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dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 20 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

ps fenn number 4 is about the right size for squizzers(and rats)

the most probable bycatch with the deathbox rig is rats as baiting the ground at the foot might bring em in

pps mind your fingers if playing with fenns, i have a lovely dink to remind me to mention that

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 20 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I've found a Fenn number 4 device and it looks like a bit of a beast. I'm gong to order one and I will mind my fingers.

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 20 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sgt.colon wrote:
Thanks Slim and DPack.

Slim, that makes sense about the squashes. They are winter ones. Lots of flowers still to come, so now that you've explained it I'm sure there will be females along soon.

The feed is a homemade comfry and nettle stew. I'm diluting 90ml of stew to just over 9 litres of water.

DPack, brutality is not a problem. They show no mercy when they are attacking my plants or digging them up, so they deserve everything that is coming to them. I'd maybe eat the back legs but not overly bothered if there is nothing there to eat.


I know dpack swears by mucky plant water, but I would be surprised if there's much N to be found in it. Unless it's feeding tons of nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria or other bacteria and keeping them in an aerobic environment.....
That's not too say that there aren't other nutrients and other biological benefits from it, but I'd be surprised if it's meeting your plants nitrogen needs.

(Whenever there's enough water for bacteria to do anything, and a lack of oxygen you tend to lose nitrogen)

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 20 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

plenty of n if you add squizzers or a pigs head and chook muck or rats or etc

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 20 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks Slim and DPack.

I no heads in my mix at the moment so I'll switch to the tomato feed that I've got. I've plenty of that. So shall I just do it once a week or stick with my 3 day feed?

Thanks.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 20 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

little and often is best with most things

one advantage of hydroponics is the constant lowish but adequate level of nutrients supplied to the plants using feed with technical labels

by monitoring the nutrient level and mix it is easier to get optimum feed to the plants

a bit trickier in soil, but a rough guide is never too much, never too concentrated but enough to ensure good growth and cropping

through the life cycle of the plant the "perfect" feed changes at each stage, vegetative growth needs more nitrogen in the mix and fruiting/flowering needs a feed with more p and k but less n

the right Ph and mineral content matters as well

timing the variables of that is a mix of education and observation

the full organic or full factory the parameters are the same, tis just a matter of the methods

getting feed regimes right makes a lot of difference to the results

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 20 9:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks for all that DPack.

Sounds like a complicated thing and hopefully over the coming years I'll get it right. What I might do for the time being is stick to me 3 day feed and alternate between the homemade feed I've done and the tomato feed. Hopefully that will give the guys a little bit of everything.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 20 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

it is both simple and complex, your stuff looks pretty healthy so you are getting it right even if any of us can learn more about growing stuff

i am no expert on feeding, this is the first year in a decade that the bramble is minimal vegetative and maximum fruit due to the feed regime adjustments

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 20 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

shifting nutrient needs is more true of a one off crop like broccoli or cannabis.
In those crops the plant does a lot of vegetative growth and then switched gears to start flowing.
Cucumbers are continually harvested immature and the plants are continuously growing and making new leaves, so there is a continued need for nitrogen.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234135826_Nitrogen_absorption_and_transport_in_cucumber

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 20 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks guys. Keep you fingers crossed for me.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 20 6:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

If you are feeding and watering you will get a crop. As Slim says, with things like cucumber you need a balanced mix, so alternate home made and tomato will probably be good enough. The completely scientific approach is not really suitable for most home gardeners, as even if they have the knowledge, they don't very often have the equipment available to do all the testing. If you get just leaves and no flowers or fruit, then you need to up the tomato feed and no leaves, more nitrogen.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 20 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks for that MR. My cucs seem to have stopped fruiting, the flowers are just falling off. Hopefully now that I've started with the tom feed as well, they'll stop doing that.

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 20 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Are you seeing good pollination occurring?

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 20 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

a little watercolour brush is a good moth and bee substitute

and it is rather amusing in a pervy way to be "having fun" with a life form when one only shares 75% or so of their biology:lol:
(no amount of mind bleach will cleanse that )

the wee brush thing is really useful for many crops, cucumbers, tomatoes and cacti spring to mind immediately

if you are plant breeding it is essential, but for gardening/eating it is useful, quite often flowering and pollinator weather are not perfectly timed

indoor plants can miss out on outdoor pollinators which also needs consideration in tunnels and greenhouses

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 20 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Dpack. Thanks for that image

When I go in the greenhouse there is always stuff flying about. I keep the windows open and the door is open a little bit. I've have about 6 cucs so far from 3 plants but now it seems to have come to a halt.

Here is a picture of my worst looking cuc. Is it a gonner?



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