tommys south texas glog '15--FINAL GROW LIST FRONT PAGE 2/9/15

D3monic · Feb 11, 2015

Wouldn't hurt. I'm sure it gets pretty toasty down there.

twilliams386 · Feb 11, 2015

D3monic said:
Wouldn't hurt. I'm sure it gets pretty toasty down there.

It definitely does. Average in the 90s from May to September ish
Just finished separating my older sprouts into the 3.5" squares.

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And a birds eye

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7 out of 24 cells from the second batch have cotys, the rest should be coming along any day now.

Devv · Feb 11, 2015

twilliams386 said:
Hey Scott, I saw that you use shade cloth. Would you recommend it for me as Well? I'm planning a 20x20 grow area on the north side of the house that gets direct Sun from 9-5. The shade slowly starts creeping over about 4pm, and will completely cover my yard by about 530 right now. I know it'll change in the summer but either way. Sunshade?

My garden is 100% in the sun, all day long. I started using it because of sun scald to both peppers and tomatoes, I rarely get that now. I also get afternoon wilting, even when they're in dirt. This problem went away with the sunshade. I use 30% from here:

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/category/shade-material

twilliams386 · Feb 11, 2015

Devv said:
My garden is 100% in the sun, all day long. I started using it because of sun scald to both peppers and tomatoes, I rarely get that now. I also get afternoon wilting, even when they're in dirt. This problem went away with the sunshade. I use 30% from here:

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/category/shade-material

Yeah I went through your glog from last year. Took quite a while lol. So I figured I'd get a recommendation from you since we have similar climates. I also got some pretty nasty sun scald last year. But I checked again today and the shade starts creeping closer to 230.

I'm thinking that since I'll be planting in bags, I could rotate the plants every week or so. Bring the early shaded ones to the front and move the rest back a spot. Do you think this could be beneficial or more of a hassle than necessary?

thirdcoasttx · Feb 11, 2015

I have a very limited grow area, small patio at our townhouse, it faces north westerly direction and in the middle to late summer it gets hot as hell back there, I had serious heat wilt in the pm and I accidentally killed a primo last year by over watering it. Sun shade helped big time.

twilliams386 · Feb 11, 2015

thirdcoasttx said:
I have a very limited grow area, small patio at our townhouse, it faces north westerly direction and in the middle to late summer it gets hot as hell back there, I had serious heat wilt in the pm and I accidentally killed a primo last year by over watering it. Sun shade helped big time.

Nice, thanks for the input. How did you set it up? Fully cover the area with it? And what percentage did you get?

Side note: we may have to meet up one of these days during the season. Id love to check out your grow. I should be getting on with the farmers market soon, so youd prob see me out there if you ever go

PaulG · Feb 12, 2015

+1 Rick #36. The plants are just pruning themselves. They will choke off any
extraneous non-productive material. I usually prune the branch to a spot just
above the ring that marks the dead zone.

thirdcoasttx · Feb 13, 2015

Nice, thanks for the input. How did you set it up? Fully cover the area with it? And what percentage did you get?

Side note: we may have to meet up one of these days during the season. Id love to check out your grow. I should be getting on with the farmers market soon, so youd prob see me out there if you ever go

Yeah that sounds good, let me know when you get on the farmers market I'll definitely stop by. With the shade cloth I'll see if I can dig up some pics, but like I said I'm growing on the back patio so not a lot of room. I sank a few small hook screws in the 2x4s on the fence in the corner, and then tied the opposite corner to a bamboo stake that was in the 5 gal bucket my tomato plant died in.

twilliams386 · Feb 15, 2015

Well i think ive found a solid germ technique. I bought a burpee 36 cell self watering germ station. Took out the big rack and sponge mat so its no longer self watering. Then poured in the recommended amount of water to let the pellets fluff up. Waited a few, then broke up all the pellets to a soft airy mix and put my seeds in. Got about a dozen hooks 5 days later. Most of them are ajis, and i assume they pop a little quicker, but still i think this is the fastest germ ive had out of the few methods ive tried. Ill post pics here in a little bit when the lights kick on.

Also getting alot of sunburn on my first round of sprouts, want to get some advice on that when i post pics

Heres the sunburn, its similar on most seedlings. Raised the light up a bit to help out, shouldnt pose a huge problem though right?

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twilliams386 · Feb 15, 2015

Total of 33 sprouts and counting

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stickman · Feb 16, 2015

As long as the leaves look healthy, the purpling shouldn't be a problem. It's more a suntan than a sunburn. If there's gonna be a problem with sunburn, its gonna be the new leaves that'll take it the hardest since they're the tenderest. You don't want to see any wilting or dying young leaves. When the plants get some size, they may lose some of the older leaves at the bottom of the plant when they get shaded out by the leaf canopy above them, but this is normal and nothing to worry about if the rest of the plant looks healthy. Just keep on like you're doing.

twilliams386 · Feb 16, 2015

stickman said:
As long as the leaves look healthy, the purpling shouldn't be a problem. It's more a suntan than a sunburn. If there's gonna be a problem with sunburn, its gonna be the new leaves that'll take it the hardest since they're the tenderest. You don't want to see any wilting or dying young leaves. When the plants get some size, they may lose some of the older leaves at the bottom of the plant when they get shaded out by the leaf canopy above them, but this is normal and nothing to worry about if the rest of the plant looks healthy. Just keep on like you're doing.

Thanks man, thats a relief. Im surprising the crap out of myself so far with how well everything is going, just dont want something silly to wipe that all away

stickman · Feb 16, 2015

twilliams386 said:
Thanks man, thats a relief. Im surprising the crap out of myself so far with how well everything is going, just dont want something silly to wipe that all away

Yup... just inspect your plants daily to catch any potential problems. When the seedlings are small it can go bad fast. Another thing that occurs to me... do you have a fan gently blowing air over your seedlings? It increases evaporation, but prevents damping off and helps your plants grow shorter and sturdier. You don't have to have it on all the time, but a few hours morning and evening will have the right effect.

twilliams386 · Feb 16, 2015

stickman said:
Yup... just inspect your plants daily to catch any potential problems. When the seedlings are small it can go bad fast. Another thing that occurs to me... do you have a fan gently blowing air over your seedlings? It increases evaporation, but prevents damping off and helps your plants grow shorter and sturdier. You don't have to have it on all the time, but a few hours morning and evening will have the right effect.

I acutally meant to ask about this,i have my ceiling fan on all the time on high speed. I do notice movement on the seedlings, but nothing substantial. Is this not going to be enough?

stickman · Feb 16, 2015

twilliams386 said:
I acutally meant to ask about this,i have my ceiling fan on all the time on high speed. I do notice movement on the seedlings, but nothing substantial. Is this not going to be enough?

I don't see why it wouldn't work as-is... I don't have any ceiling fans in my basement, so I rigged up an AC muffin fan in my grow box. Cheers Tom.

twilliams386 · Feb 16, 2015

stickman said:
I don't see why it wouldn't work as-is... I don't have any ceiling fans in my basement, so I rigged up an AC muffin fan in my grow box. Cheers Tom.

Good to know, thanks Rick!
I may reverse the fan to push the air down the walls since my setup is right along the wall. Gonna try and see

thirdcoasttx · Feb 16, 2015

I have a tower fan a mini tower fan and a 6 inch fan in my closet, we rent so I can't really do any forced air ventilation or I would for sure. That purple is pretty normal I wouldn't worry too much

Devv · Feb 18, 2015

I too get the darker leaves under the T5's, but not under the T8's. When I know it's going to be above 50° at night I put them in the sun, but use a sunshade or a screen to defuse the sunlight. Of course then you need to really watch them, as they could fry. But it's a good hardening off method for me.

Back up there you asked about rotating the plants. Call me lazy, I would rather buy the sunshade

My first piece was 20x40 and cost $160. 3 years on it so far and I'm sure I'll get 3 more.

twilliams386 · Feb 19, 2015

So I feel like my first round of seedlings has stalled out. I transplanted them on 2/11 from mg seed starter in solo cups to hyponex in 3.5 squares. I really can't stand hyponex now that I've dealt with it, but until I can afford better, its all I have. Anyway the sprouts haven't shown any significant growth in the week they've been in the new stuff. Is this normal and I'm just being paranoid?

Here's the day I transplanted

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And another

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Now here's today

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twilliams386 · Feb 19, 2015

Devv said:
I too get the darker leaves under the T5's, but not under the T8's. When I know it's going to be above 50° at night I put them in the sun, but use a sunshade or a screen to defuse the sunlight. Of course then you need to really watch them, as they could fry. But it's a good hardening off method for me.

Back up there you asked about rotating the plants. Call me lazy, I would rather buy the sunshade

My first piece was 20x40 and cost $160. 3 years on it so far and I'm sure I'll get 3 more.

So I've been looking around for cheaper alternatives to shade cloth. My wife said no bedsheets, but what about mesh screen that they use for screen doors, patios etc..? But then I started thinking. I'll be anchoring to my 6' privacy fence, then sloping down to the 3 or 4' tposts I plan on setting for garden perimeter fencing. At that slope, and me being 6' tall it's gonna make it a hassle to water, feed, harvest etc.. So I think I'm gonna wait out the shade for a bit. Like I said they get solid sun from about 9 til 3 currently, then shade starts creeping in from the west and completely covers the area by 6. Around 10 to 11 ish the tree by the house to the south of the plot gives some partial shade to the southernmost side of the plot. All these times will change as time goes on so this may be moot.

All this will be way easier to explain once I get it all set up. Maybe I'll set up a mock plot this weekend and take pictures to supplement.

Hopefully this new job comes thru and I can just get the real shade cloth, then figure out how to put it up without having to duck to go under.