idiotking
It’s been pretty quiet around here for the past couple of weeks. I’ve had my head down, working on projects for the 9-5 gig, and it’s been too goddamn hot to be outside doing much of anything. The dog is going mental because for various reasons she didn’t get a morning walk for most of last week....
Brian C. Becker
It’s been a remarkably warm fall so far but cooler October days are coming up, dipping down into the 40s next week. That means it’s time to get all the plans into the warm greenhouse so this Saturday was “greenhouse move-in day” where we get all the plants we took out of the greenhouse in early...
Brian C. Becker
Today I was encouraged to spend less time on screens and media consumption. Not entirely sure how I feel about this challenge, but I have been wanting to spend some more time gardening and on activities that I’ve just felt too lazy to do. Back in grad school, I did a #365days project with some...
Brian C. Becker
Last year my mango got scale and I fought it all year with not too much success (horticultural oil, scrubbing with toothbrushes dipped in insecticidal soap, neem oil). I noticed this week that the scale had spread to many other plants in my greenhouse and office So I swung into action and applied...
Brian C. Becker
Tiny flowers already appearing! Only 4 weeks into the experiment and just noticed tiny flowers are appearing! That’s pretty crazy. I guess I was underestimating how mature the seedlings were because they were so tiny. I think the next step for this weekend is to transplant them to their final...
Brian C. Becker
Tomato thinning 3 weeks in, I figured it was time to thin the tomatoes. Since I had planted two seeds in each square, some had multiple growing tomatoes. For each square that had two, I gave the smaller, weaker tomato the chop. I now have exactly two tomato plants for each variety. The...
Brian C. Becker
First fertilization. All of the cells are up except one of the Yellow Canary, which means I probably overlooked it when planting Everything else is doing well and today I watered with half-strength fertilizer. I’ve also been rotating the seed flat periodically every few days to get light and...
Brian C. Becker
It’s Day 6 of the Micro Dwarf Tomato Experiment and almost all the tomato cells are up! Yellow Canary seems a bit slow, one cell has a half-sprouted tomato poking up and the other has nothing. I removed the clear plastic humidity lid and installed a fan. Almost all the tomatoes are up!
Brian C. Becker
Micro Tom Patio Choice Maskotka Background: A few years ago, I got interested in growing the smallest tomato, the Micro Tom as a curiosity, so I grew it in a small 4-6″ pot over the winter. It was super cute and provided a half-dozen tomatoes or so (but I didn’t have very much light, just...
Brian C. Becker
After harvesting some beans, planted some Black Vernissage tomatoes in one of my greenhouse sub-irrigated planters. The tomatoes were quite leggy so I planted them sideways. Also sprayed insecticidal soap for thrips and tried to get the cucumbers to grow back up the trellis
Brian C. Becker
On a strip of rigid insulation foam, red marks empty and green marks full on my sub-irrigated bin. I’ve been using Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIPs) using 27 gallon storage totes in my greenhouse, office, and basement for a couple years now. They solved the biggest problem I had in the first few...
Brian C. Becker
Potting up the seedlings! Today I spent some time up-potting my seedlings. I had some artichokes, tomatoes, and peppers that I had started a little while ago. I’m growing the seedlings on my desk in the study, so to facilitate less messy potting, I purchased a large 48×30″ dog crate pan. It has...
Brian C. Becker
Spring is here, though today in Pittsburgh the high was only 42 F. The greenhouse was nice and warm though, so I fertilized the plants in the greenhouse with standard Miracle Grow 10-10-10. I also sprayed the citrus and mango with chelated iron since they were looking a bit yellow. I’m almost done...
Brian C. Becker
Canna Lily Support Plant Almost two weeks ago my daughter Liliana was born! With COVID-19 restrictions, the hospital allowed only one person to accompany my wife. We had planned to have my wife’s Mom come and help with the birth, but that wasn’t possible, so she sent a Canna Lily support plant...
Brian C. Becker
Tonight I was eating supper in the greenhouse when I noticed two Assassin Bugs on the Hibiscus plant sitting on the table with us. I didn’t disturb them, but it was fun to watch them as they moved around on the plant. They came into contact briefly and both waved some legs at each other and...
Brian C. Becker
Today I got back from spending New Years in Florida, and was greeted by the first ripe cherry tomato in the greenhouse! I had planted these Patio Choice tomatoes on Sept 28, so clocking in at just over 3 months, it was quite good. I also had a flowering pink Hibiscus as well, which was a very...
Brian C. Becker
First snow with a record-breaking 12 F low in mid-Nov!
Brian C. Becker
Mars Hydro TS600 on top, HLG QB120 on bottom. I’ve been dabbling in grow lights for a few years now, starting with CFLs. My first LED light was a Mars Hydro 300W burple light. It made my greenhouse glow with an eerie glow that probably made my whole neighborhood think I was up to no good. Last...
Brian C. Becker
Basic fan to provide air circulation and distribute the heat better. The new fan for my heater came today from Amazon, it seems to be working pretty well to circulate the heat better. It’s just a cheap, basic fan but seems to do the trick.
Brian C. Becker
Finally installed the hammock in the greenhouse. For the past few winters, I’ve put a hammock in the greenhouse, which has been delightful. This year I was thinking about a hammock chair to save space, but it looks like I don’t yet have the greenhouse filled up to the point where I need to part...
Brian C. Becker
The past few days I’ve been seeing 10-15 degree swings with an analog house thermometer and a digital house thermometer hooked up to my gas Williams vented heater in my greenhouse. This seemed pretty large. Part of the problem seems to be the thermostats don’t adjust quickly to temperature...
Brian C. Becker
I got my new gas heater installed and it works with an external thermostat (instead of my ventless gas heater which has an internal thermostat and a knob at the top that you can make it warmer or cooler). This is cool except I’m finding out that most thermostats have a lowpass filter and only...
Brian C. Becker
Movable Fire Pit Base Today I spent some time spraying all the plants I’m hoping to transfer into the greenhouse with horticultural oil in an attempt to minimize the number of pests I bring into the greenhouse. My mango has pretty bad scale and a couple of weeks ago I spent an hour using the...
Brian C. Becker
Greenhouse after planting first bins. So with the traveling I’ve been doing lately, I haven’t had had a chance to really get a jump-start on the fall greenhouse. I really hoping to start a month ago in late August, but better late than never? Today I spent a bunch of time sweeping, cleaning,...
Brian C. Becker
Now that I’m going into my third winter, I’m starting to have some plants that would be hard to replace, which means I worry about my main heater going off and everything dying. So this summer I ordered a 30k vented Williams heater from ACF. I installed it with help from my dad a few weeks ago and...
Brian C. Becker
This week I noticed aphids were infecting some of my tomato plants and flowers in the greenhouse, and upon closer inspection, spider mites. This isn’t too surprising. because I’ve had these issues in the past and I immediately called True Pest Control, despite lots of supplemental grow lights,...
Brian C. Becker
Since I use my ACF GrowMore greenhouse more as an add-on conservatory to the house than a separate greenhouse, growing only space, I am not fond of condensation forming at the roof of the greenhouse and dripping back down. It happens mostly straight down the center of the greenhouse at the peak...
Brian C. Becker
It’s now December in Pittsburgh, which means getting cold. Well not today specifically since it’s 63 F and sunny (so nice!), but in general, the temperatures will generally be in the 20s and 30s. I took advantage of the warm weather to decommission the main ventilation system and test out the...
Brian C. Becker
It’s getting to be late October in Pittsburgh, which means waking up to temperatures in the 30s, highs in the 40s, and very gray skies. My very unscientific phone light meter reads <5k lux, which means my plants are starting to feel a bit starved. The DLI or Daily Light Integral is a measure of...
Brian C. Becker
Coming back from vacation, I checked the greenhouse and it was largely as I had left it: a few self-irrigated bins with a few sprouting seeds I had planted a few weeks ago. The best of the lot was the blue enchantment flowers, which in trying to find a link for this blog post, I discovered is a...
Brian C. Becker
2018.09.14: Last summer, my dad and I built a deck and then a greenhouse on half the deck. This past winter I’ve broken in the greenhouse, growing mostly annuals, vegetables, and flowers – mostly because as my first greenhouse experience, I didn’t want to put anything too valuable in there in case...