Recent Articles
Ultimate Aquaponics setup
15 years ago aquaponics, herbs, hydroponics, indoor growbox 8 Comments
I actually thought I already posted about this bad boy which unfortunately is only a design concept from Philips. For those that are not familiar:
Aquaponics is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.
Aquatic animal effluent (for example fish waste) accumulates in water as a by-product of keeping them in a closed system or tank (for example a recirculating aquaculture system). The effluent-rich water becomes high in plant nutrients but this is correspondingly toxic to the aquatic animal.
Source Wikipedia
This system is called the BioTower, the first 2 levels are hydroponic plants with the third being algae. The fourth layer contains shrimp and fish which produce organic waste which is stored in the bottom layer.
The lights are powered using optical fibers from the sun and the methane from the organic waste powers the lights at night. The plants and seafood can then be consumed all powered by the various ecosystems.
I couldn’t even imagine what something like this would cost if it came out of the design phase, though a simple cover over the organic waste and this would make a great conversation piece.
Growing Pepper Plants Indoors
15 years ago Bhut Jolokia, indoor growbox, jalapeno, peppers 6 Comments
Pepper plants need specific environmental (temperature and humidity) conditions to establish growth and create high yields. If the temperatures get too low it will stunt its growth or not produce blossoms, when the temperatures get too high the plant will drop it blossoms resulting in no or reduce yields.
The perfect temperature range for peppers is between 70 and 80 degrees F for Bell peppers and hot peppers can handle a little warmer temperatures up to 85 degrees. If their environment gets below 70 degrees the plants will struggle, which given even in August we don’t hit an average of 70 degrees F for any success a greenhouse, hot box, or a growbox is requirement. If you are a frequent reader of this site you probably already know I go with the last option.
With a few CFLs (or incandescent if extra heat is needed) the peppers plants are happy in the growbox. With exception of once a week watering with a diluted fertilizer at 50% recommended on the box they pretty much take care of themselves. If we do get a nice warm day I will bring them out for some natural light. This also invites some natural organic pest control of any aphids which may have found their way into the growbox. When the plants begin flowering this also gives some bees an opportunity to do a little pollination, this can be done by hand with a paint brush or Q-Tip though my success rate is much less than the bees, though they have been doing this for millions of years…I am still a little new at this
As mentioned above controlling the proper temperature is critical, I do this with a combination of computer controlled fans and lighting to maintain the proper temperature, though this could also be achieved by using a $10 outdoor digital thermometer and a occasional adjustments to venting or fan control to maintain a good temperature range.
Last year I only grew jalapeno pepper plants, but this year I am also trying Cayenne, Sweet Yellow, and Bhut Jolokia pepper plants. Though it is quite a bit more work growing peppers in my area, I like challenges and to do things that others say can not be done, call me stubborn.
Why don’t you grow tomatoes in the ground?
15 years ago tomato, upside down planter 2 Comments
When I mention I grow tomatoes upside down many people ask me, “Why don’t you grow tomatoes in the ground?” The surprise answer is, I do grow both in the ground and in the air.
The picture above shows my current tomato plants I am growing in the one location with sufficient sunlight to grow them, which might explain the reason why I look alternate options for adding more yields each season.
Ladybug Release: Not a good day to be an aphid in my garden
15 years ago aphids, ladybugs 6 Comments
We normally would have already had our annual ladybug release for aphid control, though this year it has been a little colder than normal so we have to postpone until this evening. You want to release your ladybugs at sunset since they do not like to fly at night and gives you the best odds of keeping them in your garden.
For fun and a little carnage we decided to let 20-30 out early and placed them on some plants with a few too many aphids (peas and mint) In the picture above fortunately (or unfortunately depending how much you loathe aphids) you can’t see it but the ladybug was just having his first victim. With many more to come that were surrounding him (or her).
For some less gruesome pictures of ladybugs you can check out some of the photo shoots from our previous years ladybug releases
Build a ladybug house
15 years ago aphids, cheap, kids, ladybugs 9 Comments
With a piece of cedar fence board and a few nails you can make your own ladybug house to give your army of aphid eaters I nice comfortable place to take shelter between battles
This project started with my youngest daughter (5 years old) has been asking every weekend, “Can we build something with wood?” Finally I came up with this project which we had a great time building.
Materials
- 1 — Cedar fence board
- about 12 finishing nails
- small hinge
- 1/2-3/4 drill bit
- paint for decorating (optional)
Build instructions
Step #1 – Cut the boards: Given the cedar board should be 5-1/2 inches so the cuts should be pretty straightforward. Cut the following pieces:
- Front Panel — 5.5” by 5”
- Back Panel — 5.5” by 5”
- Bottom Panel — 5.5” by 5”
- Top Panel — 5.5” by 4”
- 2 X Side Panel — 5.5” by 2.5”
- Room Separator — 5.5” by 1”
I used a circular saw for my cuts…yes I really should invest in a chop saw or table saw so hopefully your cuts will be a little straighter but I am sure the ladybugs will not mind.
Step #2 — Nail two sides to back panel
Step #3 — Nail front to sides and back panel
Step #4 — Nail bottom panel to ladybug house.
Step #5 — Drop room separator inside house.
Ladybugs are social and like to group together but sometimes thy like to live in smaller groups, this divider will give an additional area for the ladybugs to hang out.
Step #5 — Attach top using screws and hinge
Step #6 — Drill 3-4 holes into front and sides and decorate (optional)
Step #7 — Hang close to your garden
Now of course the decoration part is optional unless you are a 5 year old then it is required. Here she is carefully deciding what to paint with her marker next…
Little green bugs on pea plants
15 years ago aphids, ladybugs, organic, peas 8 Comments
It is fairly uncommon for me to see these little green bugs on my peas. In case you didn’t guess these are pea aphids, which suck juices from the plant leaves ad spread disease between plants. This is a rare occurrence because normally it is warmer and drier this time of year and we would have our annual ladybug release to take care of these little pests. If the weather holds up we should have good enough weather to do the ladybug release next weekend.
In the meantime I have resorted to to using some organic pesticide solution to deter these pests until the weather gets better. This will not stop the aphids, but hopefully slow the down a little, though when it comes to organic solutions you can not compete with ladybugs which each one can eat up to 5000 aphids/mites in their lifetime. Come next weekend there will be an aphid massacre in the garden. [evil laugh]
