What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

All my weekend plans down the drain. Been miserable sick since Wednesday night. Can't do anything or find a spot that's comfortable. Was going to start some seeds this weekend. Not happening anytime soon....

 

[CNJ]

I came up with a new design for my wicking buckets, but the store I bought these cheap $1.50 colander from don't sell them anymore. I am going to use a micro fiber cloth to wick the water up and I will string the buckets together with a 3/8 tube to a solution reservoir. I wonder if potting soil will do better than Kratky. Kind of reminds me of a Dutch Bucket with bottom feed instead of top feed and with no electricity.

I have another way if I can't find cheap colanders. I can fill the bottom with coarse lava rock and use a microfiber cloth to wick water up. This method will hold less volume of water, but it will work the same with the constant solution feed.

I also made another discovery when I lined the inside of my bucket with weed fabric cloth to block the sunlight. I notice that the weed fabric also wicks water up the sides and algae will grow around the inside of the bucket, so its better to put it on the outside.
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[CNJ]

I haven't watered these tomato plants from the top since I stuck them in the pot a month ago.........I only refilled the water reservoir when it got low. The plants are different types and are not the same age. The potting mix in the pots are being moistened by a microfiber cloth on the bottom of the pots, its similar to the bucket idea I just posted.

 

[karenerwin]

Huh. Do you have a “do not disturb” where media volume turns off at night? I have a friend who got tripped up by that.

If that’s not it, I give up

—-

Today in the garden, I will probably get nothing done. I didn’t sleep well and it looks pretty dreary. Not feeling at all motivated to work on clean up for spring

Nope, nothing like that.

 

[Acre4Me]

Hmm, I got an idea while reading this post. I can't grow cabbage without it getting infested with bugs, so I was thinking of growing it in a 5 gallon kratky bucket. That way I could cover it with a loose insect mesh and refill solution from a reservoir. I wonder if I can keep the bugs out if I secure the insect mesh and not open it until harvest time?

Yes. We’ve had to cover the brassicas too. But one year we had a hatch (assume from the leaves overwintered in the bed) of a different bug eating the cabbage. So, you’ll still need to watch for damage. Covering them did help and kept the usual pests off them.

 

[jerryse]

You pressure can dry beans? Are they still dry?
Seems like beans keep well dry on the shelf for us here. Just trying to understand what your doing and if I should be doing this..

I use the no soak method. 1 cup dry beans + water to 1 inch from rim. Pressure for 90 minutes for quarts. I started doing this when I had to restrict salt intake. Canned from store had salt. I did 1 # bag of kidney and 1 of Great Northern. Made 2 quarts and 1 pint of each type of bean.

 

[WthrLady]

yep. I do garbanzos for hummus.

 

[riss]

Carrots have finally started popping! Waiting till them get big enough where I can thin them out and then transplant them into a bigger pot

 

[BReeder!]

I came up with a new design for my wicking buckets, but the store I bought these cheap $1.50 colander from don't sell them anymore. I am going to use a micro fiber cloth to wick the water up and I will string the buckets together with a 3/8 tube to a solution reservoir. I wonder if potting soil will do better than Kratky. Kind of reminds me of a Dutch Bucket with bottom feed instead of top feed and with no electricity.

I have another way if I can't find cheap colanders. I can fill the bottom with coarse lava rock and use a microfiber cloth to wick water up. This method will hold less volume of water, but it will work the same with the constant solution feed.

I also made another discovery when I lined the inside of my bucket with weed fabric cloth to block the sunlight. I notice that the weed fabric also wicks water up the sides and algae will still grow around the inside of the bucket, so its better to put it on the outside.
.
View attachment 3408114

Here you can buy wicking pots and big box stores. You add water to the bottom through a hinged spout you open.

 

[CNJ]

Here you can buy wicking pots and big box stores. You add water to the bottom through a hinged spout you open.

I only go to Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart, I bought a pot with a reservoir, but there was no hinge spout. That would be something I would be interested in........I wonder if they sell them on Amazon?