January 15, 2012 journal

The Giant Marconi pepper plant apparently likes the growing conditions in the tent, as it is doing very well indeed.

Today, for another experiment, I planted two Mountain Princess seedlings in the second tent. My intent is to limit the number of trusses to one, or two, per plant. I am trying to direct all of the plant's energy into producing a few large fruit, rather than a lot of fruit. It should also be interesting to see if the tomatoes mature and ripen in less time than usual.

It is sad to say, but the cucumbers have virtually ground to halt, so I replaced one planting of cucumbers with another Giant Marconi pepper. I still have one cucumber plant that is growing very very slowly. The plant looks fine, has two small cucumbers, however, it does not appear to be growing at all. I checked the roots on the plants that were replaced, and they were pure white with no sign of disease, so, at this point, I have no idea of what is going on with the cucumbers.

Seeds have been started for another attempt at cucumbers. This time I plan on using an ebb and flow system, burying the plants in hydroton, letting the roots wander where they will. As the ebb and flow system feeds the plants every four hours, any deficiencies can quickly be addressed.

I am also planning on using the same nutrients that I use for lettuce and chard for the cucumbers rather than the Peters Professional.