March 20, 2012 journal

Hydroponic beets were harvested today and a replacement batch of chard was started. It is my intention to continue to grow beets, chard and lettuce indoors under lights all summer.

The unusually mild weather continues; for the first time ever in March I had to apply the shade cloth to the greenhouse. The temperature, in the greenhouse, was 95 degrees , so to control the heat I decided to place the cloth on for the afternoon.

My wife wanted to know if I could spare a few peppers for dinner. I asked how many she needed and she replied: "three." When I gave her the three peppers she said: "Oh My God!" She later asked why she has never seen these in the market and I told her that I doubt any farmer would pay fourteen cents a seed to plant a field of these peppers. If you don't grow them, you will never taste them. That is one of the joys of gardening.

Pretty much all of my gardening books do not recommend lighting to be more than 18 hours per day. That said, I have read that a few commercial growers light their seedlings 24 hours a day, at least for the first several days. I thought that I would give that a try with some annual seeds that had just germinated. Placing the seeded cubes in an enclosed dome, I added a CO2 generator consisting of water, sugar and yeast. A 1/4" airline fed the CO2 into a very small test tube filled with water to filter any yeast from the CO2; a 125 watt compact fluorescent was used to light the seedlings for 48 hours. The resulting seedlings are more robust than seedlings I planted two weeks ago. This will probably become my standard practice for starting seedlings. Nothing ventured, nothing gained when it comes to growing.

The warmth is kicking the tomatoes into high gear also. It was necessary to up ot them from the 3" pots already and they are only a few weeks from when I opened the seed packets.

March 12, 2012 journal

Our mild winter continues, so much so that I have been able to get the greenhouse in shape for the season a full six weeks earlier than last year. The supports for the tomatoes and cucumbers have been plumbed and stabilized, and the polycarbonate panels have been washed.

To wash the panels, a job that I detest, I used a mixture of one part white vinegar to two parts water, along with a complete roll of paper towels. The vinegar water mixture works much better than any commercial window cleaning product, and it is probably easier on your lungs than breathing the spray from the chemicals in commercial products.

The order I have been expecting from Southern Exposure Seed Exhange arrived today. It contained seeds for San Marzano tomatoes, Straw Flowers and seeds for Turkish Orange eggplant.

I guess the miniature eggplant I grew last season inspired me to try eggplant again. This Turkish Orange heirloom, if it is a success, will have small orange/red green striped fruit, that is said to be sweet flavored.

March 10, 2012 journal

The prizehead lettuce seeds purchased from Agway late in January have produced a nice tub of lettuce, and, I only used twelve seeds.

The package of seed, which cost me $1.19, contained three grams. Lettuce averages 600 - 1200 seeds per gram, so, I will use 800 as an average, and estimate the count at 2,400 seeds.

By anyone's standards that has to be a fantastic bargain!

March 9, 2012 journal

Burpee is now marketing coir seed starting bricks that are larger and less expensive than those available from hydroponic dealers. In my opinion, it is about time there was some competition in marketing hydroponic supplies.

While at Home Depot stocking up on the new bricks, I happened to see a gadget that I thought would be ideal for the greenhouse. It is a radio operated remote control designed for outdoor use. The remote has a range of eighty feet, and will handle 1000 watts.

I changed my thinking after taking the above photo, and now have the remote controlling the power strip. By doing so, I can control more than one device remotely.

The marconi plant has at least fifteen peppers that are almost ready to pick, and I am really looking forward to enjoying these peppers. I doubt that these beauties are available from any produce dealer, so the only way you can get them is to grow them yourself. And, they are well worth growing!

February 26, 2012 journal

Today was a cold sunny day and the temperature outdoors did not even make forty degrees, however, the sun brought the greenhouse temperature to the mid eighties, so I was able to move the peppers and tomatoes to the greenhouse for the afternoon.

Even though the main stem of the pepper plant is about equal to a quarter in diameter, the weight of the peppers is causing the plant to tilt. As a precaution, I decided to reinforce the plant by adding supports. The supports consist of a few sections of bamboo, surrounded by wire ties. Simple, but effective.

Already there has to be more than a dozen peppers set on this plant, and I am going to have to begin picking them, while they are still small, to encourage production. That said, small for this variety is about seven inches in length.

February 25, 2012 journal

Growing the Giant Marconi indoors is turning out to be one of the easiest projects ever, as these plants need little, if any, manual pollination. Be that as it may, I may have to remove some of the fruit, as I doubt that the plant can support all of the fruit that has set.

Today I started Tropic and Trust tomato seeds for the greenhouse. The Dahlia seeds for the annual garden have germinated and the pepper seeds for the garden are beginning to germinate.

The cucumbers in the ebb and flow system are sending out male flowers and are responding nicely to a higher EC of 1.9. I am finding that daily monitoring of the pH and maintaining the level at 5.6 is critical to their overall health.

February 24, 2012 journal

When I purchased the Mountain Princess seeds I had several criteria: determinate, early, compact size, medium sized fruit, suitable for container growing. My original plan was to grow them in the tents, allowing only a very limited number of trusses to develop.

I am so totally impressed with this variety, that I have changed my mind, and will allow the plants to develop normally. I did, in fact, remove a few trusses, however, watching the plants and fruit develop convinced me that I should determine the full potential of this variety.

Another consideration is that being small plants, they can easily be moved to the greenhouse when it becomes operational, thus giving us tomatoes as early as April this year.

For greenhouse tomatoes this year I will be starting seeds for Tropic and Truss on the first of March. My long term plan is to clone a few plants in August, and grow them indoors in tents next winter, then perhaps try my one truss experiment.