Comparing Weeks 3 and 4 Progress

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Over the course of week 3 and 4, a foliar mist has been added to the overall regimen.

There have been quite a few growth changes over the course of the few weeks.

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Peas week 3

peas week 4

 

 

The snap peas are climbing the trellis rapidly so we have had to re-direct them several times. The direct comparison is very apparent between the two pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

With respect to the bush rojas beans, over the course of weeks 3 and 4, there are several beans which have sprouted and the plant has almost doubled in size:

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Bean week 3

Bean week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Banana comparison between weeks 3 and 4.  By week 4 the leaves are now above the pot.

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Sweet banana pepper week 3

Sweet banana pepper week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The habaneros are slow going, but seem to be regardless of whether they are indoors or outdoors.  Last year, the peppers were very small in the hydroponic tent but they seemed to be super spicy, moreso than the peppers that we were used to harvesting from the outdoor garden.

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Habanero week 3

Habanero week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The jalapenos have doubled in size over the last week.

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Jalapeno week 3

Jalapeno week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Brussels sprouts are bushing out very well.

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Brussels sprouts week 3

Brussels sprouts week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cucumbers have finally started to develop feelers of their own and have also started to grow some flowers.  Once they get bigger and have more flowers, I will be able to add a section on flowers and indoor plant pollination which gets really tricky with some plants such as the cucumbers and the tomatoes.

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Cucumbers week 3

Cucumbers week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have two types of bell peppers in the garden.  Monster bell and giant bell.  Both of which are showing about the same amount of growth during the two weeks, seen below…

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Giant Bell week 3

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Monster Bell week 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monster Bell week 4

Giant Bell Week 4

The squash plant that was a volunteer that we threw in the tent just to see what would happen is definitely flourishing!

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There are two type of tomato in the garden.  We have noticed, with respect to the tomato plants, that the tomatoes that are to produce larger tomatoes, they seem to not do quite as well as the cherry tomatoes.  This is the same problem that we had last year when trying to grow tomatoes as well.

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Porterhouse tomato week 3

Porterhouse tomato week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cherry tomato week 3

Cherry tomato week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cherry tomato have flowers on them; however, as wonderful as it is, I had to prune some of those branches off of the plant because they were sucking energy from the plant without any benefit as they were lower branches.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opal Basil has grown faster in the hydroponic tent than in the soil tent but does not seem to be as aromatic as in the soil tent.

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Basil week 3

Basil week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last but not least, the lettuce box.  I harvested the lettuce from it because it was beginning to bolt.  We will see if any of them grow back and if not, I will plant more.  They grow really fast.

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Lettuce Box week 3

Lettuce box week 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Peppers Are In! Week 2

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Patience is a virtue.

When it comes to plants, being patience pays off.

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The peppers have sprouted!

They look great and so very healthy.

Most of them were root-bound which is great for replanting!

 

 

 

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The rubric has changed… again.

We added squash to our hydro-tent as an experiment.  We just wanted to see how it would do, plus it was an extra that grew and it wouldn’t be right to just put it out in the cold, plus we had some duds so we had the room.

 

A new look at the plants and how they have grown for week 2 (don’t be alarmed about the white powder on top of the baskets.  It’s Diatomaceous Earth which is used simply as a precautionary preemptive measure)…

Tags are from Left to right, as the plants get bigger it will be easier to distinguish one from another:

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*Brussels Sprouts                   /               Anaheim Pepper                  /              Cucumber
*(barely visible but they are there!)

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Jalapeno Peppers         /                Habanero Peppers          /     Sweet Banana Peppers

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Snap Peas             /           Anaheim Peppers                    /         **Bush Bean
**(it was an extra from the soil tent)

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Porterhouse Tomato         /                      Summer Squash                  /       Giant Bell Pepper

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Opal Basil                 /            ***Place Holder                   /         Monster Bell Pepper
***(this place holder is to give the squash room to grow)

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Cherry Tomato               /                             Multiple types of Lettuce Box

 

Hydroponics! Better Late Than Never!

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FINALLY!

20180128_210910.jpgWe changed a few things from our original charted rubric, it’s not a huge change, just some vegetable changes because we had a few extra sprouts of basil and bush beans.

 

*** this rubric is subject to change at any point as the amount of space needed may vary if more plants are put in the “vacant place holder” spaces.

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Our sprout-lets let us know that they were ready to go into the hydro tent so we obliged.  The peppers are, of course, taking their time so we did not plant any of those because we are waiting for them to break the surface, but everything else has come up.

 

 

 

Here is an overview picture of our tent with the baskets:

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Here are some baskets with sprouts, we filled up the reservoir and added our first set of nutrients.  We flooded the table for a bit just to get the plant’s roots wet and get them settled a bit in their new homes with the hydrocorn (things tend to shift after they are placed in the baskets).  The timer is currently set for a 16 hour time cycle just like the soil tent.  The water reservoir is set for 5 cycles per day currently and will be scaled back once the roots establish and the plants grow some.

They are hard to see, but I promise our little anemic plants are there in the big wide world of hydrocorn pellets.

 

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Top Row:
Brussels Sprouts/Vacant/Cucumbers

Middle Row:
Peppers (Not Yet Planted, NYP)

Bottom Row:
Peas/Pepper (NYP)/Bush Bean

 

 

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Top Row:
Porterhouse Tomato/Vacant/Bell Pepper (NYP)

Middle Row:
Basil/Peppers (NYP)

Bottom Row:
Cherry Tomato/Lettuce types

 

The lettuce box was established…

So what we have here is (from left to right):

20180129_212551Romaine / Burpee Bibb / Grand Rapids / Buttercrunch / Red Romaine

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Based on how the lettuce box grew last year, I am sure that we should have quite a nice flourishing crop this year.

 

Outdoor Garden Progress, Day 18

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It’s almost planting day, but not yet… we are anticipating planting on Earth Day (April 22).

So, without further ado, here is our outdoor garden… again.  ~18 days after planting (plus the grid, again):

The peppers are a little slow and stout but generally they take longer to germinate, so it’s expected.  Most everything in this big planter is up, so it will be ready to plant when the time is right.

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The below seedlings actually went into the tent for germination about a week after the original batch so they are still catching up but still doing quite well.

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The medium sized sunflowers are still having a little trouble, but I let them get a little dry last week, so hopefully they will catch up; however, the 5′-7′ flowers are all up and ready to go.

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Winter 2017 Indoor Soil Garden, Day 19

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So, Awesome things have been brewing in the indoor garden!  Here are my update pictures:

Each of the potters have grown so much.  Unfortunately, I am still waiting for my lavender to sprout, but it will soon, I am sure.

The white powder on the top of the potters is diatomaceous earth to keep away the gnats that were in the tent.

 

The left side is yellow onion, the right side is red onion:

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Grand Rapids Lettuce on the left, Radishes on the Right:WIN_20170331_17_04_39_Pro

Raab Broccoli on the left, Black Opal Basil on the right:WIN_20170331_17_05_16_Pro

Buttercrunch lettuce:WIN_20170331_17_04_25_Pro

Turnip on the left, Kohlrabi on the right:

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Beets on the left, Carrots on the right:

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The Navel Orange has been accruing new growth.

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It dropped some of it’s flowers and some of the fruit, but it’s supposed to drop what it does not feel is healthy to flourish.

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There are still over a dozen oranges left on the tree.

WIN_20170331_17_04_13_ProThe potato bucket has flourished!  All of the sproutlets have developed very nicely.  In a few days I will cover the spoutlets with more soil and wait for them to continue to grow.  As the potatoes grow vertically, they will put out more potatoes in the bottom of the bucket horizontally.  Within about a month, there will be potatoes to pick and harvest from the bottom of the bucket where I cut the holes.

Winter 2017 Indoor Soil Garden, WHAT THE GNAT!!!

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As much as I love my Orange Tree I have discovered something terrible!

After I put the tree in the tent, it became… comfortable.  The temperature was just right and the conditions were very favorable for the eggs from some gnats to hatch that had been previously laid while the tree was at the nursery.

UGH!!! NO GOOD!!!

So, in order to combat the gnats I purchased two products:

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The Gnat Stix are basically Popsicle sticks that attach to a grid that looks and acts like fly paper.   The gnats stick to it.

The Diatomaceous Earth basically stops the gnats from reproducing and since gnats have a short life span it works pretty well.  Its a white powder that just gets sprinkled over top of the soil.  It kind of reminds me of using talc powder, only the plant version.

Winter 2017 Indoor Soil Garden, Day 6

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Today I lightly watered all of the plants and put the miniature red potatoes on the top rack so that they can start rooting.  Once they start rooting, I will begin a potato bucket. I have never done this before so it will be an experience for sure!

I will be doing this for both miniature red potatoes and russet potatoes.

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The turnip and kohlrabi are flourishing!

I thinned out the sprouts today.

 

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The beets have decided to make an appearance, right on time (germination time between 5 to 10 days) and are doing very well.  I thinned them out.

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The Buttercrunch lettuce finally made an appearance!  Right on time as well (germination time between 5 to 10 days).20170318_140301

 

The Rapini (or) Raab Broccoli is doing very well, especially for being early!  I thinned it out.

 

 

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The radishes and Grand Rapids lettuce is doing well and I thinned them both out.