Posted on 02/07/2014 12:31:57 PM PST by greeneyes
I think it is a natural pesticide.
OMG! We had SNOW in San Antonio. I actually stepped in a snowdrift. It was horrendous...winds were blowing, snow was flowing, and it was c-o-l-d: cold.
Question:
I am making my first attemt to start seeds using grow lights. How high above the seedlings should I place the lights?
Sweet! I’ll check it out. Thanks.
We’ve had lows of 10F and 8F this year. Lots of under 20F’s so far too. And it’s snowed twice for us and THREE times for my parents.
Brrrrrr.
The lettuce is called Great Lakes #118 and is my first attempt so I guess I’ll just keep watching to see how they turn out. If it’s a complete failure I’ll reuse the pots for some other veggies or herbs.
And thanks for the advice on the plum tree. I’ll skip on using a pot and go directly into the ground. Had a plum tree already established in the backyard years ago when I moved in (until termites killed it) so maybe I’ll look at planting the new tree where the other one was and dig a big hole to add lots of rich soil so the roots will have a good chance at thriving.
We haven’t lived in a real ‘house’ to have accumulated curtains so I’ve resorted to buying these for our windows as money will allow:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02443767000P
And boy have they made a difference so far. Especially in the kids rooms. My mom has some (insulated curtains) but it hasn’t been cold enough to need them at my house before. And she’s been surprisingly unwilling to give hers up!
Brrrrr, has it been cold! Hopefully I can have all the windows equipped with these by next winter. Of course if I do it will likely be the warmest winter in 100 years LOL.
Ten BELOW zero this morning...I’ve experienced 37 and 52 below zero before, but that was when I was young and still enjoyed skiing. (The 52 below is STILL the New York state record for cold...it hurt to breathe.)
That’s true. Now that I think about it, it also makes for a good treatment for wasp stings too. Granny used to keep a pack of cigs just for that purpose, since we used to get stings every now and again down on the farm.
I recently researched lights. If you’re using LEDs or full-spectrum fluorescents you can keep the bulbs close. If you’re using HID lights (like metal halide or similar) or any other lights that put off heat, you’ll need to keep them at least 8-10 inches away from the tips. More distance if the wattage is high. Maybe think of 1.5 to 2 inches per 100 watts of HID bulb.
I have some T-8 fluorescents over my lettuce and heat isn’t an issue.
I am not familiar with that lettuce. I usually grow black seeded simpson and little gem. Both can tolerate the summer heat of Missouri pretty well if they get afternoon shade.
Just think Deep and Wide for the plum tree. What about the termites? Are they gone?
Not far...a couple of inches (3-4") at most...too high, and you will wind up with leggy seedlings. Adjust light upward as seedlings grow.
Close as possible without touching or scorching. It depends on your lights. The newer high output lights don’t get very hot, so you can get really close. Adjust the height as they grow.
Yabut, your houses are built for that kind of weather. Ours aren’t. I’m just glad hubby insisted on blowing in 15 or so bales of insulation in the attic last year. That’s made a huge difference.
Now we just need to start replacing windows. My living room window (insulated from the rest of the house now with those handy insulated curtains!) had giant ice chunks on the INSIDE the morning it got down to 8F.
I saw that on the news! See that’s what we have almost every winter, but it’s worse this year than for a long time.
I've had that experience...there are loads of drafty, poorly-constructed homes up here.
Big drought in Texas. IIRC, when the Pacific warms, we have wet weather, and when it cools, we dry up.
'course, it could be the other way around, too.
That was a bit of sarcasm, BTW. I'm not sure what to make of it yet.
Plum trees - dig a hole 2x the size of the root ball. Place the tree in the hole and gently break up the root ball. Fill the remainder of the hole with a good soil mixture and tamp it in. Make sure the tree is watered well during the first year. Drainage is always a good thing. Most trees don't like standing in water.
BTW- Do you have sufficient chill hours in your area to produce fruit?
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