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Stickman's 2018 Soil Mineralization Glog

Hi all! Now that the new year is here, it's time to swing into gear and get ready for the next season of growing chiles! I'll be starting my seeds in a few weeks, and after rotating the crops in my raised beds to get rid of the Pepper Maggots that showed up in 2016, I'll be able to plant a lot more this year. In the meantime, I thought I'd share what I do to prepare my garden soil for the start of the season. I've grown chiles in pots and in-ground, and for me at least, I seem to do better with the plants grown in the soil.
 
To start with, my garden soil is sandy, so I have to add lots of compost in the top six inches of soil to hold moisture and prevent nutrients from leaching away. Soil microbes break it down in just a few years though, so keeping it topped up is a yearly necessity. We compost our kitchen waste to that end, but there's never enough, so we also buy it from a local outfit that produces it commercially. I was put onto adding biochar as well by brother Scott (Devv.)  The biochar does the same things that humus does but it lasts longer and  helps the environment by sequestering carbon in the soil. I've also been reading about how amending with Montmorillonite clay can increase fertility and help with soil structure, but more on that in a future post.
 
At the end of each growing season I take soil samples from my various gardens and get them tested at Logan Labs in Ohio. They do a more thorough job than our UMass extension by testing for Cobalt, Molybdenum and Silicate levels as well as he usual suspects. :)    I'm taking a "Build and Maintain" approach toward soil nutrients because I want my plants to have the best organic nutrition available to them, and at the small scale I'm planting, it's affordable for me. http://nevegetable.org/cultural-practices/plant-nutrients  
 
Here's my last soil test, taken the end of November. It's the starting point for figuring what amendments I'll need when I prep my beds for planting in the spring. The pepper garden is bordered in yellow.
fall2017soiltest.png

 
In my next post I'll cover the math I use to figure that out. Cheers!
 
Trident chilli said:
Rick you can't beat a good pancake plenty of lemon juice and sugar ... aerogarden producing healthy plants ... nice little setup
 
Cheers John! I could go for some lemon crepes myself. :drooling:  I like the modified Aerogarden setup, its compact form is a great use of space.
 
Well folks, I'm three weeks into the pre-planting season and transplanted the first six seedlings into 18oz solo cups and a 50/50 mix of coco coir and Pro-Mix BMX with mycos added. They're two PDN x Bonda crosses, two MoA Bonnets, a Red Bhut and a Yellow Brainstrain.
 
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The vacated cells I sowed with Kurtovska Kapija seeds since they take so long to grow and ripen. Not quite as long as the Chinense and Pubes, but longer than the other Annuums. The other cells all have small seedlings or hooks... Two Peruvian Red Rocotos, one Yellow Brainstrain and one Red Bhut.
 
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I have a 4-foot, 4-tube t5 fixture inside my grow box downstairs. I swapped out one of the 6400k tubes for one that puts out UV and visible light. I was pretty amazed to go down and check on the conditions inside the box a few hours after putting the seedlings in solo cups inside and turning on the lights, to find the temperature in there was about 95 degrees! When I'd checked after building the box it only came up to 70 degrees. I think the black plastic of the 1020 trays and the humid environment may be what pushed it up. I raised the light fixture 3 inches and will continue to monitor/raise the lights as needed. I have a muffin fan to circulate the air inside the box. I'll have to set that up too. By the time I got my cellphone camera set up for this pic the temperature had dropped to 85 degrees.
 
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Have a great rest of the weekend all!
 
Devv said:
Looking good Rick!
 
And we're off and running!
Thanks Scott! I got the muffin fan going inside the growbox this morning by plugging it into a timer and plugging the timer into the outlet mounted at one end of the light fixture. The timer's set for half an hour on and an hour off. Hopefully it'll cool it off a bit inside the growbox when the lights are on. Because it draws power from the light fixture, the fan should be off when the light is.
Last night I left the light in the growbox on all night to keep the plants warm. Did I say that my basement is unheated and runs a steady 50 degrees? I need to find another way to keep them warm without using more electricity when the lights are off, and I'm thinking of using a couple of covered 5 gallon pails filled with water for thermal mass inside the growbox. I made enough room for them inside and four 1020 trays. The water should soak up some of the heat when the lights are on, and radiate it when the lights are off.

Have a great week all!
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Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk
 
Hi folks, and welcome to Taco Tuesday. [emoji4]

After a day under the growbox lights the leaves on the PDN x Bonda plants have darkened up quite a bit as the cotys have paled. Looks like a reaction to the light intensity. I gave them a root-drench feed and started a flat of Ailsa Craig onions down there too. Heck, it's warmer in the growbox than it is upstairs in the heated part of the house.
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Wow that sugar house looks interesting, we have lots of sugar cane in South Africa but nothing like that.

I have battled with them Cardi Scorpions for the longest time. Success has evaded me every year so far. Similarly with MoA's... it's like some serious voodoo going on with them Caribbean varieties. I have pretty much resolved myself that I will never get to taste these Caribbean chillies. I do have one MoA plant on the go at the mo and am praying that it ripens before something happens lol Knowing my luck, the day before I pick the Bonnets it will get taken out by a toaster falling from space. I know, it's random - but that is just my luck lol :banghead:
 
stickman said:
Hi folks, and welcome to Taco Tuesday. [emoji4]

After a day under the growbox lights the leaves on the PDN x Bonda plants have darkened up quite a bit as the cotys have paled. Looks like a reaction to the light intensity. I gave them a root-drench feed and started a flat of Ailsa Craig onions down there too. Heck, it's warmer in the growbox than it is upstairs in the heated part of the house.

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk
 
Looking awesome buddy. I like your creativity on the set up - really neat. I can't wait to see them in the dirt - not long now! Things are cooling down here in the mornings... so the sun is slowly but surely heading your way ;)
 
 
I'm sure you know most any pasta dish is one for our menu, this looks goood! ;)
 
You made the pasta too?
 
PeriPeri said:
Wow that sugar house looks interesting, we have lots of sugar cane in South Africa but nothing like that.

I have battled with them Cardi Scorpions for the longest time. Success has evaded me every year so far. Similarly with MoA's... it's like some serious voodoo going on with them Caribbean varieties. I have pretty much resolved myself that I will never get to taste these Caribbean chillies. I do have one MoA plant on the go at the mo and am praying that it ripens before something happens lol Knowing my luck, the day before I pick the Bonnets it will get taken out by a toaster falling from space. I know, it's random - but that is just my luck lol :banghead:
Sorry to hear you've had such troubles growing the yellow CARDI scorpions and MoA bonnets... if you think it'd help, I'll drop NORAD a line and ask them to shoot down any toasters they see in a decaying orbit. [emoji28] My nemeses are the Pubiscens varieties. They grow well here, if a bit slowly, but they're aphid magnets.

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk
 
Devv said:
I'm sure you know most any pasta dish is one for our menu, this looks goood! ;)
 
You made the pasta too?
Heh... that's not homemade pasta. Just ditalini from a box. All my homemade pasta is cut from sheets of dough except for gnocci.

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk
 
stickman said:
Sorry to hear you've had such troubles growing the yellow CARDI scorpions and MoA bonnets... if you think it'd help, I'll drop NORAD a line and ask them to shoot down any toasters they see in a decaying orbit. [emoji28] My nemeses are the Pubiscens varieties. They grow well here, if a bit slowly, but they're aphid magnets.

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk
 
Thank you Rick buddy, but you see this is my problem - Knowing my luck, NORAD will miss the damn toaster and hit my MOA plant and knowing your luck with Pubescents, the toaster will hit your one and only aphid infested Pubescens instead :shocked: Best we just leaves the status quo as it is and my MOA will probably die and your aphid invested Pubescens will live. But thanks for the offer buddy  :lol: 
 
 
Man those are really taking off fast. I'm a bit envious. I keep stumbling around with different organic mixes and falling on my rear end, but your plants are off to the races!
 
Looks great man!
 
 
TrentL said:
Man those are really taking off fast. I'm a bit envious. I keep stumbling around with different organic mixes and falling on my rear end, but your plants are off to the races!
 
Looks great man!
 
Cheers Trent! I just try to give my plants what they need and then get out of their way. Lol!

I ended up using gallon-sized water jugs in the growbox for overnight warmth. They're okay for now, but I'll replace them with the 5 gallon pails when I put in more 1020 trays. The other tray has my Ailsa Craig onions. Not much to see yet, but they're beginning to sprout.
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Yeah those look textbook perfect man, great work. Some of the best looking seedlings I've seen on any Glog this year.  That's just about perfect development right there. Very nice. 
 
 
 
stickman said:
Hi all! Now that the new year is here, it's time to swing into gear and get ready for the next season of growing chiles! I'll be starting my seeds in a few weeks, and after rotating the crops in my raised beds to get rid of the Pepper Maggots that showed up in 2016, I'll be able to plant a lot more this year. In the meantime, I thought I'd share what I do to prepare my garden soil for the start of the season. I've grown chiles in pots and in-ground, and for me at least, I seem to do better with the plants grown in the soil.
 
To start with, my garden soil is sandy, so I have to add lots of compost in the top six inches of soil to hold moisture and prevent nutrients from leaching away. Soil microbes break it down in just a few years though, so keeping it topped up is a yearly necessity. We compost our kitchen waste to that end, but there's never enough, so we also buy it from a local outfit that produces it commercially. I was put onto adding biochar as well by brother Scott (Devv.)  The biochar does the same things that humus does but it lasts longer and  helps the environment by sequestering carbon in the soil. I've also been reading about how amending with Montmorillonite clay can increase fertility and help with soil structure, but more on that in a future post.
 
At the end of each growing season I take soil samples from my various gardens and get them tested at Logan Labs in Ohio. They do a more thorough job than our UMass extension by testing for Cobalt, Molybdenum and Silicate levels as well as he usual suspects. :)    I'm taking a "Build and Maintain" approach toward soil nutrients because I want my plants to have the best organic nutrition available to them, and at the small scale I'm planting, it's affordable for me. http://nevegetable.org/cultural-practices/plant-nutrients  
 
Here's my last soil test, taken the end of November. It's the starting point for figuring what amendments I'll need when I prep my beds for planting in the spring. The pepper garden is bordered in yellow.
attachicon.gif
fall2017soiltest.png
 
In my next post I'll cover the math I use to figure that out. Cheers!
Wow man seriously that is the most logical approach ever! I love it! No superguessing when it comes time to apply nutes or any supplements! Bravo!! How much does that cost to analyze?

Regards,
-Tristan
 
TrentL said:
Yeah those look textbook perfect man, great work. Some of the best looking seedlings I've seen on any Glog this year.  That's just about perfect development right there. Very nice. 
 
 
 
Thanks!
 
YAMracer754 said:
Wow man seriously that is the most logical approach ever! I love it! No superguessing when it comes time to apply nutes or any supplements! Bravo!! How much does that cost to analyze?

Regards,
-Tristan
 
This aughtta get ya started Tristan...   http://www.loganlabs.com/  
 
The homepage has instructions for collecting and shipping your sample, and a price list. The basic test is the one you want, not the saturated paste test. If you want to test for Cobalt, Molybdenum, Selenium and Silicon and get an electrical conductivity reading tell 'em you want the basic test with extras. I got mine for $35 last fall. To make sense of what to do with the test results, look for a copy of this book in your public library or order one for yourself.
 
The Intelligent Gardener: How to Grow Nutrient Dense Food by Steve Solomon with Erica Reinheimer
https://www.newsociety.com/Books/I/The-Intelligent-Gardener
 
Cheers!
 
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