width=”549″ height=”412″ /> When standing with the hose in hand watering the garden this growing season here’s something to contemplate: The point of watering is feeding roots but in most cases excess water is wasted falling between and around plants. A watering can is better suited for the task but still lacks precision. One way to ensure water reaches its target is through a delivery mechanism that takes into…
alt=”2682″ width=”550″ height=”367″ /> Unfortunately we do not have no where near the preferred climate to grow tomatoes. We have extremely mild temperatures with summer maximum average high of 78°F and maximum average lows of 59°F. Take that with our very short window of consistent rain (bringing blight) tomato plants are lucky to even be surviving when planted in our area let alone have a tremendous yield, though with…
I noticed a tiny tomato starting on one my plants growing in my computerized grow box under 120 watt LEDs grow lights. Given our lower than average temperatures here in the Pacific Northwest this year (lows averaging in the low 40s) not sure if these plants will ever make it outside… Even though I was somewhat pessimistic for my seed starting times and facing the difficult decision: 1. Keep…
Being busy with work and a new baby at home, I completely forgot to plant my cilantro. Though I got a little surprise when I pulled back the shredded leaves I used on my beds…I nice blanket of cilantro seedlings, almost like mother nature knew I was going to be lacking focus this season. I was pretty good about picking my cilantro (or coriander at this point) at the…
Previously I did an entire post on deterring slugs from your garden, but I was so excited to get these romaine lettuce plants out of my grow box and into the garden I put off the slug prevention a little too long. As you can see these guys are pretty little but they still can do some serious amount of damage in a short period of time. There are…
I made a little discovery last year and that is that peppers really don’t need a lot of room to grow, require soil a little warmer than it normally gets around here, and do not mind getting a little dry between watering. This seems like great characteristics to grow peppers in vertical containers. With this in mind at the end of last year I picked up a couple of…
When growing tomatoes from seed you are going to have to repot them. The basic idea is you never want to stress the plant out by restricting the roots from getting wider. Fortunately the process to do this between the various growth states is pretty simple and does not really change much between repotting. The first time you will need to repot them to a 4 inch put when…
The tomatoes are taking over the grow box under the LED lights and starting to create some blossoms. Hopefully the weather gets better soon so I can finally bring these guys outside. The peppers are also growing great though haven’t outgrown their pots yet.
Growing up in the area I have had a lifetime of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, but now being the father of three little girls I have a feeling I will be seeing more of these millions of flowers blooming. With the not so spring like weather we have been having this month it seemed like a nice day to remember what spring is supposed to look like. My…
In the past I have had a few critters scale or crawl under my fence to snack on my tomatoes. Without knowing what is going after my crops it is difficult to figure out how to attempt to prevent these attacks. When Swann approached me to review their OutbackCam I decided this would be the perfect tool to answer this question. The OutbackCam is a small device that holds…
Witch hazel is a small tree or deciduous shrub that usually stands between 3 and 8 meters high and can sometimes reach 12 meters. The witch hazel’s oval leaves are arranged alternately and have a wavy or smooth margin. The leaves are 3 to 11 cm wide and 4 to 16 cm long. The scientific name for witch hazel translates to “together with fruit,” due to the fact that…
Before going into my latest version of the grow box, I think it would be good to go through the brief history of my computerized grow boxes. Version 1: PC Grow Box It all started with my daughter’s question for her science project “Why don’t strawberries grow during the wintertime?” After some discussion she decided because it was too dark and too cold (pretty smart for a kindergartener) To…