The Knucklehead way to Grow a Blog

[Knucklehead]

Recieved my Seed Bank grow out seed today. For safety's sake, I'm starting them in three different location, using three different methods. The seed are : Cordoba, Lonibow, and Mississippi heirloom. I am starting some of all three using a paper towel in a baggie. These are next to my float trays, getting warmth from the 500 watt shop lights over the float trays (1 - 500 watt light per tray.), the seed starts are off to the side. I'm starting some of all three in the BigB greenhouse jars in my bedroom, and then I'm starting some directly in the trays with potting soil in my living room close to a heat vent and with indirect lighting from an eastern facing window. The reason I'm spreading them out all over the place is the Mississippi Heirloom was in the red, and the Lonibow and Cordoba are in red asterisk territory. Short supply, and I don't want to eF this up.

 

[Knucklehead]

My plants were getting rather leggy under the work lights so I went down to Walmart and got 4 - 2ft undercabinet lamps and 4 grow light bulbs to go in them. They were sold out of the dedicated grow lights so I made my own. I have them about 3-4 inches off the plants right now. I plan to get them closer but need to make a couple spacers so I can move them under the rods rather than on top of them. Wife is yelling "food" so I'll post pics later.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I'm shocked!.. Utterly shocked!........Alabama has a Wal Mart?

 

[Knucklehead]

I'm shocked!.. Utterly shocked!........Alabama has a Wal Mart?

Had to go to Georgia.

 

[Knucklehead]

Here's some of my seedlings under my new lights. Two float trays, 5 varieties, YTB, TN90, VG K326, BSS-Maden and Izmir. I'm finding that indoor growing is way different than outdoor growing. I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was or as prepared as I should have been. Hopefully they'll take off now. I have some cigar varieties started upstairs in wick type system.

 

[Knucklehead]

I just ordered a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer and hygrometer with probes from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004I08CEO/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Michibacy]

Them there lights should do you well. that's about 80 watts of inca light. Good to see the plastic over them too, it definitely keeps heat and humidity in. Low water temp brings downs soil temp for sure! When I was heating my trays up I had a probe in the soil and in the water. I saw a huge change within 2 minutes of heating one or the other up. If you need a quick way to heat the soil up, filling a jug with really hot water from the shower and dumping it into the water (make sure not to contact the soil/plants) will warm the area up in a hurry.

 

[Knucklehead]

So what do you guys think about these terrarium submersible heaters for use in float tray systems? What's the formula for calculating gallons of water by cubic inches?
http://www.amazon.com/Terrarium-Sub...64187371&sr=8-1&keywords=submersible+heat+mat

 

[Seanz]

Reading your guys grow blogs reminds me of my horticulture classes at college, lol its way cool you guys get so technical

 

[Knucklehead]

Holy cow, did you slog through this whole log in one sitting? It would put me to sleep faster than Moby Dick or the parts of Dracula where Professor Van Helsing gets wound up and covers three pages in one paragraph. LOL

Most of this could be deleted as I've changed directions several times.

 

[Seanz]

lol As I currently have lots of free time I am reading up on what you guys are doing as well as bidding on a broken fridge to build me a kiln. Just the way you guys get so into germination and temps and lights and wow!

 

[Knucklehead]

This is my first grow. Although I grew up on a farm, this indoor farming is all new to me. I wasn't near as prepared as I should have been and I've been scrambling to catch up. It's been raining and cloudy for the past couple of weeks and my in the window lighting wasn't working at all! The basement was too cool and not enough light so I've had to make some quick adjustments to save my plants. Down South where I live the cooling costs are higher than the heating costs so I put my unheated garage on the south side of the house for shade. Now I don't have any windows that get full sun from the south so I'm having to go with supplemental lighting. It's a learning experience for sure. And costly. For what the lights and bulbs cost I could have bought two cigarette samplers from Don. That's seven pounds of tobacco ready to smoke. For me that's half a years worth. I'm going to have to grow for several years to make up the difference between home grown and purchased whole leaf. Especially if I figure my time as worth something. It may actually have worked out better and cheaper to have stuck with Don's whole leaf from the get go. I'm not into all this sampling and experimenting as some of the guys. I find a cigarette blend I like, I tend to stick with it and no more cigars than I smoke, I'm definately buying most of my cigar leaf. One more hobby out of control. LOL

 

[Seanz]

One more hobby out of control. LOL

I hear ya there. Though this is my third season of growing And I only smoke a pipe and cigars (now!)
I have to get my head around down south, As over here I am south I mean its only penguins and foreign Fishing trawlers Oh and ufo bases on Antarctica. Though i am paying attention to what you guys are doing, well sorta the whole light thing is beyond me. might spend a awhile learning about lumens and stuff. But i do enjoy reading all of you guys blogs

 

[Knucklehead]

I guess my south is your north. Don't you get full sun from the north? The way I get full sun from the south? Like, the north side of my house is in the shade all day. Is it the opposite there?
What are your winters like, and where do you start your seeds?

 

[Seanz]

The way my house is situated I have to keep moving seedlings to windows to maximize sunshine the but full sun is north. Our winters are wet and bitter cold. temps rarely top 10 C. Hail interspersed with patches of rain and snow. Where I am is pretty lucky as the snow never gets too deep thought the frosts and hail can build up over the days. winters light around eight am and dark at 5. I started my seeds in trays covered in newspaper and then in the hot water cylinder cupboard then on a desk in my bedroom window the year before was a freak and seedlings took off this time round they were slow and i am sure that the start affected the growth as none of my va topped 6ft But basically no heating apart from what the sun gave and that wasn't much. I plan on moving house in the winter to somewhere out of town so hopefully get somewhere with a tunnel house. down here everyone grows everything in tunnel or green houses even in summer, i mean brassicas go ok but forget tomatoes, peppers or anything like that

 

[Chicken]

just went thru your entire thread, sorry; i havent been on in a while, i was down for a while, i couldnt sit comfortablly in a chair, '' my syotic nerve''

but i have some questions from what ive read, and a pic to show you,,, '' if i find it< lol. ''

1'st are you on city water, or do they have a monitor on your well? i haVE NO MONITOR'S LIKE THAT AND I HAVE A WELL. woop's hit the caps button<

2- im very curious to see what this drip line does for you, ive used it in the past on a garden, but never on bacca, ive looked it up. from DRIPWORKS the same co. your looking at.

3- hornworms for fish bait, - i sold some of my plants locally last year, and i had 2 old men come get some plants. just to raise hornworns for fishing purposes, so it must be good for the fish, i cant see why a fish wouldnt love that bright green wiggly worm<

4-THE ROAD TRIP, im very close to you,,,, and finally have a dependable vehicle,,, [ riding in a lincoln town car these days. 97'... ] so im down for the meeting, and your '' area;; looks just like my area, not much difference,

5- STAKING YOUR PLANTS, i did it last year and will do it this year... i use survey stakes, but am thinking this year of also using some wide pieces of BAMBOO,

heres my patch with the stakes, waiting on the plants to grow into the stake,

>

^^^^ all last years grow,

 

[Knucklehead]

I'm on county water, my father is on a well. We're going to run a line between his water line and mine so if the power goes out again, we can turn a valve and he can use my water. If I need to, like too much chlorine, we can go the other way and I can use his well water. Just shut my meter off and open the valve. So i guess really I have both. There's no monitor on the well, but we sent a sample off to a lab before he started using it, everything checked out good.

I plan to have the drip line as a Plan B in case of drought. We've been in a drought cycle the past few years. It will just be easier to go ahead and run it on top of the landscape cloth before I plant than to run it later if we have a drought and the plants are already up.

Boboros close to me too and DGBAMA is 40 minutes away. We can have a redneck get together anytime. Like Jimmy Buffett said, "what we don't drink, we gonna pour on ya."

 

[Boboro]

I used some weep hose on well water and it stoped it up with the iron. You mite need a filter.

 

[Knucklehead]

I used some weep hose on well water and it stoped it up with the iron. You mite need a filter.

That's a good idea. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Knucklehead]

Updated grow list:
VA K326
Burley TN90
Burley YTB
Izmir
BSS Maden
Glessnor
CT Shade
CT Broadleaf
Little Dutch
Vuelta Abajo
Comstock Spanish
FTT Seed Bank Grow-outs
Mississippi Heirloom
Lonibow
Cordoba