Davey Posted January 19, 2003 Share Posted January 19, 2003 Due to problems outside my control (ie. parents) I will be unable to give my babies the 3weeks on a nice window cill I was planning to give them before putting them outdoors. Does anyone have any other ideas about how to maximise their chance of survival. I was planning to germinate on rockwool and transplant rockwool into some more rockwool, 3 weeks on a window cill before being put into the specially prepared plots. Without this window cilling ability i'm looking desperatly for any other boost I can give my babies? Any ideas, however fanciful would be GREAT. I'd feel so much better if I could keep them inside for a few weeks but its a no go . So it looks like i'll be germinating in rockwool and transplanting directly into the soil. Perhaps if i construct a small plastic greenhouse over the plants for a few weeks outdoors? Keep any bad weather off them? Sleep next to them and sing songs? Setup a dynamo to give them some outdoor light? anything... --- Just something copied from my other post.... I'm going to be digging all my spots over THUROUGHLY to break the soil up, make root growth much easier etc. Also going to mix in some sand to improve drainage, and again keep the soil nice and lose. With it being the UK and ourdoors I wont really be worrying about watering unless its a very hot summer, but I was thinking about nutes. I was planning to just dig in some good old fashioned compost (with added nettles and bananas for nitrogen and pottasium) into each spot. Will this be enough? Would I be better giving each plant a good water with some nutes mixed in every third week or so? Just my brain thinking along, but i'd like to be sure before they start keeling over from lack of food. What nutes are good outdoors if I need them? Strong mix, week mix, normal mix? Tomato based nutes would be ok yes? What about Rose nutes? I found some slow release pellets which you dig into the soil and slowly give out thier goodness - it said its great for using when your roses are flowering. Any ideas? Cheers all! - Davey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greengrass Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 Save your seeds till spring davey this is the only way you will grow out side at the mo as there is not eneugh day light hours for veging. al the best gg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted January 20, 2003 Author Share Posted January 20, 2003 Um, yes. This i am aware of. I'm not planting till Late April/early may but I like to be prepared! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splan Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 Dude I think sand makes soil retain water, as its in my stuff I got for cuttings. You need to use something like perlite for drainage. A couple of fluoro lights in a box or cupboard would get them vegging sweetly until it was time to go outside. Look around at some of the grow cabinet designs and stuff man, I am sure there will be something you can adapt to suite, Have a fat joint, get a pen and paper and get creative man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted January 21, 2003 Author Share Posted January 21, 2003 Yeh, i "got creative" the other night. I ajoined 2 shoe boxes togeather, lined em an put 2 energy savers in there, total 200wattage. Gotta rewire it again though, its a bit of a death trap at the moment, unfortunetly i only have solid core coaxial cable which keeps snapping at the connection points. Very annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessiedog Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Davey, You probably have two (approx) 20 watt compacts, giving you @ 200 watts equivalent. That said, I have read here before that you need to go by the lower measurement when thinking of using these. They only use 20w of energy and hence are cheaper to run, but you probably need to get a few more in there (say another two) to get about 80w of light going. Just what I've read here. Good luck! Woof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted January 22, 2003 Author Share Posted January 22, 2003 ahhh ok.... I have a total of 40watt at the moment, with absolutly no possability for fitting more in, they will make it INCREDIBY hot in there, not even gonna mention the lack of room in the roof for more so I think 2 will have to do me. I'll do a dry run with some bag seed, see if it works before i try with meh purdy KC33 seeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPK Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 (edited) Hi Davey. I think one of the worse things that can get your seedlings when you plant them out is animals. deer etc . I'm sure I remember reading something about scattering dog hairs around your plot to keep them away. Or was it dog piss ? I'll try and remember where I read this as I think It had some other tips too. npk Here the link It was piss. And according to the article Lion's piss works even better. And you can get it in larger garden centres, it says !!! Next time I'm at homebase I'm going to ask for some Lion's piss for a laugh. Got a mad enough look when I asked if they stocked grommets. npk Edited January 23, 2003 by NPK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted January 22, 2003 Author Share Posted January 22, 2003 Ahhh, animals! I'm well prepared for these critters. Rabbits - Human Hair scattered about works well Deer - Same as rabbit, but you can also put four canes surrounding your plant and put a line or two of fishing line around, one low down one about deer chest hight. They cannot see but they can feel. Freaks em right out Also works well at foot height for keeping herons out of your pond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessiedog Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Davey, I am using 24w (120w equiv) cool white ("daylight") compacts. They chuck out so little heat that I can actually touch them between thumb and forefinger briefly. They're hot to the touch, but far from the point of burning. I can hold my hand comfortably within a couple of millimetres of them. Heat shouldn't be a prob', though I appreciate that space may be. Have you got cool white's? Woof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted January 23, 2003 Author Share Posted January 23, 2003 Yes, i belive they are. Cool for veging, warm for flowering yes? I have 2x 20watt (equivilent 2x 100watt) in there, but i could JUST fit 2 more in if i'm to go by the lower rated wattage but as its only for a couple o' weeks 2 should do me, but then again I dont want to strech them if they are destined for the great outdoors. As long as they are reasonably short, the wind will toughen up them stems nicely. I'll perhaps have a *test run* if i find any bag seed before my proper go. Its gonna be hard waiting patiently till April/March before I can get them germinated. As i'm going to put them outdoors, what method of germination would you lot recommend. To save fuss (I'm a student, ergo Lazy As Hell) I was going to germinate in rockwool and put the rockwool blocks right into the ground. I was also considering germing in soil in small pots. If i go for this option what type of soil am i best using? Pete/perlite mix? I could also add some very weak nutes to the first water so they get everything they need. I'm worried about the lights evaporating all the water though. I may have to cover each plant over with some sandwich bags to keep the moisture in. Good idea? Bad Idea? Any other advice I love getting replys! ohhh, that link was VERY interesting. Gonna start having a widdle near my plants when i visit to keep them pesky deer away Going by their reputation there must be a lot of stoned deer wandering round America :cell: - Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessiedog Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 Just keep the lights real close to the tops and they shouldn't stretch too much. NOW! (A quick hijack if I may.) QUESTION: I have "cool white" 24w (120w equivalent) compact fluro's that are rated 6400K and also have the option of getting either "warm white" at 4200K, or "warm" at 2700K. There was a thread about the different "K's", but I couldn't find it. Can anyone remember where it is? Or can someone let me know (for flowering) which would be better. The warm, the warm white, a mixture of those two, or a mix of all three types including cool? Thanks! Woof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sittingrelaxing Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 how to keep animals at bay, go to a barbers and ask him for hair,put hair in tights then tie them around about your plants.(keeps foxes away from chickens) how do british deer know what lion piss smells like? sittingrelaxing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NPK Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 how do british deer know what lion piss smells like? Goverment sponsored trips to the zoo ?? npk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Posted February 26, 2003 Author Share Posted February 26, 2003 Hey mate - I used 4 shoe boxes in the end, horizontally placed which gives me more room for plants and (hopefully) enough head room. It depends how long your gonna keep 'em in there. I'll go measure mine later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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