My third system

[fintuckyfarms]

So I have been really busy the last few days setting up the third system and moving the second system off the grass.

My third system is an ebb and flow using the blue barrel halves and an old stock tank I lined with plastic. I have a timer set up for 15 minutes on every hour and that is seems to keep everything quite moist. In the far side I have the cantalopes that clogged up the 2nd system and in the closest barrel I have the cuecumbers. I made it with room for two more barrels; which I have cut and ready to go just nothing to put in them yet. So by putting the system right infront of the door in the driveway everybody has to walk arround it so maybe I they will get sick of it and build my freaking greenhouse!

I put a livestock panel hooped over both so they can trellis and if I need to I can add a hammock for the fruit. I still do not have the stock tank covered, but I bought some foam insulation to cut to size and cover. The tank is completely covered and shadded by the barrels.

System 2 is doing ok. I moved the climbing plants to the back and plan on a much more sturdy support for them, but I was tired and just wanted something for them to lean on for the night. I have lost several plants both to heat and earwigs so I boughts some organic neem oil thing that is both a fungicide and insectiside. Says certified organic so I though I would give it a try.

My pumpkins? in the 1st system are doing great, growing crazy fast. I think I can see them grow if I stand there and watch them for awhile. They are drinking about 4 gals of water a day now and the tub is filled w/roots. No way could I lift the lid even if I wanted to.

The blue mess in the background is my sons current project. Besides it wouldn't be Finley if there wasn't some yard art!

[crad]

nice job. what is your medium in the barrels? I like the cattle panel for the climbing plants. good luck and I hope your crop is bountiful.

[fintuckyfarms]

So far just pea gravel because it was so cheap. I think I have enough clay pellets for the 3rd one and I'm thinking of experminting with something else in the 4th one, just don't know what yet.

[GpsFrontier]

I haven't tried it yet, though it's on my to-do-list. But I have herd that lava rock works well. It's also porous, so it gets good aeration to the roots, and it will be a lot less heavy than the gravel. I haven't herd of any pH issues using it, though I would want to test it before putting it in a system. You just want to wash/rinse all the dust out real well first. Also I'm not sure if you read me mention that I usually use coco chips before, it's my favorite growing medium so far. A 2 cubic foot brick costs about $10-$11 and makes about 15 gallons of growing medium when expanded. I'm also looking into using pine shavings, as well as pine bark because I know they are both commonly used in commercial hydroponic systems.

[fintuckyfarms]

Quick update: Had to adjust the flood from 15 minutes every hour to twice an hour due to wilting. I'm not sure if it was because they just came out of a continous flow and want more water or if the gravel was getting too hot in between floods. Either way, twice an hour is working great and starting to get some female flowers with the little fruit behind them on the cantalope and the cucumbers are just starting to flower.

[GpsFrontier]

Gravel isn't porous, so it dosen't hold any water itself.

[fintuckyfarms]

So the growth in this third system has been amazing this week! I have several cantalope starting and they are trellising nicely. The zichinni has more then doubled in size and I have both male and female flowers. There are several very small black bees? that are helping me to pollinate.

[fintuckyfarms]

Just a quick end of the weekend update... Lots more bees this week, about 4 different varieties. Good for the plants, no so much for me as I am alergic. Family has voted I can no longer "play" with my plants if nobody else is here. So I just have to wait for somebody to come home, not really a big deal since we are all on differnt schedules and somebody is usually home. Carl's dad is in the hospital this week so I haven't had time to do anything with the last 2 barrells. Still playing with some ideas.

[GpsFrontier]

All your plants are looking great. And that water melon (I think you said) reminds me of the cantaloupes I grew last year. I also grew snow peas like that too last year, I tended to just pluck them and eat them straight off the plant. I'm allergic to bees too! Many years ago I used to carry the prescription shot, so I could inject myself right away if I got stung. But I don't have one anymore. Luckily it has been years since I have been stung by anything (over a decade). The last time I was riding my motorcycle, and a wasp hit me in the leg. I went straight home (5 min away), pulled out the stinger. Tried sucking as much venom out as I could with a camping snake bite kit. Then made a patch out out of baking soda and put it over the spot, then warped it to my leg. Everything was going well until the next day when I went to work, and had to leave a few hours early to go to a walk in doctors office to get the shot.

The doc told me where I went wrong was going to work, and walking around on the leg all day. I should have kept off of it, changing the backing soda patch. Kept the leg up, and with ice on it. Though I know everybody's allergic levels to stings are different, and change over time. They don't really scare me anymore, I know a few things to do to self medicate if stung. I don't mind being around bees too much, I'm just careful not to provoke them. I just let them do their thing, and if there's more than a few in my general area, I just calmly step back out of the way. If I needed to get something done and there were too many bees in the area, I would smoke them out of the area, similar to the way bee keepers do (but have never had to yet).

Now I live in the land of the killer bees (Arizona). Even though I'm always on the lookout for bee swarms and aggressive bees, I'm most concerned with scorpions. We have the Bark scorpion here, and I haven't been stung by one. But I know I'm allergic to bees, so I don't know what a bark scorpion sting will do to me. We get the house sprayed for pests at least twice a year, and I have a pump sprayer with pesticide (that works for scorpions too) that I periodically spray around. I have caught about 6-7 scorpions in the house in the last about 5 years. Their easy to catch when you see them, I just place a glass jar over them, slide a piece of cardboard underneath, then flip it over. They cant climb glass. But when I start seeing crickets inside, I know scorpions aren't far behind, and it's time to get the place sprayed.

[jamromhem]

I am the same way with bees.. Pretty much if it flies and stings I have an alergy to it in some degree... I usually am ok with not going to the doctor's, unless they get me in the head, and that is where they like to get me the most.. Yellow jackets on the other hand, while I don't swell seem to put my body into shock.. I didnt enjoy learning that one.

I tend to just respect their space as well. Though I think it is funny how many gardeners are actually allergic to their garden "friends". My sister is planning to start her own bee hive in Louisiana.. I think I will be avoiding visiting as much lol. Though they are interested in hydroponics after I get my systems down to a science. They have about 6 households of family in the area and all would benifit from a good supply of produce year round.

[GpsFrontier]

Ya, it sure is funny. I'm working on having a commercial farm for growing produce for our local community. But because of our extreme weather, it will be necessary to grow inside a climate controlled greenhouses most of the year. Thus I will need to bring in pollinating insects (bees, bumble bees, and/or fly's). Here I am allergic, but considering raising my own bumble bees. Using bumble bees because their more docile, and have a easier going temperament than bees. Also the killer bees can infiltrate a bee hive, and turn it into a killer bee hive. But bumble bees don't live nearly as long as bees do from what I've read, basically just weeks. Having them shipped in every 3 weeks to a month would be very expensive. That's why I'm considering raising what I need myself. If that isn't ironic...