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.

February 20, 2012 journal

Today was another sunny day with the temperature in the greenhouse in the mid eighties this afternoon, so the grow lights got a good rest. This winter, though far from over, is going to spoil me.

Seeds for Giant Marconi peppers, for the soil garden, and a few dwarf dahlia for the annual garden, were started today. Again this year, I plan to continue to grow salad greens indoors under lights, and not fight the bugs and other problems associated with growing greens outdoors.

The above photo shows prizehead lettuce grown from seeds that were purchased at Agway a few weeks ago for a dollar and change. There must be a few thousand seeds in the package, and I can pretty much guarantee that I can get about 80% of the seeds to grow to maturity using coffee filters and horticubes. Personally, I think seeds are one of the few bargains left on the market.

February 19, 2012 journal

It was another nice day today and we still have absolutely no snow on the ground. Although the temperature outdoors was cold, about 39, I decided to let the plants take advantage of the sun in the greenhouse, where the temperature was in the mid sixties.

While taking my daily moisture reading , I saw something unusual lurking just under the top leaves of the pepper plant. Upon investigation, I found the bottom of a chubby four inch pepper, which is growing upside down inside the plant. The plant being so dense, the pepper can not grow in the normal position. I knew that there were a lot of small peppers, about the size of the end of my finger, but finding one this large was a big surprise.

I guess the Mountain Princess did not want to be bested , as I also found a small tomato hiding behind a leaf, but, it is nowhere near as big as the pepper.

My plan, for this year, was to wait until the first of March to start seeds, however, I am going to alter my plan and start some peppers for the soil garden this week. It will most likely be the first of March before they germinate anway.

February 13, 2012 journal

The above photo is being posted to illustrate why I believe Autopots overwater plants indoors, and why I advocate the use of a moisture meter and shut off valve when using them indoors.

As can be seen in the photo, the reservoir is completely dry, as the valve to the nutrient tank has been turned off for over a week. Still, the moisture level in the media is 9.0 on a scale of 10. If the valve had not been turned off, the reservoir would have refilled a week ago, making the media very soggy indeed.

The CEO of Autopots UK sent me a PDF showing Autopots being used successfully to grow cucumbers. That said, the example was a greenhouse in Barbados, where conditions are very much different than the conditions, indoors, in a tent, in upstate New York.

Following his advice for the best EC for cucumbers, I lowered the EC on the cucumbers I am growing in the ebb and flow system to 1.4. The result is that I can now see signs of nitrogen deficiency.

I guess the moral of this post is: Using trial and error, determine what works best for you, and YOUR growing conditions.

Journal February 10, 2012

Ava presented her grandmother with the the last of the flowers from the calendula and zinnia plants today. The plants were still growing, but showing their age. When I checked the tags in the plants, I was surprised to find that they have been growing since October, so they have nothing to be ashamed of, as they did a yeoman's job producing flowers.

In a normal winter we would have had about six feet of snow by this time in February. This winter, we have had hardely any, and the temperatures remain above normal. As much as I like LED lighting for growing, I can't resist giving the plants natural light when conditions permit.

The three tomato plants spent the afternoon in the greenhouse; this being the first time these plants have been exposed to natural light. It is, in fact, the first time that they have been out of the tents.

With that said, the plants are such a healthy color green, that they appear almost blue green with very compact internodal spacing. Yet, there are still those who insist that: "LED technology is not there yet."