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Post by dianthus on Nov 25, 2015 19:15:41 GMT
Do you keep banana skins in your pocket, Roofy? One of those left nearby, but not touching the tomatoes, will give off ethylene, which encourages toms to ripen.
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Post by daitheplant on Nov 25, 2015 20:09:15 GMT
Or you could put them on a warm windowsill.
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Post by roofgardener on Nov 25, 2015 20:42:54 GMT
Thanks dianthus and daitheplant. I'm going to try all three. A banananana skin, an apple, AND a warm windowsill. |
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Post by Moonlight on Nov 28, 2015 1:38:14 GMT
So how are your toms Roofy?
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Post by dianthus on Nov 28, 2015 15:22:09 GMT
So how are your toms Roofy? Yes, Roofy, we are awaiting an update..... fingers crossed  |
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Post by daitheplant on Nov 28, 2015 19:10:08 GMT
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Post by roofgardener on Nov 29, 2015 15:02:14 GMT
You lot seem to suffer from a Tomato fixation  OK.. an update. It occured to me that - overall - my Polytunnel is warmer on average than my kitchen windowsill. I only heat my kitchen in the evenings (it doesn't have a radiator), and the windowsill only gets sunshine in the first few hours of the morning. Not that we've HAD that much sunshine. The Polytunnel, on the other hand, has the growlight 12 hours/day, and - at Gerald's suggestion - now has the heater/thermostat set to 7 degrees centigrade. (apparantly this is - broadly speaking - the minimum temperature at which plants will still be active). So, this is what I did: (apologies for the red tinge on everything; this was caused by the growlight.) 
| A newspaper-lined(1) glass dish, with some ripe (read "rotting") fruit; tomatoes, an apple from my Sisters garden, and a capsicum... well.. why not ? I will try and pick up a banana tomorrow)
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A wire tray on legs supporting the green tomatoes above the fruit, without actually touching it
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My current 'growing' things: mint near the front, radishes behind it, and also to its left, and in the background - onions.
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| Oh, I almost forgot. SueA, this is what I meant about the glass pane on the new onion bed. I guess its not doing any real good, though it may slow down water loss due to evaporation ? I WAS going to use clingfilm, but then it occured to me that I might be overdoing things. The Polytunnel is now being kept at a minimum of 7 degrees centigrade, so why "force" them with an artificially sheltered/sealed propagator ?
After all, I don't think I have enough space to keep them ALL growing in the PT; they will have to go outside sooner or later. Why bring them on quickly, only for them to then die in the January frosts ?
Actually... I think I may need to think this whole thing through a bit more. Perhaps I should stop trying to grow GENERAL onions in the 'tunnel, and reserve it for the 'specials' ... e.g. the Kelsae giants ?
What do you think ?
Actually... I'll continue this musing over in the Onion blog .
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As is so often the case, the pictures are uploaded onto the RoofNet, so you can click on them for a bigger version of the picture. Sadly, this does not make the tomatoes any riper !
Notes:
(1) The Times of London.
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Post by roofgardener on Nov 30, 2015 20:25:17 GMT
The March of Time
I was going through my old 2014 blog, and was amused by a post there...
I HATE this time of year. HATE HATE HATE.
Everything is COLD and DAMP.
My pvc tent-frame greenhouse leaks.
The floor is a series of PUDDLES.
PUddles mixed in with bits of newspaper... it's a DAMP COLD SLURRY.
My feet are wet.
My tools are wet.
My gardening gloves are damp.
My Comfy Cushion is a Mould Garden. And it's damp.
My chair is damp.
Everything is dead, dying, damp, or mouldy.
I HATE GARDENING, AND I AM GIVING IT UP.
I'll take up steeplejacking instead. At least that means the Pointless Chimney will have a use !
BAH !
This was almost exactly a year ago. Only 12 months. Not long really ? And now I have a polytunnel with heating, electric lighting, a radio, a dry floor (or at least... dry walking tiles), AND - if you happen to have a laptop - high-speed broadband. (I kid you not). There are radishes, onions, mint, and mini-cyclomen growing, and tomatoes ripening on the griddle. The soil reclamation project is working, and the Comfy Chair is dry ! And I've just added another gadget ... somebody please block daitheplant's ears up, lest he explode in an appoplexy of gadget denunciation. *** Remote control lighting **** Yup - after 19:00, the growlight turns off, and the Roofgarden is in darkness. It can make walking to the Polytunnel - and fiddling with the zip - a bit of a faff. Now I just point my little widgit and press a button... and presto.. the internal lights turn on. When I've finished pottering, I leave and - once safely at my flat door - press the button again, and darkness descends. How mad is that ? |
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Post by daitheplant on Nov 30, 2015 20:49:27 GMT
If I answered that Roofus, I would be banned from the site.  |
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Post by dianthus on Nov 30, 2015 20:57:23 GMT
If I answered that Roofus, I would be banned from the site. I reckon it's allowable on health & safety grounds, in that a fall outside, on a dark roof-space, would be serious for Roofus  |
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Post by roofgardener on Dec 1, 2015 19:51:37 GMT
Actually, that IS true, dianthus. The light DOES illuminate the path to the Polytunnel.. a bit. I might chain the second light into the remote system, and then it should REALLY light it up. Good thinking ! OK.. I've added the banana to the tomato-ripening griddle, and also did some more soil reclamation. (another two 10" pots now filled, ready for potting on in April, and currently serving as ballast for the Flower Shower growhouse. ) I've also put the Temperature Data Logger into one of the Kelsae seed pots in the heated propagator. 20 degrees centigrade... OUCH. I've turned it down a bit. You know... I only do about 15-20 minutes pottering each evening after work, which is NOTHING compared to the hours some of you maniacs put in. But it is AMAZING how much difference it makes compared to my previous system of forgetting about the Roofgarden between October and March. At this rate, by the first week of January (at the latest), I will have finished virtually ALL of the 'housekeeping'. No doubt just in time for my polytunnel to blow away... again |
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Post by daitheplant on Dec 1, 2015 20:25:39 GMT
You`ve not seen the pics of my poor greenhouse yet, Roofus.  |
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Post by roofgardener on Dec 1, 2015 20:53:44 GMT
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Post by roofgardener on Dec 2, 2015 20:37:48 GMT
I've got tubers.... I've got TUBERS.....
Hops up and down in excitement ...what do I do with them ? I was cleaning out a pot to recover the soil, but it wouldn't come out.. it was jammed in REALLY hard, and I had to use a knife around the edges... But what came out was THREE HUGE CLUMPS of Dahlia tubers. It was the Forgotten Dahlia Pot ! They're still clogged with soil... I've put them on a heated soil bed for the moment. What do I DO with them ? panics and runs around in circles, flapping his hands.... Heeeeeelp...... |
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Post by dianthus on Dec 2, 2015 20:58:29 GMT
I'd say to leave them on some newspaper, at ambient, until the soil dries a bit and falls off, then wrap in some more newspaper, and leave somewhere dry but coolish, until Jan/Feb. Repot in fresh compost, and away they go.
The dahlia bods will be much more precise, but you just want them to regrow for summer 16, don't you?
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Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
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Aug 10, 2019 9:01:47 GMT