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Post by daitheplant on Feb 14, 2015 20:43:48 GMT
Roofy, if you intend growing tomatoes in the tunnel may I suggest you smoke OUTSIDE and NOT inside.lol lol lol
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 14, 2015 21:21:06 GMT
Roofy, if you intend growing tomatoes in the tunnel may I suggest you smoke OUTSIDE and NOT inside.lol lol lol I have absolutely NO idea what you are implying there, Diatheplant.    Either I've got to give up on the whole "sisters garden" project, admit defeat, and simply buy the partially-grown Begonias from the Garden Centre. Or.... I need a combination of a conventional seed propagator (e.g. a heated box), and a light-box. OK... no problem... just buy a large heated propagator unit from a shop, and put a couple of anglepoise lamps on top of it to provide the light. Trouble is... most of the 'commercial' propagators I've seen only promise a +10 degrees boost above ambient temperature. And in Feburary.... that doesn't cut the mustard. Soooo.... I think I need to make my OWN heated-soil propagator/light-box combination. There's already a thread on this..... which I am re-reading. Meanwhile, I've ordered some 50W heating wire. and some isulation fabric. and......more to follow. "Bwa haaaar haaaaaaaar" |
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Post by daitheplant on Feb 14, 2015 21:32:07 GMT
Roofy. I didn`t say stop smoking or even stop smoking in the tunnel. Only to not smoke in the tunnel if you are going to grow tomatoes as tobacco is in the same family of plants as spuds and tomatoes, and can pass disease such as Mosaic Virus and blight to both families of plant.
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Post by SueA on Feb 14, 2015 21:41:29 GMT
roofgardener you should try what grindle suggests & put some of your begonia seeds on a windowsill in your flat. When I grew them a few years back I grew them in the kitchen by the window in a heated propagator which wasn't adjustable apart from a vent on the top which you could open during the day when it was very warm & I have no idea what temperature it was set at but it worked eventually. Maybe get some small plug plants as back up, you can get the tiny ones for reasonable prices usually & grow them on.
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Post by grindle on Feb 15, 2015 4:53:23 GMT
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 15, 2015 10:13:30 GMT
Roofy. I didn`t say stop smoking or even stop smoking in the tunnel. Only to not smoke in the tunnel if you are going to grow tomatoes as tobacco is in the same family of plants as spuds and tomatoes, and can pass disease such as Mosaic Virus and blight to both families of plant. Ooooh... I didnt know that. Thanks for the heads-up. SueA - I can give it a try, but I don't warm my flat up that much. Even the kitchen rarely gets much above 18 degrees, and even that only for short periods. Grindle - SueA mentioned plugs as well, and the prices on the website you linked to do indeed look very attractive. Perhaps I will have to go down this path ? Having ordered most of the bits, I think I'll build the propagator/light-box anyway, just for the heck of it ? |
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Post by grindle on Feb 15, 2015 13:11:18 GMT
Roofy check with your local garden centre as well most of them are starting to stock the plug plants, you might even find them cheaper, you still have the joy of growing them on, just not the hard bit of germinating  |
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 16, 2015 15:28:21 GMT
Very true Grindle... and at the prices on that babyplants website, its a winner all round.
Nevertheless, I have the bit between my teeth now, and am determined to build my Heliothermic Plantopticon !
I have the tools ! I have the training !!
Sadly, both around 30 years old.
Hmm.... <inspects light fitting > ... brown wire... that's neutral, yes ?
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Post by grindle on Feb 16, 2015 16:23:34 GMT
 well now that is old, yep black red brown, now I'm showing my age
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Post by SueA on Feb 16, 2015 20:14:51 GMT
Very true Grindle... and at the prices on that babyplants website, its a winner all round. Nevertheless, I have the bit between my teeth now, and am determined to build my Heliothermic Plantopticon ! I have the tools ! I have the training !! Sadly, both around 30 years old. Hmm.... <inspects light fitting > ... brown wire... that's neutral, yes ? All I remember is ' brown bread = dead, same as red'...don't touch that wire Roofy!  |
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 22, 2015 16:27:31 GMT
****Salmonella News ******
Sorry I've not posted for a week. I've spent most of it admiring the lino pattern on my bathroom floor.
A wise man once said...
"There is a REASON the meat from that "meat auction" stall is so cheap"
Pffft.... what does HE know ?
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 22, 2015 16:53:04 GMT
grim
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 22, 2015 16:58:51 GMT
****Propagator News***** Despite all of the good intentions, and the planning. In the end, tt was a rush job. There was no glue. There wasn't enough sand. The tools where improvised. I wired the plug with my long-distance glasses... I couldn't find my reading glasses. How bad could it be ? There where three wires coming from Radliffe-Upon-Trent power station. there where three screw-sockets on the plug. No wires where left over... so... the rest is details, yes ? Oppenheimer said no, as did the President. "More tests" they said. PAH.. wimps. At 16:05, Sunday 20th March, I commanded external power to the Mk I Plantopticon, and the neutron moderator rods withdrawn. Internal temperature at 5 degrees celcius and... rising ? I have become Shiva, germinator of Worlds.
We only know in theory what we where doing....
when they told us, all they wanted
Was a box that could germinate
from a distance, so we go ahead
and the meters are over in the red
It's a mistake in the making
It could feel like falling in love
It could feel so bad
But it could feel so good
We won't be there to be blamed
We won't be there to snitch
I just pray that someone there
Can hit the switch
(with apologies to Kate Bush ) Caution - the link is to a youtube video of "Experiment IV" by Kate Bush. Although rated PG, some may find the themes in this video disturbing. (quite seriously! ) Don't click on the link unless you are.... oh...you already have. Right. Fine. Whatever.
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 23, 2015 7:13:44 GMT
I couldn't sleep ... at 02:00 I peeped out into the Roofgarden.
The entire polytunnel was emitting an eiree blue glow !!!!!
AAAARGH....the Plantopticon has gone critical... I'm looking at Cherenkov radiation ... electrons emitted from the Plantopticon and passing through the sand at speeds greater than the phase velocity of light. Meltdown can only be minutes away !!!!
... or possibly its the blue christmas lights I strung up on the rear support struts. I forgot to turn them off !
One or the other. Oh well... back to bed.
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Post by roofgardener on Feb 23, 2015 7:24:14 GMT
**** Plantopticon News*****
IT LIVES.
The thermomemeter I put in the box is showing 19.5 degrees. Now, that's just RESTING on the sand, so the sand itself might be even warmer. Plus, it was a very cold night. AND... I havn't insultated the lid yet.
I've reset the thermomenter (it's one of those max/min thingies), so lets see how it behaves over the course of the day. If it can sustain a temperature of 20 degrees or thereabouts, then I'll be happy.
My next problem is the light. I've got a bulb built into the underside of the lid, and the heat insulating material is a refelctive silver to help distribute the light. BUT... the bulbholder is a bit big, to the point where the bulb is actually touching the sand. (and I think I need more sand in the Plantopticon anyway .
Perhaps I need to move the bulb from the lid (pointing downwards) to the side (so it is horizontal with the sand) ? But if I do that, 50% of the light will be going upwards. (though it would be reflected back down by the insulation on the lid).
Hmmm......
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well now that is old, yep black red brown, now I'm showing my age 
Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
Aug 10, 2019 9:01:47 GMT
Aug 10, 2019 9:01:47 GMT