WalkGood 2013, 2014 and Beyond

WalkGood · Mar 17, 2013

annie57 said:
Stunning flower!!!!!!

They are very smexy but you have to stay up late to see the bloom. Interesting fact is that you can smell a perfume scent from a block away and on the sad side the bloom dies when the sun comes up. All our Reina's bloom like mad soon after a good rainfall, mostly in summer but I’ve had them bloom in winter as well.

stc3248 said:
Glad she got the new soil, think she'll respond once she starts to
sink her roots into the fresh soil. Sometimes the only way to go is an all out change. Interested to see the root pics, bet they were burned pretty good...I feel ya on the early mornings. So used to it I get up at 3:30 on the weekends too...ughhh. I did catch a rare nap today though, so I am learning how to relax! That plant/flower is amazing...

She’s in the new soil now for 24 hours but not out of the woods yet IMO, she's still sporting extremely droopy leaves. If I were to give odds I’d say 50/50 right now. I'm in a wait and see mode, not doing anything to her, I really hope she makes it. She was one of my best producers of huge size pods and pounds of yield. Root pictures are now up below.

PeriPeri said:
That is one sexy plant Ramon... wow.

Thanks Lournes, you gotta stay up late and all night if you want to enjoy it’s blossoms. I'll try to take a picture soon of how they look before the bloom opens, that's very phallic looking, chicks dig it

left is before transplant in old pot and right are da roots. I don't believe there's root damage or burn but it's possible that she was very thristy/parched and drank up the strong soapy water meant for the nematodes. As many as I had pulled out and the soap killed strangely enough I only found one in the old soil. But to be on the safe side I tossed that old soil.

More roots

Left on our radio flyer wagon that has seen better days but it still helps me move stuff around the yard. I left her on it so I can move her around to shade and gradually pull her back into the sun. Hoping she does recover :/

Not sure if anyone remembers the last pineapple update from 25 February 2013 click here but this is what she looks like now.

STEVE954 · Mar 17, 2013

That's one cool ducky! Glad to see that you changed old girl's socks and shoes! Nice pot, how many gallons?

WalkGood · Mar 17, 2013

STEVE954 said:
That's one cool ducky!

Thanks & I think it’s cool too! I found it while canoeing the Tarpon River a few years back. I determined it to be one that escaped from the Fort Lauderdale Wacky Rubber Duck Race that was held to benefit Kids in Distress in 2008. You may ask how? Well the one's used for that specific race have serial numbers on the bottom side which you can google to determine race results.

STEVE954 said:
… Nice pot, how many gallons?

Based on the measurements I took and my trusty nursery container chart I assume it’s a 27.257 Gallon pot. Edit: BTW that's one of the 3 I found at the last landscaping job I found being thrown out, I keep telling peeps to check dem jobs. Thanks for checking and see ya soon brethren!

stc3248 · Mar 17, 2013

I hear ya on the containers...I do the same. Hard to find them that big though. Most nurseries around here use banded wooden crates for the big boys which they reuse. Tons of 5# containers to be had though...and I picked up a 15# along the side of the road a few weeks back.

Roots look pretty dark but I see some tiny new leaves on her. She's gonna make it...

WalkGood · Mar 18, 2013

stc3248 said:
I hear ya on the containers...I do the same. Hard to find them that big though. Most nurseries around here use banded wooden crates for the big boys which they reuse. Tons of 5# containers to be had though...and I picked up a 15# along the side of the road a few weeks back.

Nice score \o/, I wouldn’t mind having one of those wooden ones probably more for the look than anything else as uncoated wood don’t last long outside here. The other day I found 2 of the largest nursery containers I have ever seen. Don’t have a clue on size as my chart doesn’t go that large, hehe. But they looked like small hot tub’s, big enough for a tree! Unfortunately I didn’t have a truck to grab them and passed because I don’t really have a need for a pots so large that I can’t easily move.

Around here I see tons of 7x8’s which are 1.07 gallon +/-, I passed on a bunch the other day as I have a good inventory of them, but now wish I had not. Because there’s never too much pot one can have

I also see the teeny ones all over the place, roughly 4x4, approximately .21 gallon +/-, good for first transplant.

stc3248 said:
Roots look pretty dark but I see some tiny new leaves on her. She's gonna make it...

Thanks, you seem more positive than I&I at this point, what a set back … live and learn about dem pesky worms and how much soap is safe … As you know I've been going thru your old glog to see if I can identify something going on with a few plants, it's not the same but I definitely have something going on viral ... I may just dump some more if things get worse with them. Better safe than sorry in da long run ... So strange for many years I've had no issues with great grows and this one's full of surprises so far. Have a great week mon!

PIC 1 · Mar 18, 2013

Successful transplant! New roots in no time. That procedure works well with tropicals and houseplants. It give them new battery life. Give it a drink of your seaweed tea then late the sun and the rain take over until you see the new growth. Stripping off the old was the thing to do. Plants can become stagnent and sometimes need the lower old growth removed or the branches trimmed occasionally to speed up the ripening process or generate new lower branching..........which helps shade the produce during the strong sunlight.

annie57 · Mar 18, 2013

Reina's a babe, plant's gonna make it, make it, thrive; :cool:

ducky for a great cause, and the pot's--I'd like a gazillion those pots . . . "Now, news at eleven: a woman was struck by an eighteen-wheeler on Interstate 40 this afternoon near the new building site for Grace Hospital in Morganton. While in critical condition, before the woman was air-lifted to Baptist Hospital, she was screaming 'Fatalii! Fatalii! Fatalii!' Her family says that she was searching for something." Next, the dipwads say to one another, "It sounds like she knew her condition was going to be fatal . . . . in some language." And I just wanted that 20 gal container, man.

WalkGood · Mar 18, 2013

PIC 1 said:
Successful transplant! New roots in no time. That procedure works well with tropicals and houseplants. It give them new battery life. Give it a drink of your seaweed tea then late the sun and the rain take over until you see the new growth. Stripping off the old was the thing to do. Plants can become stagnent and sometimes need the lower old growth removed or the branches trimmed occasionally to speed up the ripening process or generate new lower branching..........which helps shade the produce during the strong sunlight.

Thanks for the positive feedback and vibe, yes I started with late sun yesterday, leaves still in a droop mode but I’m leaving it for more late sun today. I am spraying what little seaweed tea I have left on her, can’t wait for the next batch to be ready, soon come I guess, hehe. On another note, not watering yet as the roots were very moist IMO, maybe in a day or two ... althought not if we get the rain that predicted for tonight. Thanks again Greg and great foodie you did this week mon!!!

annie57 said:
Reina's a babe, plant's gonna make it, make it, thrive; ducky for a great cause, and the pot's--I'd like a gazillion those pots . . . "Now, news at eleven: a woman was struck by an eighteen-wheeler on Interstate 40 this afternoon near the new building site for Grace Hospital in Morganton. While in critical condition, before the woman was air-lifted to Baptist Hospital, she was screaming 'Fatalii! Fatalii! Fatalii!' Her family says that she was searching for something." Next, the dipwads say to one another, "It sounds like she knew her condition was going to be fatal . . . . in some language." And I just wanted that 20 gal container, man.

Thanks for all dat support super woman, I say “super” cause you always tending to plants, schoolin, music, fun, etc., etc. …. On the news story it’s always sad to read/hear of pedestrians getting hit :/

I’ll bet most forgot about the coffee test I was doing, well I believe a few are at their end so it’s time to post my assumptions.

First tried to see if I could get seeds to hatch in coffee/soil mix and one did pop up so far. Although the 3 in soil all popped up in comparison, I did this to see if there was a mix that I could use outside to keep fungal gnats from going after the seedlings. While I’ve not seen any gnats around these, it’s possible that they haven’t spotted it yet even though I have them placed in an area where I’ve seen them. I might cancle this test as I’ll explain what I’ve noted on one of the other larger plants that I used coffee grinds for ground cover.

The 3 on the left planted in cheap soil to attract fungal gnats all popped (lead on left is sinker to keep crate from blowing away).

~~Only one popped of the coffee mixed ones so far~~ correction, 2 of the coffee one's have now popped (3 on the right) and the fungal gnats are gone, not even hanging around. This mix seems a little too thick for little sprouts to push through so the one that popped has surprised me enough to leave them for a while …

The 3 on the right are in a 50/50 coffee and cheap soil mix to attract fungal gnats as well but the only difference is the coffee. While neither side has an infestation yet, I do have a larger older plant that does and it was one I used a lot of coffee grounds on the surface. Thus I do not believe that coffee grounds can be used to keep fungal gnats away. That said, just for kicks I’m leaving the 6 eggs to see what happens. Hopefully the left side will get them and the right won’t but I doubt the coffee is any preventative. BTW while I'm not sure it's very possible that the older larger plant already had them and this is why they're still there and won't leave till killed while is on the agenda for this week.

Larger older plant (JA Hab) that does have fungal gnats even though the top coffee lair is thick. BTW there are other bugs on the ground surface around this plant.

Strange enough another plant (Serrano) doesn’t have any gnats or bugs but at this point I’m not sure why. Possibly is was clear of any bugs other than ants prior to me starting the tests. That said, I do believe that the coffee grounds have kept all the ants from coming bact to visit and plant aphid eggs. I have not seen any ants near the plants sporting coffee grounds for top cover.

My favorite ground cover thus far is chopped seaweed, I’ve yet to see bugs over or under it and hopefully every time it rains its giving the girls a little beneficial seaweed trace elements.

The seaweed also works as killer camouflage, I’ll bet no one saw the little loggerhead turtles swimming around the seaweed ground cover … fact, it is so good I can’t see dem either

Edit: after a few hours close to a gnat area I noted one single gnat haning in one of the coffee/soil 50/50 eggs, funny that one has not popped yet. So I feel safe to say that coffee in the soil does not detere gnats

While this test is over in my book, I'm going to leave them alone to see what happens.

stc3248 · Mar 19, 2013

Really liking the mad scientist stuff you got going on! Maybe I missed it, but how do you clean the seaweed before you use it?

WalkGood · Mar 19, 2013

stc3248 said:
Really liking the mad scientist stuff you got going on! Maybe I missed it, but how do you clean the seaweed before you use it?

I’ve tried both cleaning and not cleaning it and here’s what I’ve found to be the difference, none. What little salt is there does not hurt any of my plants. That said, I don’t harvest old dried out seaweed and if I did then I’d certainly clean it as I’ve found bug larva in the old stuff at the beach but not at home when it dries out. The fresh stuff I’ve harvested contains lots of little sea life and I found that if you do clean it, you’ll be washing out little fish, crabs, shrimp, ect. By the time you get to it most if not all little sea life is dead but recently I released what was still alive, a seahorse, which I posted about back when I started on this with my plants.

A few people have asked me how I know so much about this stuff, well I’m no science major or even that scientific, so it’s mainly observation over the years and reading. I started feeding my salt water fish nothing but the little species that travel in seaweed. I discovered this when I first started diving around the age of 12 but did not have my first aquarium till I was 14 or 15. I never bought a fish or paid for their foodie, helped the monies invested into the best filtration and tank amenities.

Let me clarify that I am not an advocate of killing young sea life but they would die regardless once they wash up on the beaches. Have you ever wonder what the seagulls are pecking at on the sand near the shore pound? I’m referring to the ones that aren’t mooching foodie off our picnics, hehe. I am all for it being illegal to go off shore and harvest these floating estuaries. The largest culprit of this are the commercial fishing vessels that drag nets and create havoc at sea … people wonder why our fish stocks have depleted … don't blame the sportsmon, it's the large commercial guys .... enough of my rant, hopefully I answered your question.

Edit: Now someone can correct me if I’m wrong but AFAIK or read Kelp has higher content of beneficial trace elements in it than our Sargassum seaweed on the east coast. Aren’t you in CA? You should be able to harvest kelp from some of the private beaches there as in the public areas the lifeguards will stop you, claiming it’s illegal to harvest off the beach. I don’t know why that is so because I’ve seen many a video of people harvesting it in CA and even selling it. That said; I really like our Sargassum seaweed because of the diverse marine life in it, which I believe bumps ours up into a seaweed/fish emulsion if you use it to make tea.

Edit: Just looked at the test eggs with coffee & soil mix and another one has hooked ^_^ I corrected post above and another thing I've noted is there are no fungal gnats around. I find the latter strange as I put them in an area where I do see them and I saw one hanging around the egg crate yesterday. Test is still running, let's see where this goes.

annie57 · Mar 19, 2013

+1 Sargassum seaweed and tea from Atlantic. The seaweed from gulf, just my opinion, is saltier--not that much more--an ocean is an ocean and salinity is salinity. But from Atlantic seems to be more "lively" than gulf. And, plants grown near an ocean are going to be acclimated to salt. When I was a kid, I used to walk sand at high tide near S. Myrtle and pick the live coquina out of seaweed, put them in bucket with water/sand, and take them back to ocean. Broke my heart to see the seagulls dive-bombing them . . . a kid's mind . . . :rofl:

My mother yelling at me, "The birds have to eat too!" Not my little coquina . . . and here, I keep Neptune's Harvest and Maxicrop in business while there, you get it as nature presents it . . .

In summer, I cast for algae from my boat, near a rock break, eddy, but on bottom, well-fish-ferted, to use in AACTeas. It's messy but can smell the fertility of it; not as good as fresh, teaming with life, seaweed . . . :dance:

and do toss the little gizzard shad back :rolleyes:

. . . unless channel catting that night . . . + 1 seaweed!!!

stc3248 · Mar 19, 2013

It washes up on base...I can get all I need. Just been too lazy so far.

annie57 · Mar 19, 2013

stc3248 said:
It washes up on base...I can get all I need. Just been too lazy so far.

Dang, Shane, I LOVE your honesty, man! Tea time is still coming

WalkGood · Mar 19, 2013

annie57 said:
+1 Sargassum seaweed and tea from Atlantic. The seaweed from gulf, just my opinion, is saltier--not that much more--an ocean is an ocean and salinity is salinity. But from Atlantic seems to be more "lively" than gulf. …

I don’t know but if I was still living in Tampa bay I’d be harvesting it from Madura Beach or the Clearwater area. Nice story about the coquina and I agree with you on the pluses of seaweed & seaweed tea, great minds think alike :cheers:

stc3248 said:
It washes up on base...I can get all I need. Just been too lazy so far.

Shane peeps pay a lot for the stuff and then some. I see old dried out stuff is on the net unprocessed (greedy SOB’s), kelp meal, kelp powder, kelp this, kep that, etc., etc., etc …. Do like nike … just do it

annie57 said:
Dang, Shane, I LOVE your honesty, man! Tea time is still coming

And I was expecting you to say I’ll be on the next "Aeroplane" over to help with dat Kep harvest, lols. »» Foobar2k ::: Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute (1995) - 02 - Aeroplane ::: 0:35/4:45 (•••••••••&bull

::: 492 kbps «« ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

Here’s the pictures of the 2 that popped in the coffee soil mix, heck I might as well try 100% coffee grounds now to see what happens. From what I've seen coffee ground retain a lot of moisture, so probably no need to soak seeds and a little water would go a long way, haha ... pictures to follow tomorrow

stc3248 · Mar 19, 2013

Aight Ramon...you motivated me. Kelp acquired, now to figure out how to get it all the way home without doing permanent stink damage to my car!

stickman · Mar 19, 2013

Can you find a 5 gallon pail with a snap-on lid?

Good lookin' kids you have there Ramon... I guess you can't grow chiles without breaking a few eggs, eh?

PIC 1 · Mar 19, 2013

stc3248 said:
Aight Ramon...you motivated me. Kelp acquired, now to figure out how to get it all the way home without doing permanent stink damage to my car!

Watch out for those " Kelp Sniffing Dogs" at the border..........code word for the day. "Kelp"

pepperproblem · Mar 19, 2013

The Ramon Lifestyle/Food Channel is looking like a winner! Pictures keep getting better and better, but it is hard to top the chainsaw pic. Its like a chili mini series. Nice.

WalkGood · Mar 19, 2013

stc3248 said:
Aight Ramon...you motivated me. Kelp acquired, now to figure out how to get it all the way home without doing permanent stink damage to my car!

Now if you win that grow contest you know who to thank

I use garden trash bags, close up the top and I’ve not had any issues with smell yet. Plus they’re cheap at any Home Depot. Good luck with your Kelp batch

stickman said:
Can you find a 5 gallon pail with a snap-on lid?

If it’s a find at work, then it’s cheaper than the trash bags … but then again, lots of work places have those jumbo bags.

PIC 1 said:
Watch out for those " Kelp Sniffing Dogs" at the border..........code word for the day. "Kelp"

I wouldn't put it past CA, hehe

pepperproblem said:
The Ramon Lifestyle/Food Channel is looking like a winner! Pictures keep getting better and better, but it is hard to top the chainsaw pic. Its like a chili mini series. Nice.

Shawn thanks for stopping by, checking and comments! Your grow looks awesome … was checking it out earlier this morning

Hope you still catching great swells, our season’s almost over here :/ … but then comes hurricane season and we had a few good swells from them last year, but too inconsistent is the down side to FL … cheers to catching some good swells & awesome grows mon!

Al-from-Chile · Mar 19, 2013

pepperproblem said:
The Ramon Lifestyle/Food Channel is looking like a winner! Pictures keep getting better and better, but it is hard to top the chainsaw pic. Its like a chili mini series. Nice.

R! Entertainment Television ... so to say