Saturday, September 8, 2012

Journal September 8, 2012

As the outdoor gardening season comes to an end I am gearing up for indoor growing, and, to be truthful, I am actually looking forward to indoor growing for a change of pace.

My wife has asked me to grow lettuce that is more robust than the leaf lettuce varieties, so I  have switched to romaine lettuce. at least for the time being.  The tray above contains baby romaine and little Caesar, which are, as of today, 28 days from seed.

The nutrient solution has an EC of 1.10 with the pH at 6.1.  For five gallons of water I used 1 teaspoon of Expert Gardener plant food, 1 teaspoon of calcium nitrate, 2 oz. of epsom salts, from a concentrate of 4 tablespoons per gallon of water and 1 teaspoon of baking powder to adjust the pH.  It should be evident from the photo that the plants are thriving on the above mixture.

As for the greenhouse: The first female flower is forming on the cucumber plants.  The tomatoes have been giving me problems with blossom end rot, which I think is being caused by the autopots overwatering them.  I have reverted to manual control of the valves, and I have been adding additional calcium to the nutrient mix.  The strawflowers are a big disappointment, as the plants are huge and healthy, but have not produced a single flower.  On the other hand, the carnations are doing fantastically and have several flower buds developing. The tomato seedlings intended for indoor growing have been transplanted to larger pots, and Ava's purple pitcher plant is thriving, although it has yet to catch a bug.

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