Fitty's Angling Ramble 7.0

[Nainoa]

Yep, you can use high powered LED grow lights, but they are an investment Twice the price for half the square footage of flourescent and half the electical usage.

It kind of shakes out to being half a dozen of one, six of the other type of situation.

The reason I chose to not go LED is that when something goes out on a fancy LED system, you are ordering special parts from some guy in the people's republic of Uzbekistan and you get to wait 3-6 weeks for shipping. Also LED systems tend to be out of stock more.

One advantage of LED is that it can be further away, versus Flourescent, you kind of want the top of the plant to be 4-6 inches away from the light source.

Versus the Flourescent systems...

You use any old 48" flourescent shop light fixture from any old Hardware store and the Full Spectrum Daylight bulbs are available at about half of the box hardware stores.

Things rarely go wrong with both systems as they are both long life systems... However when it does (Like the time the water seal on the second shelf of the old green house broke and let a couple of drips of water down onto the lower level lights... I like the fact that I can get in the truck and drive straight to the store to replace it, because those plants need light the next day... Not when Ivan manages to ship them to me. for 12 time zones away.


Something else you can do... Plants will grow under the light of a Daylight CFL bulb... However you'll need to get a higher effective wattage and the range will really only be enough to grow 4-6 plants depending on how you arrange them around the light.

Here is an example, when breaking it down:

http://www.thelashop.com/225-sunligh...g#.UPcjuCeCnjA

When you look at the stats...

$34.99 for 144 square inches

You can get a 48 inch flourescent system for $25 and it has 384 square inches of light coverage.

So you're getting 266% more light area for $9 less.

Electrical savings (By my providers numbers)

The LED will save me 19 cents a month... Per 2 units.

Figure you're running grow lights 3 months per year (I do more for Winter Herbs etc...)

So you're saving 57 cents per year...

So it would take Roughly 18 years of run time to make up the cost.

BUT you could set the LED light 4 inches higher.

Now if you were going to say to me "Hey Nainoa, I want to grow plants indoors 12 months out of the year!"

Then I'd tell you to go get the LED system, because it has the red and blue light combinations that will help a 100% indoor plant thrive 12 months out of the year.

But for seedlings, they just need what the Flourescent light gives for long enough to grow big enough to go outside when it gets warm.

[Hartski]

You're a week to late brah. I already have 6 trays running under the LED light system. And I'm running a few mater plants under the cover on one of the catfish ponds. They ain't great, but they're better than 99.999% of the crap they sell in the supermarket.

Yeah, but you're 250just miles south of me. I need to wait a bit longer. If I had some ghost peppers or tropical ones like Nainoa, I'd have started them last week.

[GREENFEATHER]

You can use LED lights for starting plants? I thought they needed special UV grow lights or something.

Yep, LED above and reptile heaters on the bottom, works like a charm. Maters and peppers like heat on their roots.

[GREENFEATHER]

Yeah, but you're 250just miles south of me. I need to wait a bit longer. If I had some ghost peppers or tropical ones like Nainoa, I'd have started them last week.

I put stuff out the middle of March now and cover it. We still get a few cold nights, but it's usually not too bad.

[Nainoa]

Yeah, but you're 250just miles south of me. I need to wait a bit longer. If I had some ghost peppers or tropical ones like Nainoa, I'd have started them last week.

Yeah he's also influenced by the gulf stream, straight blowing heat at that part of the country, where as you are at best on the very fringe of it.

I seem to recall we figured out last year that basically where you're at in Iowa you are basically 2 weeks ahead of me and then your season lasts 2 weeks longer into the frost.

So basically that means you'd be planting the first peppers for you around the first of February.

[Hartski]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was figuring. Probably going to do 1 Cayenne, 2 Poblano, 2 Jalepeno, and 2 Habenero plants. I also got some regular tomato seeds to put in other than my heirloom brandywine and cherry tomatoes, just so I have plenty of produce for canning this year.

[HairyScandinavian]

Weird, it was aboot 30 degrees this morning and I'd left my truck windows down all night. I never even zipped up my light sweater, had no idea it was cold (for Texas). I did of course have the heater on while driving.

[Procta]

Weird, it was aboot 30 degrees this morning and I'd left my truck windows down all night. I never even zipped up my light sweater, had no idea it was cold (for Texas). I did of course have the heater on while driving.

I woke up to 67 degrees today and even more pollen. I though I was catching my girl's cold but its the plant semen in my nose... I feel so violated

[Nainoa]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was figuring. Probably going to do 1 Cayenne, 2 Poblano, 2 Jalepeno, and 2 Habenero plants. I also got some regular tomato seeds to put in other than my heirloom brandywine and cherry tomatoes, just so I have plenty of produce for canning this year.

Just keep in mind if you're looking for Canning Tomatoes you want a plum type of Tomato.

I do San Marzano, which is considered to be the most flavorful sauce tomato in the world. And when canned and cooked with red wine to unlock the alcohol soluble flavor compounds it is indeed one hell of a flavorful tomato.

And while I've actually seen some San Marzano seeds around in stores last year (I save my own) If I were in your shoes, I would give a good look at Roma. It's still a very flavorful tomato with a lot of meat to seed ratio, it blanches easy and as a plant it does well to resist blossom end rot and in total weight of fruit in a season out produces San Marzano (By about 15-20%)

What you don't want to be doing is canning slicers, with their big gel sacks, excess water. When I have bumper crop of slicers, they don't even get blanched, just cored, squeeze the seeds and straight into the food pro to get blended into sauce that I just freeze in bags for making a marinara or a chili etc...



When I build my garden plan I look at these categories for Tomatoes:

Salad Tomato: Something a little bigger than a golfball that I can cut up into salads like you'd get at Olive Garden. (This is just as much for my wife as me etc...) But these also ripen early etc...

Early Slicer: For that first of the season BLT (I'm switching up to something different this year, tired of the black krim's under performance)

Late Slicer: For that high flavor late season BLT

Cherry Tomatoes: For snackers and salad sides etc...

Sauce/Plum Tomato: For sauces and canning


In my Garden HALF or more of all the tomato plants are Plum Tomatoes (Like San Marzano/Roma) Because really all the other tomatoes, you're either saucing and freezing the surplus that you can't eat out of hand, or it's going to waste. But that plum tomato you can put up for 2 years

[Nainoa]

I woke up to 67 degrees today and even more pollen. I though I was catching my girl's cold but its the plant semen in my nose... I feel so violated

What you need is a cardboard sign, like the Hobo's begging for Money at Walmart, for your girl that just says "Violate Me."

And hopefully she can get to you before the pollen!

[Hartski]

I'll keep an eye out for San Marzano. Think I might have gotten a pack of Roma seeds, but i could be wrong....

[Nainoa]

I'll keep an eye out for San Marzano. Think I might have gotten a pack of Roma seeds, but i could be wrong....

Yeah and if you're going straight off the vine chopping it into a tomato tart, or a salad etc... You won't notice a difference between Roma and San Marzano.

San Marzano's magic is only really tapped into by cooking technique, searing/deglazing, deep stewing for soups, and most importantly the use of alcohol/wine to unluck it's very complex flavor compounds.

In other words if you can't find the San Marzano, it's no big deal... you pretty much have to either be Me, and old Italian Woman, or a professional Chef to really get the most out of it.

[Nainoa]

Boy I've got this new sales strategy that I call "The End Around"

Call a boss and they either blow off my call to voicemail or the gate keeper just shuts me down.

So go on their website, look up their biggest members and contributors... Call them with a tailored pitch or just plain send an e-mail... So then they go back to the "Boss" of the community or organization saying "Hey this Nainoa guy got a hold of me... This sounds like a good idea."

And THEN the "Boss" calls or e-mails me.


It's more work, but the whole point is to get a conversation with the person who signs the checks!

So far, it works like a charm!

[Procta]

Nainoa, I was searching through the movie collection on my DVR and I see one of your memoirs made it to film.

[lhprop1]

Nainoa, I see one of your memoirs made it to film.

Sounds like you enjoyed the film.

[Procta]

Sounds like you enjoyed the film.

I came across the video searching for "Noodling for Yetis with KFC" videos

[Nainoa]

I came across the video searching for "Noodling for Yetis with KFC" videos

RIiiiiight... You were interesting in noodling for Yeti's with K.F.C. And it's a total coincidence that it turned up one of the hard core bizaro erotica vids stored in your DVR.

Then when you posted it you couldn't ethically bring yourself to include a "No Homo."

[44hunter]

I came across the video searching for "Noodling for Yetis with KFC" videos

I had to push the release date back a couple months on that. Sorry bro.

[grace_ou]

If you plant herbs indoors does it matter when you plant them? I wanna grow herbs but I'm embarrassingly bad at growing things. and wth is fish emulsion?

[Nainoa]

If you plant herbs indoors does it matter when you plant them? I wanna grow herbs but I'm embarrassingly bad at growing things. and wth is fish emulsion?

Right now I've got Herbs growing under flourescent full spectrum daylight bulbs so I can have fresh herbs all winter long. The issue you have to worry about is shading. It's better to stagger 2 lights at different heights and angles so the leaves don't shade each other out too bad.

An herb that starts indoors and lives indoors for too long will be very sensative to sun scalding it's outter leaves if you bring it straight outside without tempering it and sun shading it to get used to life outdoors. I grew some basil once that was super huge... Then set it outside and the F-ing things lost half their leaves to sun scald in a single sunny May day.

So yes, you can bring them outside after growing them for a long time, but you will just have to nanny them more and longer than if you just brought a small one outside.

Fish Emulsion, fish fertilizer, fish mulch, they are all different words and consistencies for a fertilizer made from fermented fish carcass.

It's not what you think from those stupid ass Pilgrim's videos they showed us in elementary school, where the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to farm by setting a fish in the ground near your prized plants and cover it. All that really does is attract F-ing racoons to dig up your garden!



Basically lets say you catch a bunch of fish in the winter/early spring... You want to ferment them to bring out the minerals and natural nitrogen extracted in the process.

After you take the fillets off, chop up the carcasses with a hatchet, the finer the better because it will ferment into something useable faster... Take a 5 gallon bucket, put a single layer of fish carcass at the bottom, then some shreded newspaper. and some kitchen vegetable scraps (Onion skins, celery ends, carrot stems... Or just general grass clippings... The greener the better!) then sprinkle with a little sugar.
Then put in a thin layer of newspaper... Rinse and repeat until the bucket is about 75% full.

Then set it out in a warm, yet shaded place that is far from you and your neighbors and put a lid on it...

But FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, do NOT seal the bucket completely.

As I learned in the festive summer of 2006, the bucket will build up gasses and froth that are water soluable (Just like a soda bottle)... I'd also put a little water in there foolishly.

I didn't see it actually happen... I was sitting in my office when I saw my neighbor, bare foot, bent over with hands on his knees vomiting uncontrollably and making cattle mutilation noises.

According to him, the bucket (Which he was unaware of in the narrow strip of scrub brush bordering our property) tipped over and rolled down the gentle slope. He got closer to try and investigate what this strange bucket rolling out of the forest was all about, when the top popped off and it exploded in a fizzing rain of ooze and fermented fish gore.

Luckily he was still far enough back that it only obliterated his shoes.

Sadly, that was not the last time one of my Compost experiments would would take a bite out of him!

[Hartski]

But FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, do NOT seal the bucket completely.

As I learned in the festive summer of 2006, the bucket will build up gasses and froth that are water soluable (Just like a soda bottle)... I'd also put a little water in there foolishly.

I didn't see it actually happen... I was sitting in my office when I saw my neighbor, bare foot, bent over with hands on his knees vomiting uncontrollably and making cattle mutilation noises.

According to him, the bucket (Which he was unaware of in the narrow strip of scrub brush bordering our property) tipped over and rolled down the gentle slope. He got closer to try and investigate what this strange bucket rolling out of the forest was all about, when the top popped off and it exploded in a fizzing rain of ooze and fermented fish gore.

Luckily he was still far enough back that it only obliterated his shoes.

Sadly, that was not the last time one of my Compost experiments would would take a bite out of him!

I am so going to do that and hide the buckets at random spots around town.............

[Nainoa]

I am so going to do that and hide the buckets at random spots around town.............

LOL... Instead of the Uni-Bomber you'll be known as the Yuko-Bomber!


In the early days when I was still... Uh... Perfecting the recipe, for a lack of a better term...

I used to add water to it... When really there is enough water in the plant and fish matter itself and you kind of want a cakey slime in the final product...

But with water comes added stench or it like evaporates easier and gives off more stink when you leave the lid slightly cracked. So my wife would be out in the yard chatting with me while I'm working on something... The Breeze would change a little bit and she'd get this nasty look on her face "I'm getting wiff's of something NASTY!"

[grace_ou]

LOL... Instead of the Uni-Bomber you'll be known as the Yuko-Bomber!


In the early days when I was still... Uh... Perfecting the recipe, for a lack of a better term...

I used to add water to it... When really there is enough water in the plant and fish matter itself and you kind of want a cakey slime in the final product...

But with water comes added stench or it like evaporates easier and gives off more stink when you leave the lid slightly cracked. So my wife would be out in the yard chatting with me while I'm working on something... The Breeze would change a little bit and she'd get this nasty look on her face "I'm getting wiff's of something NASTY!"

So if I throw in some skunks in that bucket and roll it into town I could take out at least a square miles of people with it?

Thanks. I'm trying really hard to grow herbs this year.

[lhprop1]

and wth is fish emulsion?

It's somewhat similar to a grilled cheese sammich.

[Nainoa]

So if I throw in some skunks in that bucket and roll it into town I could take out at least a square miles of people with it?

Thanks. I'm trying really hard to grow herbs this year.

When it comes to growing herbs, you just have to accept that the first year you're going to suck at it. And then every year you get a little bit better and a little bit better.

I'm a huge believer in the Authority of Experience and how experience trumps intellect... I know that's unpopular in today's world where people can just google up enough information to make them sound like they know what they're doing.

But Herb growing is one of those things where you can arm yourself up with every last little bit of information and sexy gadget in the world, and still fail.


Like all things in the natural world it's always more about building a relationship with the subject and growing that experiential knowledge one step at a time.



When it comes to your first year growing herbs I would just suggest that you try starting some from seed and then you just accept that you will probably have to buy some greenhouse plants when the time comes.

Also go for the easy ones... Basil, Oregano, Sage, Parsley... Get good at those before you start screwing around with Mint, Schitzophrenic Cilantro and the monolithic frustration that is starting rosemary from seed.


Hell I don't even screw around with Rosemary anymore from a seedling... I have ONE mature rosemary living in a 5 gallon bucket, I just bring it in, stick it under the grow lights in the through the winter and then in the spring I trim it back enough to get it out the door, make rosmary olive oil and I bring it back outside.

That is WAY more easier than starting that sonuvabich from seed!

[Hartski]

My basil and Cilantro turned out awesome last year. Adding Rosemary and sage to the mix this year.

[Nainoa]

My basil and Cilantro turned out awesome last year. Adding Rosemary and sage to the mix this year.

Yeah me and Cilantro, just don't get along, every year I have to nursemaid the hell out of it to keep it from bolting to seed too early. With all the other monster garden stuff I end up doing in the course of a summer, nurse maiding some cilantro just ends up getting put on the back burner.

And then it's such a strong herb that you only use a little bit of it at a time.

Meanwhile Parsley, it's milder, more versatile kissing cousin, loves me more than a box of Mogwai loves a bucket of KFC extra crispy!


My wife ADORES pesto sauce... Every year I grow more and more basil... And every year it's just straight up not enough for her... Last year I grew EIGHT really nice healthy strong basil plants... She was straight up nagging me because she couldn't make pesto as much as she wanted because she would pick the bushes down faster than they could refoliate!

So when seeds went on clearance last June (A good time to buy at half price for 20% germination reduction the next year) I bought 4 packs of Basil seeds... And I'm just going to like HEDGE all of the tomatoes with basil for her.

Tomatoes and Basil grow well companion planted together as they frighten off each other's common pests.


Rosemary is one of those herbs, I don't even bother from seed like I mentioned above... And even while a little goes a long way and you'll NEVER find a use for all of a rosemary plant, it's one of those things that every time you don't have one in the garden you wish you did. And they are "Somewhat" drought resistant.

Down south they'll actually over winter and you can grow the damn things in small pine trees!

One advantage of rosemary, in the country, is that Deer DESPISE the smell of it, so when you have something that the deer will actively eat on (Like young raspberry shoots) planting rosemary near it will keep them off.

I kid you not... Last summer, before the chopped the fields, I had a serious deer population moving in and out, tracks all over the place... But there was not a single track all summer long, within 50 feet of that 2 foot high rosemary bush!

[GREENFEATHER]

I woke up to 67 degrees today and even more pollen. I though I was catching my girl's cold but its the plant semen in my nose... I feel so violated

Saline rinses to get rid of it. I do them most of the summer when the fukn oaks are pollenating.

I'll keep an eye out for San Marzano. Think I might have gotten a pack of Roma seeds, but i could be wrong....

San Marzanos are WAY over rated IMO. I don't care what alcohol or what ever you put in them. I use them as well as m Romas and I can't tell a bit of difference between them and my heirloom Roma tomatoes.

[grace_ou]

When it comes to growing herbs, you just have to accept that the first year you're going to suck at it. And then every year you get a little bit better and a little bit better.

I'm a huge believer in the Authority of Experience and how experience trumps intellect... I know that's unpopular in today's world where people can just google up enough information to make them sound like they know what they're doing.

But Herb growing is one of those things where you can arm yourself up with every last little bit of information and sexy gadget in the world, and still fail.


Like all things in the natural world it's always more about building a relationship with the subject and growing that experiential knowledge one step at a time.



When it comes to your first year growing herbs I would just suggest that you try starting some from seed and then you just accept that you will probably have to buy some greenhouse plants when the time comes.

Also go for the easy ones... Basil, Oregano, Sage, Parsley... Get good at those before you start screwing around with Mint, Schitzophrenic Cilantro and the monolithic frustration that is starting rosemary from seed.


Hell I don't even screw around with Rosemary anymore from a seedling... I have ONE mature rosemary living in a 5 gallon bucket, I just bring it in, stick it under the grow lights in the through the winter and then in the spring I trim it back enough to get it out the door, make rosmary olive oil and I bring it back outside.

That is WAY more easier than starting that sonuvabich from seed!

Well I'm half way there then.. I already excepted I suck at it. lol Somebody gave me a few dill plants and I killed them in like a few days. I also got a few chives and parsley. They don't stand up anymore but at least they are still green.

[grace_ou]

Saline rinses to get rid of it. I do them most of the summer when the fukn oaks are pollenating.

Dude sinus flushing is like a necessity for me in the summer, between allergies and all the dust I breath in while cycling and I'd die without it.