Windchicken 2013

WalkGood · Jul 4, 2013

Indiana_Jesse said:
Yup, good ole snake oil! They can advertise it as such because if you expose said insects to it directly they WILL die. However, unless you have proper soil/wood drenching equipment , or apply it directly inside the insect nests, the treatment is more like a placebo. Termites are a big pain in the butt, and unfortunetly the only treatments that work are expensive soil and wood treatments done professionally, and they ger real expensive, BUT they do work for a good 3 -20+ years depending on whether you use a bait system or a soil insecticide barrier.

Indiana since you are in the business and can spot "snake oil" I ask how you feel about termidor? This is what I've always used, injecting into the base of the walls around the house. Putting it into concrete block is easy and a quick patch after but how do you recomend injecting into wood? It just comes back out the drilled hole o_O

Gary everything looks awesome mon, if I may ask what polls are you using for your shade cloth?

RedtailForester · Jul 4, 2013

Hey Gary! I think I've asked you about this before but does the bark mulch biodegrade back into your soil? I've considered doing this but I don't want to have more mulch than soil.

millworkman · Jul 4, 2013

Geez Dan have you read nothing?

Its not the just the bark but yes. It basically turns in to a super rich, super fine and uniform soil that after a couple years you do not need to worry about. Just top dress with some more woodchips and maybe some manure here and there if you feel like it. Think of the floor of a hardwood forest but without the giant oaks blocking out all the light.

Roguejim · Jul 4, 2013

So Gary, you're apparently not having any difficulty getting a load of oak chips from your local landscape supplier? Here in southern Oregon, everyone has fir bark. Not looking good. I guess Lowe's may be the last shot. Bummer.

Lakers24 · Jul 5, 2013

simply amaze by all the work you put into your grow... i love the layout of the rows of pepper plants you have... lots of interesting peppers you have.. some ive never heard of....where does bonda me jaques and madame jeannette come from???

one day i shall grow .. as for now i only have 3 plants from bakers pepper.

armac · Jul 5, 2013

Gary what pest were you after with the malathion?

always wear your glasses......sir

armac · Jul 5, 2013

Here is a variety available in S Texas at home improvement stores

compmodder26 · Jul 5, 2013

Okay Gary, got another question for you. I asked this in the AACT thread, but after I posted it, I figured you'd be the best person so ask since you are using RCW. Do you apply compost teas to your plants that are in the RCW beds? Do you think it would still be beneficial to do so? I initially thought it wouldn't be a big deal. However, I'm now rethinking that. My thought is that the fungi/bacteria that does the job of decomposition of the RCW may not be the same that grows inside of a compost tea. If that is the case, then all I'll be doing is causing competition for the RCW microbes.

standbyandfire · Jul 5, 2013

Plants look great Windchicken! Very nice man.

Indiana_Jesse · Jul 5, 2013

WalkGood said:
Indiana since you are in the business and can spot "snake oil" I ask how you feel about termidor? This is what I've always used, injecting into the base of the walls around the house. Putting it into concrete block is easy and a quick patch after but how do you recomend injecting into wood? It just comes back out the drilled hole o_O

Termidor works awesome for soil treatments, but lasts for decades and kills any invertebrate that becomes exposed, so it depends on how you feel about that. Baits have less environmental impact but don't last as long, unless monitoring resumes indefinitely. Yeah don't be treating wood with liquid termidor, I never recommended that did I?! They have a new formulation, I can't remember if it is a dust or granule that can be used in the wood galleries. Most termites in the U.S. are subterranean, so wood treatments aren't that common, soil/baiting treatments are efficient enough. Florida obviously is an exception!

windchicken · Jul 5, 2013

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
Whattttt. Gary made a mistake ?! But you're an earth science DR. Hope all recovers.

It seems to be the only way I learn, KD! I believe the poisoned plants are fine, as for the over-hot babies in the country garden, only time will tell...Live and learn...

GA Growhead said:
Way nice plant there!

Thanks Jason! Those crosses are insanely hot...I think Charles has created a monster... :hell:

Spicegeist said:
Wow, I am very impressed! They look just like the pods on the F1 plant!

You can see both the Y7 and the Bonda in the shape...

Thanks Charles! I'm only growing out your creation...Right now I'm wanting to call it the FrankenBonda, because last night that one in the middle of the photo hurt me very, very badly in an unnatural way... :evil:

MGOLD86 said:
Wow, looking great Gary, had to go back through the last couple of pages to get caught up. The plants are looking very healthy, and I love that Texas Pequin! Definitely gotta put it on my grow list for next year, really good looking plant, and I bet it would be the perfect "snacking" pepper! Pop one, take some photos of the garden, pop another...repeat until you OD....

Also, great info on the soil. It is very interesting watching you work with the soil you have and build it up to make something great.

Thanks Matt! I tried what you said when I was in the garden a couple days ago...I OD'd after the first pod...Let me know if you need seeds...

WalkGood said:
Indiana since you are in the business and can spot "snake oil" I ask how you feel about termidor? This is what I've always used, injecting into the base of the walls around the house. Putting it into concrete block is easy and a quick patch after but how do you recomend injecting into wood? It just comes back out the drilled hole o_O

Gary everything looks awesome mon, if I may ask what polls are you using for your shade cloth?

Thanks Ramon...The side and corner posts are 1" wide U posts, 4 feet long. The middle posts, which are supporting the ridge line, are 2" U posts, 7 feet long...We use the 1" posts for our pipeline markers; I got the 2" posts at Lowes, I believe. (Been a few years—They were originally for my 2008 tomato trellis.)

RedtailForester said:
Hey Gary! I think I've asked you about this before but does the bark mulch biodegrade back into your soil? I've considered doing this but I don't want to have more mulch than soil.

Hey Dan! Yes, the mulch decays and makes wonderful soil.....I add more mulch every few months, and with every passing year the soil only gets better... :party:

millworkman said:
Geez Dan have you read nothing? Its not the just the bark but yes. It basically turns in to a super rich, super fine and uniform soil that after a couple years you do not need to worry about. Just top dress with some more woodchips and maybe some manure here and there if you feel like it. Think of the floor of a hardwood forest but without the giant oaks blocking out all the light.

+1...Thanks Noah. I'm beginning to believe that maybe I should be using manure instead of the Osmocote...Could be the source of my current woes....

Roguejim said:
So Gary, you're apparently not having any difficulty getting a load of oak chips from your local landscape supplier? Here in southern Oregon, everyone has fir bark. Not looking good. I guess Lowe's may be the last shot. Bummer.

Man, that IS a huge bummer, Jim...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Lowe's will be some help.

Lakers24 said:
simply amaze by all the work you put into your grow... i love the layout of the rows of pepper plants you have... lots of interesting peppers you have.. some ive never heard of....where does bonda me jaques and madame jeannette come from???

one day i shall grow .. as for now i only have 3 plants from bakers pepper.

Thanks Mark! Those rows come from my OCD...There's something deeply gratifying about them. I have to fight the urge to grow exactly the same variety in each row, trim them to be all exactly the same height, and make fertilizer "adjustments" to make sure they are all exactly the same shade of green. Really... :surprised:

The variety of Bonda Ma Jacques I grew last year comes from St. Lucia, in the Caribbean. (There is another variety called by the same name, from Guadeloupe or Martinique, I believe, that looks like a Congo pepper.) Madame Jeanette comes from Suriname, formerly Dutch Guiana.

armac said:
Gary what pest were you after with the malathion?

always wear your glasses......sir

Thank Rodney, I believe I learnt my lesson on that! My worst pests are stink bugs, but I've also got plenty of hornworms and grasshoppers.

I need to bump to finish responding....

compmodder26 · Jul 5, 2013

bump...

DocNrock · Jul 5, 2013

Gary, just got a chance to check out your glog. Wow, is all I can say! Awesome grow you have going on there. Impressive variety, large and healthy looking plants, pods ripening. Good stuff!

windchicken · Jul 5, 2013

compmodder26 said:
bump...

Thanks Brian!

armac said:
Here is a variety available in S Texas at home improvement stores

Cool, thanks Rodney! If you don't mind my asking, how much do they get for one of those bags?

compmodder26 said:
Okay Gary, got another question for you. I asked this in the AACT thread, but after I posted it, I figured you'd be the best person so ask since you are using RCW. Do you apply compost teas to your plants that are in the RCW beds? Do you think it would still be beneficial to do so? I initially thought it wouldn't be a big deal. However, I'm now rethinking that. My thought is that the fungi/bacteria that does the job of decomposition of the RCW may not be the same that grows inside of a compost tea. If that is the case, then all I'll be doing is causing competition for the RCW microbes.

Hi Brian! Thanks for asking...I've never used compost tea, so I can't really say anything about competing microbes....but to answer your question I believe the RCW soil-building process attracts all the beneficial flora and fauna that the soil ecosystem needs. The Lemieux publications do mention sometimes needing to add "forest litter" to innoculate your new soil with the necessary flora and fauna, but here in NW Louisiana I've never had to do that....

I know that I have been expounding the use of extra fertilizers in the first few months after amendment with the RCW, but I'm beginning to believe that maybe that's not a good idea...The problem seems to be the tricky proposition of attaining and maintaining a good balance of N2 in the soil...There's just so much going on in your dirt during that period that it seems to be very difficult to avoid over or under fertilizing, also under watering or overwatering, especially during hot weather when all problems seem to be exacerbated...

I'm really starting to think that RCW amendment should be made no less than 6 months before plant-out time. However, you can mulch with RCW at any time without affecting the N2 levels of the underlying soil.

standbyandfire said:
Plants look great Windchicken! Very nice man.

Thanks Steven!

DocNrock said:
Gary, just got a chance to check out your glog. Wow, is all I can say! Awesome grow you have going on there. Impressive variety, large and healthy looking plants, pods ripening. Good stuff!

Thanks Brent! Wow, that comment made my day... :party:

compmodder26 · Jul 5, 2013

windchicken said:
Hi Brian! Thanks for asking...I've never used compost tea, so I can't really say anything about competing microbes....but to answer your question I believe the RCW soil-building process involves all the beneficial flora and fauna that the soil ecosystem needs.

I know that I have been expounding the use of extra fertilizers in the first few months after amendment with the RCW, but I'm beginning to believe that maybe that's not a good idea...The problem seems to be the tricky proposition of attaining and maintaining a good balance of N2 in the soil...There's just so much going on in your dirt during that period that's seems to be very difficult to avoid over or under fertilizing, also under watering or overwatering, especially during hot weather when all problems seem to be exacerbated...

I'm really starting to think that RCW amendment should be made no less than 6 months before plant-out time. However, you can mulch with RCW at any time without affecting the N2 levels of the underlying soil.

Well I'm inclined to go with what takes the least amount of effort and if you are getting your excellent results without the use of the compost teas then I'm going to follow suit. On the topic of amending with Nitrogen fertilizers on the initial bed building, if I amend with a high nitrogen fertilizer in the fall, do you think that the RCW in the soil will be sufficiently broken down so I can start planting veggie seeds in late March? I want to use RCW in all of my beds. I know that the peppers will be fine as I won't be transplanting them until mid May, but I usually plant seeds for cool weather vegetable varieties in mid - late March. I'm looking at a timetable of 5 months between bulding the RCW beds and planting seeds. You just mentioned no less than 6 months before plant out, so that gives me a 1 month deficiency. But I'm thinking that if I use a high nitrogen fertilizer in the build out that it might speed up the decomp process, resulting in the RCW being in a good state for planting by 5 months.

windchicken · Jul 5, 2013

Probably 5 months is plenty of time, especially if you're planting in March, when the weather is still cool. Remember, however, that once the initial decomp period has passed, the RCW soil will begin to release the N2 that it had tied up in the first few months. That's one of the many wonderful benefits of RCW...

What I'm saying is that I wouldn't add any ferts at all when I amend, or at plant-out time, even 5 months later. I would just watch my plants closely and maybe "adjust" the N2 levels if I saw signs of tie-up...

I'm anxious to see how your garden grows!

compmodder26 · Jul 5, 2013

Good deal. Thanks again Gary!

RedtailForester · Jul 5, 2013

millworkman said:
Geez Dan have you read nothing? Its not the just the bark but yes. It basically turns in to a super rich, super fine and uniform soil that after a couple years you do not need to worry about. Just top dress with some more woodchips and maybe some manure here and there if you feel like it. Think of the floor of a hardwood forest but without the giant oaks blocking out all the light.

Sorry Noah, I have been suffering from SIMES (Sh*t In My Ears Syndrome) lately. :rofl:

millworkman · Jul 5, 2013

RedtailForester said:
Sorry Noah, I have been suffering from SIMES (Sh*t In My Ears Syndrome) lately.

Bah ha ha ha!

armac · Jul 5, 2013

Gary they are $2.87 A bag..........2 cubic feet