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Alright here is the skinny of it. I tried for 2 yrs now to grow all sorts of fruits and veggies in my outdoor garden with no success. If the worms don't get my crops the wildlife does and I refuse to use chemicals outside of organic plant food. I bought a couple of those expensive motion sensor sprinklers and even tried the high freq rodent and insect repelers, all in vain. If you are familiar with organic growing in FL I am all ears as how to stop these pests.
But, I have now turned my attention and efforts to an indoor garden. I read up as much as I could find on it although I am by far no authority on the matter. I found plans on the internet for how to build an ebb and flow sytem and it turned out great. I filled it with Indoor MG potting soil mixed with perlite and vermiculite for extra drainage and aeration. I'm using Maxsea All Purpose Plant Food (16-16-16) for growth and then Maxsea Bloom Plant Food (3-20-20) when they flower and start to show fruit. I did'nt want to go overboard in case this did'nt work out so I only got a 400watt HPS lamp for my lightsource which should be good for about a 5 sqr ft. area which is fine for now. If all goes well I will consider an upgrade.
I live in a small house and the only place I could make space was in garage which has no air or heat. I planted onions, 3 types of peppers ( including some habaneros, california wonders, and cascabellas ), and clemson spineless okra ( all of these are doing great ). I aslo planted some jelly bean hybrib, juliet hybrib, better boy hybrid, and mexican husk tomatillos but they are either dying or on their way. I'm thinking it must be because of the lack of a heat source in the area cause maybe tomatoes like it in warmer climate where the others are not so dependent on constant heat and can stand up to the cold after I turn the light off. It does'nt get to cold but it is a big difference from when the light is on them. Any suggestions as to what I may be doing wrong here cause I really love tomatoes. I was wondering if I insulate the garage to keep more heat in and possibly leaving the door to the house open to provide a more steady climate( but I dont want a huge power bill due to the heat loss ).
After you put in insulation then If you can I think I would install south windows in the garage they should add a good bit of warmth when the sun shines.
OK now this may sound kinda crazy but my uncle got BLACK plastic 55 gallon barrels filled with water put them in his "greenhouse" his garage. The black barrels absorbed the heat from the sun and heated the plants until morning. But ya have to have the south windows
Humm hope this helps you
You know what?...That would'nt be hard for me cause the garage door faces the south, I might look into that. I started turning the light off during the hottest part of the day thanks to the timer I got today. I'm running it 18 hrs. on now until they start to flower, but I was turning it off at night before bed just because it was convenient. If they dont survive this go around I will start over on them in a wk or two. Maybe get a cheap, low power space heater and place it near the tomatoes.
I will most likely move the peppers to my outdoor garden since no bugs or animals want to eat or destroy them. That should leave me plenty of extra room to try out more veggies...any suggestions? I would like to grow what's out of season and save on the grocery bill. I would have been growing squash, but they take up so much space.
YY, you have me pretty curious about your peppers. Those habs are hot. I use some in my salsa, but I have never had the guts to taste one by itself. I use 30 habs in my hot salsa recipe.
I'm in central Florida Kya. I was walking through the super market looking at veggy prices and was shocked to see the prices on some...like summer squash that comes with 3 small ones in a pack for $4.
I use them in all kinds of things Randy including, fajitas, chili, any tex-mex dishes like omlets, my own recipe of hot sauce and salsa. I have heard though that alot of people in the northern states are getting good results with their indoor peppers using LED lights which are very cheap to buy and operate. You just have to make sure you have a controlled climate cause they dont produce much heat...if any.
http://www.hidhut.com/catalog/ufo-led-grow-lights-p-1372.html
Like this guy that costs $500..seems steep, but when add the in the fact that it only costs about $5 a month to operate, covers a 9 sqr ft. area. has over 80,000+ hr. life span, boast light intensity and growth rates exceeding that of a 400W HPS while wasting no light because it directed more like a laser, and the colorr spectrum is almost perfect. It really is not a bad deal. I was considering it myself because I ended up paying about $450 for the my 400w HPS set up and it will cost more in the long run.
Hi Yum Yum I am a coastal Florida gardener. All Organic! I have battled the worst of Fl pest and have a few tips you might be able to use. I hate to here that you have given up on outdoor gardening.
Maybe if you tell me a little about you pest and wildlife problems I can help. This week due to my own fault deer ate 3 heads of cabbage from my garden. LOL! I haven't been keepping up with putting hair out since it has been so cold and wet.
Looking forward to talking with you!
Please tell all your secrets!!=) Well at least the garden ones. Most of the problem comes from little green worms eating everything almost overnight. I come out to find them tucked in my leaves all nice and comfy. Of course if it happens later I get them in the fruit too. The deer problem was solved with the motion sprinklers, but not sure that it did anything for the field mice...I have alot of open sawgrass area around me. Either way by the end of the year I just have my peppers. Maybe I should get a couple really big cats....but I don't like cats and neither do my dogs. I have two small indoor dogs so they won't protect much other then their food bowl =).
Ok what I am going to do is go resurrect some old threads about my hot pepper spray. So be watching. I'll PM you to tell you what the titles are so you can read them. Hot pepper spray will work on your little worms/caterpillars. It will also help deter some of the other pest from eating veggies. Hair from the barber shop will keep several animals out of the garden including deer and bunnies. You can also use diatomaceous earth to help with soft bodied pest like slugs and worms/ caterpillars.
I look forward to having another Fl gardener who is organic. I live just southwest of St. Augustine so we must be pretty close to each other.Our zones are the same I am sure
Thanks!! Although the human hair sounds kinda strange I'm curious to see if it works and why.
Randy..also with the hot peppers you have keep them in seperate containers and as far away from others as possible. When you do your pollinating ( I use a small paint brush ) make sure you use a seperate one for the hot peppers and they are self pollinating so they wont need any other pollen. If you dont have fans blowing in the area it's not to bad, but a fan is great for stalk growth and strength when indoors. So make sure you move you hot ones out of the way for a few hours a day while you simulate a breeze for your other crops. The cross pollination wont turn that batch hot, but the seeds from say your bell peppers will produce hot peppers if planted after a cross pollination the following year.
For the outside garden, you might also want to try a Floating Row Cover over some of those leafy crops; row covers can be great to deter the green worms and loopers from Broccoli, Cabbage, etc... .
I am going to experiment with human hair this year, to see if it will keep some of the rabbits out of my garden.
I would think that Florida would be an ideal climate for growing tomatoes, peppers, and okra... outside ... don't give up !!!
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