What did you do in the garden today?

[cj2024]

Mine won't touch them. grr

Starve them and they will figure it out.

 

[Smokerbill]

I HAVE to plant my shallot starts in the garden today. There are probably around 100 little plants that I started from seed. Hope they'll be good in my homemade salsa. I'll get those daikon radish seeds in the ground today too.

 

[cj2024]

I am doing an experiment with a wicking perlite bucket and ran into some problems. The perlite floats, so there is a limit to how much water each bucket can hold without it floating up. In addition, mixing vermiculite and perlite together was a bad idea because the vermiculite falls apart and leaves a muddy mess on the bottom. Furthermore, I may need to put a screen spacer where the water enters on the bottom, so muck build up doesn't clog it up.

Instead of watering my Dutch buckets by hand from the top, I thought I could maintain the 2-inch level from the bottom with the reservoir float valve method. But I am running into some problems.

 

[WthrLady]

I have sinus issues during seasonal allergies. If I remember to use my nasal rinse bottle daily, it washes all the allergens out of my nasal passages. I can avoid the sniffles, and infections.

Yep. Every night of the year for me. I also made the huge mistake of going to the local public library to study yesterday and had a full on allergic reaction there. I didn't catch it while I was sitting there until 2 hours in. My eyes were on fire, itchy all over, SO stuffy and a headache. The place must have been thick with mold, mites, dust.
Even my allergy shot spots this week burned.
Now I have a sinus headache.

 

[Smokerbill]

I am doing an experiment with a wicking perlite bucket and ran into some problems. The perlite floats, so there is a limit to how much water each bucket can hold without it floating up. In addition, mixing vermiculite and perlite together was a bad idea because the vermiculite falls apart and leaves a muddy mess on the bottom. Furthermore, I may need to put a screen spacer where the water enters, so muck build up doesn't clog it up.

Instead of watering my Dutch buckets by hand from the top, I thought I could maintain the 2-inch level from the bottom with the reservoir float valve method. But I am running into some problems.

I'm not quite sure of what you mean by "wicking perlite bucket", but could you use rockwool instead. I learned about it in this video you posted a while back.

 

[cj2024]

I'm not quite sure of what you mean by "wicking perlite bucket", but could you use rockwool instead. I learned about it in this video you posted a while back.

Rock wool may be too expensive, coco coir nuggets may work, but it's not as light as perlite. I was thinking about keeping the solution level constant from the bottom with a separate reservoir and float valve. I am just adding a reservoir tube on the bottom of this lady's perlite experiment with potatoes.

 

[Smokerbill]

I'm not sure how successful my potato experiment is going to work out. Planting them in October for the next year's crop probably isn't a great idea.

I dug one of the potatoes out today and found that rodents ate 3/4 of it. There's still a chunk left with an eye on it, so I think some of them will grow. I believe I planted 18 whole potatoes in total.

I'm going to let the potatoes do their thing this year, and if I get none or just a few that's ok. I'm not a big potato eater, I just like to grow them. I might eat 5 or 10 pounds a year at most.

Here's what was left of the tater. At least is was still solid and not rotten. With the rodents tunneling through my garden the soil is well aerated and fertilized with mouse crap. LOL

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I'm not sure how successful my potato experiment is going to work out. Planting them in October for the next year's crop probably isn't a great idea.

I dug one of the potatoes out today and found that rodents ate 3/4 of it. There's still a chunk left with an eye on it, so I think some of them will grow. I believe I planted 18 whole potatoes in total.

I'm going to let the potatoes do their thing this year, and if I get none or just a few that's ok. I'm not a big potato eater, I just like to grow them. I might eat 5 or 10 pounds a year at most.

Here's what was left of the tater. At least is was still solid and not rotten. With the rodents tunneling through my garden the soil is well aerated and fertilized with mouse crap. LOL

View attachment 4066828View attachment 4066829View attachment 4066830View attachment 4066831

As someone who had been considering this, I appreciate the update!

 

[cj2024]

I'm not quite sure of what you mean by "wicking perlite bucket", but could you use rockwool instead. I learned about it in this video you posted a while back.

This is where I am with my design, the only things negative are the slow fill and drain time with the 3/8 tubing and the sediment from the vermiculite. I won't add vermiculite on the next two containers.

I notice that the perlite did not float up with the 3-inch water level, and I know that the perlite is wicking water up to 1 inch below the top. I stuck a piece of toilet paper in one of my commercial Dutch buckets in my grow room, and it became moist at about one inch below the surface.

The hump in the middle of the pot keeps the drain and supply clear. I packed the left and right side of the hump and noticed how it held the netting down the middle tight. I also attached a temporary water supply, and it flowed out steady through the drain, so I can refresh the nutrient by pouring a quart of solution in from the top daily.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm not sure how successful my potato experiment is going to work out. Planting them in October for the next year's crop probably isn't a great idea.

I dug one of the potatoes out today and found that rodents ate 3/4 of it. There's still a chunk left with an eye on it, so I think some of them will grow. I believe I planted 18 whole potatoes in total.

I'm going to let the potatoes do their thing this year, and if I get none or just a few that's ok. I'm not a big potato eater, I just like to grow them. I might eat 5 or 10 pounds a year at most.

Here's what was left of the tater. At least is was still solid and not rotten. With the rodents tunneling through my garden the soil is well aerated and fertilized with mouse crap. LOL

View attachment 4066828View attachment 4066829View attachment 4066830View attachment 4066831

I noticed many of my smaller potatoes rotted over the winter. Either that or the ants ate the inside but left the skin behind. I'm not sure how many are left. I may have to buy more potatoes