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Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Theres still time to plant your winter crops

Posted by friont at 11:39 AM Labels: Aqua, buying, crops, food, healthy, is, plant, squash, still, summer, the, theres, time, to, winter, your

Redwood Seeds has these to offer
&
Johnys Select Seeds recommends these winter vegetables.

What I Learned From My 2014 Summer Garden

Posted by friont at 12:33 AM Labels: 2014, Aqua, crops, from, garden, i, learned, my, plant, still, summer, theres, thorium, time, to, what, winter, your

I wanted a record of this years garden. The foliage grew so thick in the hydroponic section I was unable to track down a leak. Usage became ridiculous and I ended up filling the sump twice a day with water rather than waste the hydroponic fertilizer.

The bioponic systems did well. Summer heat put a damper on everything including the tomatoes. Even the squash seemed to regain vigor once the 100+ days passed. Bell peppers in the hydroponic system did well, but failed due to blossom end rot in the bioponic systems. I found [this article about Blossom End Rot] that may be helpful.

One Earthan bed became clogged by a root and I lost all the flowers on my Tomatillo, but even though a second set of flowers came back, I doubts I will get a crop.

My wicking barrels did not wick quite as well as I would have liked. So Ill adjust the soil mix. These barrels did not get enough sun in this location, so I will have to find a different location. That is one of the best attributes of this simple low cost design. Relocation is not a problem.

The vertical section will get a modification to the water supply. I plan to install a check valve after the pump and a high pressure connection after that. When the 1/4" tubes clog I will simply give it a blast of fresh water.   In fact this is how I will maintain the level in the sump tank. Each time I fill the sump I will be clearing the 1/4" lines.

The 8W Earthan Bed system performed well over the summer. Water usage was extremely low in both the wicking barrels and the 8W Earthan Beds. Without a doubt I feel these two systems hold the most promise. But one thing Ive learned is that any garden that relies on a mechanical system is prone to some type of failure which places the wicking barrels squarely in the best position.

I began the season using weed teas, fish emulsion, and kelp in the 8W Earthan Bed and the Vertical Garden, but the Vertical Garden was abandoned due to high maintenance (clogging).

After the other bioponic Earthan Bed clogged I began to fear that the system might become clogged, but I now feel it would have been okay since it was a root not muck that caused the problem.

But this caused me to switch the 8W Earthan Bed over to plain well water with an occasional slurp of fish emulsion and liquid kelp plus a little Fe DTPA, MgSO4, and HCl after only a few weeks. My goal for this system was to use no urine.

Clogging is a concern I will eventually have to face with all of the Earthan Beds as I doubt even the worms will be able to keep the rock bed clear forever.   The advantage is that the water stays well aerated which should increase plant vitality and vigor.

Water use was extremely low in this systems even though I top watered every few days.

Im still enjoying handfuls of cherry tomatoes from every section of the garden everyday The soil less section of the bioponic system produced more cherry tomatoes than we could eat. This and the hydroponic section were the best performers. I credit this to aeration and high nutrient levels. The main bioponic garden (not the 8W garden) received about 50% of my fresh urine plus fish emulsion, kelp, Fe DTPA, MgSO4, and HCl.

Glyphosate Alternatives

Posted by friont at 12:31 AM Labels: alternatives, Aqua, glyphosate, is, plant, squash, summer, the, time, to, weeding, winter

Let me acknowledge that glyphosate is only the "Active Ingredient" listed on many herbicides, and that its actually the unlisted adjuvants that we need to be concerned about. Unfortunately the regulations only require safety testing of the active ingredients even though the adjuvants have been found to be 1000 times more toxic. The only other dangerous ingredient in RoundUp that I know of is polyethoxylated tallowamine POE-15.

In an effort to avoid using glyphosate I did some research on how the kill weeds around ornamental landscape plants, pathways and driveways. I still and always will object to Glyphosate and 2-4-D being used on or near vegetable gardens.

Here are the methods I was able to discover:

Pulling weeds by hand, and sheet mulching. This is great for a small area

Zinc Sulfate mixed 1-1/8 oz per gallon will treat 4 sq ft. At $12 per 10 lbs this works out to about $0.35/sq ft. Yikes!

BurnOut Weed & Grass Killer made of a special blend of citric acid and clove oil and other patented synergistic components. If I try this product Ill post the results, but from what Ive read this too only stunts the plant and leaves the roots to grow again. If you have used this Id like to hear about your results.

Weed Dragon is a large propane torch. Reviews state that they are effective at temporarily removing the weeds, but repeated treatment will be required to eventually kill more persistent weeds. Attacking the weeds again several days later seems to be advised.
The Weed Dragon delivers a 400,000 BTU while the mini delivers 25,000 BTU. The later uses a small disposable tank, and is easily held by one hand where as the former uses a 20 gallon tank and is often accessorized with a cart. There is also a 2.5 gallon model that is worn like a back pack.
Apparently 1 gallon of propane will last about 1 hour depending on how high the flame is turned up. Not all models have a flame adjustment.

Vinegar, salt, & soap mixed at 1/2 gal vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2tsp liquid dish soap will also kill weeds. This mixture costs about $6.00/gal. I dont know what the application rate is supposed to be, but I used it as I would use Roundup. After several applications there was only a few blotches otherwise the plants were healthy.

I mentioned this did not work and someone else told me I had the recipe wrong and absolutely guaranteed that her formula as shown above would work. Below are the results after spraying 5 times over 8 days. The large broad leafed plant shows only a small amount of damage. The grass lost color but regained its strength soon after the experiment was over.

I did find that I could pour a couple ounces directly on the root area for excellent results, but causing the soil to become incapable of supporting plant life is not what Im after. Even Roundup leaves the soil in better shape than this.

I hate the idea of supporting Monsanto or any biotech bent on destroying the earth with GMO and toxic chemicals. But they do seem to have the only spray on products that will kill weeds. How poisonous these herbicides are is a matter of debate. During the past 30 years Ive never been particularly careful about handling Roundup or 2-4-D, and I dont seem to have been affected, but Ive had friends who were in Vietnam that were severely harmed by defoliants.

Of course Im not advocating that we ingest it. Only a crazy person would do that right? Oh yeah our GM foods have been modified to resist Roundup and therefore hugh amounts of the stuff is sprayed on our food. This I object to, but spraying my driveway seems okay to me.

It seems too cruel but I may have to do my own experiments with Roundup. The group of good and natural folks I would like to be able to include myself in say that Roundup destroys the life in the soil. Somehow I doubt this. Over time, the glyphosate can be tied up by cations in the water or it can be biodegraded by bacteria. [1] By spraying the leaves of a plant, those chemicals are taken down into the roots and might poison some of the microbiology, but with all the bull that Ive been feed about vinegar I simply dont trust the disinformation any longer.

Heres the thing. Dont make up the facts just to make you case. Some organic herbicides such as herbicidal soaps and oils have been found to be more harmful to aquatic life than Roundup. The EIQ (Environmental Impact Quotient ) of Roundup is only 15.3 (on a scale of 1 to 100). [2].

Making up your own facts does more harm then good. It doesnt work for Monsanto and it does not benefit the fight for a clean world. This poor lab rat was fed Roundup. Lets get real, nobody puts Roundup on their food like table salt except maybe the farmers using GM seeds. So buy organic.

But dont tell me vinegar kills weeds and that its just as good as Roundup because its not.

1. http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/roundup-breakdown-in-tap-water/
2. http://www.sustainable-gardening.com/archives/403