Home Made CFL Plant Light Fixture. 3.22.14

Parts for Home Made Plant Light Fixture

These are the parts for the home made plant light fixture.  There are videos on youtube by several authors.  I don't know which one originated it.  The video I watched was praxxus55712, very well explained.

6X24 round pipe	3.98
1/4 inch diameter, 12 inch long threaded bar price for 2	2.02
23 watt CFL price for 2	8.28
wing nut 1/4" price for 4	1.21
hex nut 1/4" price for 5	0.97
bedroom light fixture	7.98
extension cord 8'	6.97
Sum	31.41

I forgot washers.  I bought those and 2 eye bolts for hanging the fixture.  That's about $2 more.  I could have used a cord I had lying around.  That would reduce the cost by $7.  If I shopped around I might have found a cheaper light fixture too.

Holes drilled in pipe, inside nuts and washers screwed onto threaded rods

So far very easy.  Looking at the original, maybe I should have found longer rods.  These should be OK.

Drilling the holes for the threaded rods and assembling them took about 10 minutes.

The I pondered for a week how to assemble the unit with the bedroom light kit.  The reflector is curved.  The light kit rests on a flat surface.  I finally decided to assemble it as-is.  The center of the reflector flattened to accommodate  the bedroom light kit, which is fine.

I added eye hooks at the end to hang the unit from my plant stand.

THe CFL lights are100-watt equivalent, 23-watt CFL bulbs.  Estimated energy cost per year is $2.77.   Lumens 1,600 per bulb.  These are bright-white.  I don't know if it matters, bright-white vs. daylight.  Anything I use seems to work OK.

One issue I got wrong.  I've been trying to figure out what type of bulb, daylight, bright white, soft white.  I bought bright white.  Searching around artificial light growing sites, I should have bought daylight.  2700k - bright white - is good for flowering - probably why my peppers are flowering.  6,500k - daylight - are better for growing.  From the linked site " for example with tomatoes you would want to use a 6500k bulb until your ready to start the flowering stage of your tomato plants".

I may add aluminum foil to the ends to reflect light back into the unit.

Assembled CFL Grow Light

Assembled CFL Grow Light

CFL Grow Light

Planting a Jonared dwarf apple from Starks. 3.19.14

Starks Packaging

The tree arrived with no damage at all

 This is the last anticipated addition to the little orchard.  I may add scion for variety. This is enough trees to keep me busy for a long time.

The rationale for buying a Jonared was mainly nostalgia.   Jonanared is a sport of Jonathan, so considered genetically almost identical, except for the redder coloration of Jonared apples.  From the website Orangepippin.com, Jonared originated in Peshastin, WA in 1934.  From the same website, Jonathan is a seedling of Esopus Spitzenberg, introduced 1864.  It is diploid, and partially self fertile.

My parents grew a Jonathan or derivative in their yard.  They planted it the year I was born.  The apples are smaller than most grocery apples, crisp, with a fresh sweet tart flavor.  I remember they were considered pie apples, but now I would consider them fresh eating apples.

Flowering is mid season, harvest is late season.  Jonared does not have enhanced disease resistance properties.

The central trunk and roots appear healthy.  Nice root mass.

Planted, watered in, staked, mulched.

The Starks packaging was very good.  The tree did not have any damage in shipment.  It was a nice size tree, with an excellent root mass.  Better than many bare root trees I have planted.

The pruning was different from my others.  Each of the branches was shortened to 4 to 8 inches long.   The pruning cuts were angles such that when planted, they were horizontal.  I cut just slightly shorter, so rain will not stay in the pruning cuts.

This tree went into the same row as the multigrafts and the Karmijn Sonnevelt minidwarf.  The rootstock was not described.  The tree is described as dwarf.

I added a small amount of lime to the soil and mixed it in beforfe planting.  I added a small amount of epson salts - magnesium sulfate - to the water when I watered it in.  I mulched with leaf compost, staked, and caged against deer.

It is raining.  The tree will settle in quickly.  No apples this year.  It looks robust and healthy, so many next year or the year after.

It would be interesting to cross Jonathan with one of the columnar MacIntosh descendents, select columnar seedlings, and see what happens.

Bearded Iris Beds. Progress Report. 3/16/14

Iris bed #1.  

Iris bed #2

Now the irises are growing fast.  Each day they are larger and more sturdy.  I wonder which ones will bloom, and how much.

It might have been a mistake to soak them with neem oil.  The leaves, that were present at the time, look scorched.   On the other hand, there have been frosts since then too.

Otherwise growth is fast.  All survived the winter.  None rotted out.

The additional flowers make the beds more cheerful, before the irises are anywhere near blooming.  The daffodils are Jetfire.  Other varieties lag behind some more.  The first hyacinths, pink ones, are also starting to bloom.

Kitchen Garden. Raised beds, low tunnel. 3.16.14

Low Tunnel Raised Bed Kitchen Garden.  3.16.14

2nd batch of pepper seedlings.  3.16.14

 The seedlings are growing nicely in the low tunnel raised bed.  I think I  know how to work it now.

The outside temp was mid 50s.  The soil temp was 76.  Big difference.

I hoed weeds but otherwise did not manipulate the plants.  Soon will need to thin.  Planted another row of radishes and another row of spinach.

Meanwhile inside under lights the 2nd batch of peppers is growing nicely.  I separated some seedlings into individual pots.  Not enough room to do that will all.

Some of the first batch of peppers are in bud.  I read it's best not to let them bloom until planted outside.  If the soil temp is really that warm, maybe I can transplant a couple soon.

Okra is growing nicely.  Baby Bubba seems to be the most suited to indoor conditions, so far.

Rhubarb is ready to eat.

Portugal Red hot pepper plant.  3.16.14

Victoria Rhubarb.  3.16.14

Spring Flowers. Blue season. 3.15.14

Chionodoxa self seeded colony

Anemone blanda

Chionodoxa  3.15.14

Volunteer violets.  3.15.14

Early spring also has blue flowers.

I'm  happy with the Anemone blanda.  Even though the package illustration was of multiple colors, and mine are all  blue.  They are tiny.  So far rabbits and deer have not eaten them, unlike Anemone de Coen.   They survived the hard freeze.   This experiment turned out nice so far.

I don't know the blue bulb with tiny plant and tiny flowers, spreading at the Vancouver place.  It stared as just a few.  I wouldn't call them invasive, just exuberant.  Addendum:  These are Chionodoxa.  from google search, I think Chionodoxa luciliae.

Some people think violets are invasive but here, these wild violets are well behaved.  They spread slowly.  Once in a while one pops up in a new place, or in the lawn.  When I see them, I move them into a flower bed or around trees.  They spread slowly.  Their mat of roots or rhizomes is tight enough that not much grows among them.

Spring Flowers. Yellow Season. 3.15.14

Jetfire Daffodil.  3.15.14

Forsythia.  3.15.14

 This is the season of yellow flowers.  Especially, daffodils and forsythia.

The Jetfire  clump started as, I think, 3 bulbs about 12 years ago.  This year they are asking to be divided and replanted.  Always one of the first to bloom.

The forsythia is settled in now.  It is about 16 months ? from moving the large bush to the Battleground place.  Variety unknown.  I grew from cutting.  Might fill in and give more color as it establishes.  I happy with this result.

Front beds at the Battleground place.  Almost done cleaning them up.  A few square feet at a time.  Happy with how it's turning out.   Shows that bulbs can be moved in late winter and give flowers that Spring, if careful to move them as a generous clump with as much undisturbed soil as possible.

Front beds.  Almost cleaned up.  3.15.14

Scallion harvest. 3.15.14

Egyptian Walking Onions 3.15.14

We had a few, earlier this week.  The first of the Egyptian Walking Onion scallions are ready to eat.

I say this repeatedly.  I enjoy getting food from the garden before a regular garden is plantable.  Raised bed + fall planting + winter onions / Egyptian Walking Onions means something to eat today.

Front Flower Beds. Cleanup. 3.9.14

Front Border 1

Front Border 2

I've made incremental progress cleaning up the front border.  This is a couple square feet at a time.

About 1/2 of the bulbs are moved from the Vancouver place, mostly in the past couple of weeks.

As I go along, I add compost mulch to prevent weed seed germination.

There are some large patches of weeds but it's getting there.  Should be nice when the flowers open.

I moved violets here from home, for ground cover.  Some people consider violets invasive.  Here, they occasionally self-sow new plants but have been in the Vancouver yard for 15 years and have barely increased their area.   Dividing them and replanting, they might fill in somewhat and reduce weed growth.

Sedum sarmentosum might be good here, if underlying weeds don't take over again.

I have left patches for summer flowers.  This is where I want to plant the Mirabilis jalapa.

Most of the plants here are deer and rabbit resistant.  I also want to add some herbs for color and for kitchen use.  There is lavender, rosemary, and garlic chive now for color and bee forage.

There is more to do.  I'm not / can't be in a hurry.

Fruit Tree Grafting. Progress Report. 3.9.14

Asian pear graft.  Hamese.  Whip and Tongue.

Asian pear graft.  Mishirasu.  Whip and Tongue.

 Some of the new grafts have swelling buds.  Probably flower buds.

I don't think it's beneficial to let them fruit the first year.  Wood may not be strong enough for the weight of the fruit.  Bearing would decrease stem growth.  I think it's OK to allow blooming, which might also help pollinate the established branches and 1-year-old grafts.

It looks like a couple of the 1-year-old grafts might also bloom.  I might let those bear fruit so I see what they are.  Forgot to label them last year.

The Hosui stock had buds in various states of development.  I want the grafted varieties to pollinize the Hosui, and vice versa, for better yield.  Or for yield at all.

Hosui bud.  This is the stock.  The framework I am adding more varieties to.

1 year old Asian pear cleft graft.

Spring Bulbs. Update. 3.9.14

Sprouting fritillaria "Crown Imperial"

Sprouting Fritillaria "Crown Imperial"

Puttering.
I discovered another sprout like the prior unkown.  This one, by a label I made last fall.  Fritillaria "crown imperial".  I was going to give up on these.

The other also had a label.  I didn't see it.

Wooden sticks make bad labels in this wet climate.  They rot too fast.

So part one of this experiment was a success.  They survived winter and are sprouting.

Part 2 of this experiment.  They continue to grow, they don't rot, and rabbits and deer don't eat them.  Websites claim this variety has a strong musky odor that repels deer and rabbits.