I've pushed around and used to put up almost 90 plants. Estimate the money I've spent too.

Top soil....................700lbs..............$22
Composted manure.......200lbs...........$8
Peat..........................15cf...............$35
Perlite......................96qts..............$52
Worm Castings..............20lbs..............$20
Total cost was $137 or about $1.52 per pot. Totally reasonable to me.
 
patrick said:
I finished mixing up my last pool load of potting mix today hopefully and decided to figure out just how much dirt and such I've pushed around and used to put up almost 90 plants. Estimate the money I've spent too.

Top soil....................700lbs..............$22
Composted manure.......200lbs...........$8
Peat..........................15cf...............$35
Perlite......................96qts..............$52
Worm Castings..............20lbs..............$20
Total cost was $137 or about $1.52 per pot. Totally reasonable to me.
Click to expand...

Those prices all look good, except for the perlite; that's pretty steep for 3.2 cu. feet.
 
Perlite was my biggest expense for sure. All I could find was the Miracle Grow stuff that comes in eight quart bags. Most places it was about $4.50 but Lowes had it for $3.97.

It actually works out to 3.7+ cu ft since it's dry quarts. Still expensive.
 
patrick said:
Perlite was my biggest expense for sure. All I could find was the Miracle Grow stuff that comes in eight quart bags. Most places it was about $4.50 but Lowes had it for $3.97.

It actually works out to 3.7+ cu ft since it's dry quarts. Still expensive.
Click to expand...

Ahh, buying in small bags does get expensive. I couldn't find any Perlite in large bags here either so I ordered online and even after the freight was less expensive that buying locally.
 
All that I could find locally was the small bags of MG stuff too. I couldn't tell for sure if it had ferts added or not. The bag had some really low numbers on it, but I don't remember what now. Maybe next year I'll order some. Haven't decided what to do for soil/soiless mix next year.
 
A 4 cu. ft. bag cost me $11.95 + freight which wasn't too bad since I ordered pots and several other items at the same time.

I just checked their site and it looks like they went up $1 on the bag of Perlite. Morgan County Seeds
 
SS where were you a month ago? Could have cut my perlite cost by 75%. I'll know what to do next year, thanks.

Carol the NPK numbers on it were all under one tenth of one percent. Close to these numbers if I remember right; .01-.04-.02.
 
patrick said:
I finished mixing up my last pool load of potting mix today hopefully and decided to figure out just how much dirt and such I've pushed around and used to put up almost 90 plants. Estimate the money I've spent too.

Top soil....................700lbs..............$22
Composted manure.......200lbs...........$8
Peat..........................15cf...............$35
Perlite......................96qts..............$52
Worm Castings..............20lbs..............$20
Total cost was $137 or about $1.52 per pot. Totally reasonable to me.
Click to expand...

What a smart way to do it!;)
 
Silver_Surfer said:
A 4 cu. ft. bag cost me $11.95 + freight ...
I just checked their site and it looks like they went up $1 on the bag of Perlite. Morgan County Seeds
Click to expand...

Thanks, I plan on incorporating more perlite next year.

patrick said:
Carol the NPK numbers on it were all under one tenth of one percent. Close to these numbers if I remember right; .01-.04-.02.
Click to expand...

That sounds about right. I remember being annoyed that they had to add ferts to it, but that it wasn't very much. I only bought one bag and used it all for my potting up to 1 gal containers - and a few 3 gal.
 
Thank you Joe.

The perlite and the peat make a huge difference caroltlw. I've got a couple of 10-15 gal pots that I used last year for tomatoes and they were filled with just top soil and composted manure--you couldn't move then an inch they were so heavy. This year with all of the peat and perlite I've incorporated I can pick them up with one hand. Roots are going to love life this year I just know it.:)
 
patrick said:
SS where were you a month ago? Could have cut my perlite cost by 75%. I'll know what to do next year, thanks.
Click to expand...

Surfing elswhere in cyber space. :) I just found and joined this great site less than 1 month ago and just started using containers for the first time last year.

The Silver Surfer always searches for the bargains. ;)
 
Out feeding the plants today, first time since I potted them all up. Found a few aphids but nothing serious. Can't stop them completely anyway just try and keep them under control

Well did the Safer soap thing and then moved those particular four plants out from the main herd. Had things all nice and spiffy looking, bugs killed, plants fed, pinched a few buds. Feeling really good about this growing season.

Getting ready to call it a night and what happens? A flash of light off in the distance, few second later a low rumble crosses the land. Son of a bbbbb! Here comes the rain. not like we need it but all my pots have good drainage so I'm not too worried. Flash of lighting lights up the front yard and the driveway. What's that? Oh shit here comes the hail again. Pea size, the plants can survive this with a few bumps and bruises right? Maybe. Doesn't matter though, here comes the marble sized hail.

I'm not looking forward to what I'll find tomorrow. Second time in about a week.
 
Ouch, Mother Nature can be a real mother sometimes.

Saturday I was hit with a bad thunderstorm and wind that made my corn look like it had been flatened by a steamroller, but with a little work I stood it back up.

You know the wind is strong when it tips your 7 gal pots. :(

Hope the damage is slight. Good luck.
 
I've been hearing reports of severe weather all over the place - and I always think "gee, I hope no one I know is trying to grow peppers there."

Us, we just have it real hot lately. Going for a record high in Tallahassee sometime this week they think. It was 99 in the shade yesterday.
 
Got lucky again. One Tabasco was leaning over and I just stood it up and braced it with a stake.

It was one hell of a show I'll tell you that. Could of done some white water rafting down my street. Rain coming in sheets.

Glad you made it through yours SS. Carol it's too early in the year for those temps.
 
That's a great collection of plants, Pat!

Man-oh-man... You do nothing half heartedly, mate! :shocked::lol:

What is the significance of 'pinching'?

Would vermiculite do the same job as perlite?
 
Vermiculite and perlite I think are basically the same thing. I believe vermiculite can store more water than perlite huntsman but you might want to check that.

Most folks will pinch the buds off early in the plants life when the plant is small. That encourages more overall plant growth. Bigger bushier plant usually means more pods later.
 
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