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Post by Cherry on Feb 10, 2015 4:04:39 GMT
Congratulations Roofy. These are still baby steps as there is so much more to do but it is a really excellent start.  |
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 10, 2015 5:46:14 GMT
*****Polyzeppelin News**** My beutfull Flying Greenhouse is now firmly (I hope) anchored to terra firma courtesty of four really heavy paving slabs, plus 12 bricks at strategic locations.
I've put some temporary furniture in it ... just the bare essentials (Comfy Chair, whisky Cabinet, magazine rack.... umm.... OH.. yes.. and some shelves for seeds.).
The power is in, along with the heating and the ceiling lights and the heating and the heating and the heating. I also used some blue fairy lights left over from chrimble to run along one of the axial support struts. So at night, the whole thing has this eerie blue glow. (not unlike myself). More to follow.....
Seriously well done. Fab news. Wanna be Bond villain or not... |
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 10, 2015 10:41:42 GMT
HA ... I would LOVE to have a cat, Moonlight. Sadly the landlord does not permit it. (the Roofgarden is above his shop, and he is nervous of the cat getting in and causing health/hygiene issues.) Perhaps its for the best; it's an asphalt roofgarden, leading down to a concrete/asphalt yard ... there would be nowhere for a cat to do its business. At the moment it's a bit... well... bare. I've used bakers trays, stacked up and covered with a tarpaulin, as my main potting and germinating surface. It's a bit.... makeshift-looking.... and certainly doesn't look as good as my original layout. However, I think it may prove more practical. Perhaps I can make it look better by somehow stretching the tarpaulin down so it isn't as baggy-trousered as it is now.  The storage area, plus - of course - the Comfy Chair. (currently not very comfy... the cushion blew away)  Lets get Growing !!  Midnight at the Roofgarden of Souls. (with apologies to Jack L Chalker)  |
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Post by grindle on Feb 10, 2015 16:38:31 GMT
certainly looks the perfect place to relax and sow  |
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 10, 2015 22:01:32 GMT
It is Grindle... it really is. I was going to wait until tomorrow to write this up; I'm dog-tired, but excited. I started my first planting tonight at around 18:30. It took a while to get everything set up. Put the batteries in the max/min thermometer, brought the Radio and the Heater in ... cuppa tea.. ashtray.... then the batteries ran flat, so I had to get the mains adaptor and the battery charger and... I was going to leave it at that, but then I accidently spilt some soil into a seedling cell and... well... one thing led to another. First off... the 'system' seems to be working. Providing I keep everything overlapped, soil (or water) can't get spilt everywhere; it should all fall down into the soil bin, or the gravel trays.  Well, I filled the cells with soil, and dampened them with some rainwater from the butt. Then I opened the packet of Begonia seeds. Hellfire... SEEDS ? They where like... DUST. One sneeze = instant crop failure. So I went back to Wilkinson's and complained to the deputy duty manager (age 17 3/4). I explained...."how can I plant these ? They will stick to my fingers... it's impossible to spread them out and just put a few into each seed cell. there should be a warning on the packet..."Comes up Begonias. Warning: microscope required". He looked at the opened packet, and then sneezed. Things went ... well... a bit downhill after that. No... I just made that bit up .. Anyway, after 30 minutes of REALLY careful Dust Distribution, my crop of Begonias is ready to germinate.  I sat back in a warm glow of satisfaction, and slurped my tea whilst I re-read the seed packet instructions. Sow Jan-Mar ... yup.... check. Cover in glass or shrinkwrap.... Hmm... tricky.. I filled the seed cells up with compost.. with the seeds on top of it. If I wrap the trays with clingfilm, it will be touching the seeds themselves. I can just see that being a recipe for crop failure. So I'll ignore that bit.. "Plant out at intervels of 25cm..." Perfect. With 50 cells, that gives me around 3-4 square meters of coverage. That works ! What else.. ? Oh.. yes.. here we go... "keep at 21-24 degrees centigrade until germination in 14-21 days... " WHAT ? I don't keep my Flat that warm, let alone my greenhouse. How on EARTH do they expect anyone to keep the seed trays at 21-24 centigrade ? In England ? In February. That does it. I'm going to bed. (bedroom maintained at approx 18 degrees) |
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Post by grindle on Feb 11, 2015 4:39:16 GMT
so I guess you will be getting a heated propagator next then I buy the little plug plants of things like begonias as I don't have electricity in the greenhouse and no windowsills capable of much seed starting |
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Post by ladybird on Feb 11, 2015 10:04:29 GMT
Looks cosy Roofgardener . bet you have a kettle and all in there |
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Post by SueA on Feb 11, 2015 19:14:10 GMT
Looks good roofgardener , I think as grindle says though you'll need a little heated propagator for certain seeds. I'd be careful using water from a butt on seeds & tiny seedlings as well as any contamination & they can keel over, it's fine when they've got going but I use tap water at first. They usually say to mix begonia seed with very fine sand in the packet & then sprinkle that on the compost to spread them out but the couple of times I've grown them in the past I've ended up just wiping the inside of the packet across the top of the compost! You could try putting the trays in clear plastic bags with little sticks pushed in the compost to keep the plastic off the seeds, I seem to remember they took ages to germinate for me so don't give up. |
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 12, 2015 8:51:02 GMT
Yeah, I read about the sand thing SueA.... too late to actually GET any, so I just persevered anyway. I've been doing a little browsing around, and it seems that this Begonia business is a little more complex (and thence interesting) than I first realised. According to a chap called Brad , not only do I need something akin to a propagator, but I also need extensive artificial light. The seedlings - according to Brad - like a LOT of light; in excess of 14 "bright" hours/day. Sooooo.... it looks like I'll need some sort of lighting sorting out. (my existing LED bulbs MIGHT cut the mustard... failing that I need to install a fluorescent light tube pack. That's not a HUGE problem.) Alternatively, I could wire up a propagator with a "string of pearls" LED arrangement in the lid. (combined Heat and Light ?? ) The seeds also seem to require a great deal of attention in general, with much wetting, drying, steralising, turning, replanting, re-turning, flossing, spindling, feckling, weighing, balancing and - for all I know - Swedish Massage and Psychotherapy sessions. I'm starting to understand why people use bulbs instead ! Or ready-germinated/grown germanium plugs. The sensible thing at this juncture is to give up and try a different flower, or use bulb-based begonias. Therefore, that is NOT what I will do ! <rolls sleeves up> |
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Post by SueA on Feb 12, 2015 19:38:09 GMT
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 12, 2015 20:06:38 GMT
NOW she tells me Oh.... I WILL get round to sending you a PM about the competition prize, SueA. It's a bit open at the moment, because I havn't actually decided what to plant. And anyway, there appears to be some sort of backlog in the PolyZepellin at the moment ... something about Begonia's taking up all the space ?  |
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Post by grindle on Feb 13, 2015 4:46:41 GMT
well with all the attention they are receiving they should at least have the decency to germinate for you
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 13, 2015 22:42:16 GMT
Unlikely Grindle.... very unlikely. They require 14 hours of "sunshine" per day. and soil temperatures of around 23 degrees centigrade. Current hours of sunshine: zero per day. Current Polyzeppelin DAYTIME temperatures: 8 degrees maximum. Unless... somehow... I can increase the light levels, and the temperatures.... But how could I possibly do THAT ? Unless.....wait... I HAVE IT.  I just need to send the Sun supernova ! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. Bwa haaaar haaaaar |
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Post by grindle on Feb 14, 2015 5:18:47 GMT
 Anything's possible roofy, in the meantime, while you're waiting for your powers, can you use a windowsill indoors
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 14, 2015 7:33:02 GMT
Unlikely Grindle.... very unlikely. They require 14 hours of "sunshine" per day. and soil temperatures of around 23 degrees centigrade. Current hours of sunshine: zero per day. Current Polyzeppelin DAYTIME temperatures: 8 degrees maximum. Unless... somehow... I can increase the light levels, and the temperatures.... But how could I possibly do THAT ? Unless.....wait... I HAVE IT. I just need to send the Sun supernova ! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. Bwa haaaar haaaaar  |
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