BlueCollarBob- Bumbling Through My First Grow

[ninjadip]

I want to try it, but I also don't want to take on too much. I have some stuff to get get caught up on around the house. I'm working on the flowers for pollinators, too. I've been studying up the native plants and hope to develop a little pollinator mecca, eventually.

Yeah, I'd like to try making the infused honey, for sure.

I'd like to try making the infused honey, for sure.

Back when i was doing a lot of infused coconut oil,i used to love a dollop in my coffee. Man what a great way to start the day!!!

 

[Stoneyluv]

I don't know if there's any conflict between carpenter bees and honeybees. We have had carpenter bees pretty bad here, at times. I haven't seen any, this year, but I also replaced their favorite dining spot. I had a lean-to carport that was framed with rough cut pine boards that they really liked to chew on. I tore that out and replaced it with treated lumber. As important as pollinator are, I don't miss those guys. I hope they're happily chewing on a dead pine in the woods, somewhere.

Actually, everything I'm hearing is that beekeeping is pretty easy. Sounds like you just have to invest some time and check in on them fairly regularly. Beekeepr's seem to be a pretty tight knit community, around here. They help each other out, get new guys started and some get together to extract honey and share processing equipment.

it would be a lot of fun i think!! be a great retirement hobby!!!

That worm video was pre-feed. I've since read it isn't necessary, but I've been blending the green food in an old blender. I followed a recipe for the dry feed and made a big batch that I've just been mixing into an equal part of the green feed. The dried feed was measured according to the recipe and has corn meal, whole wheat flower, rolled oats and some powdered toasted egg shells that I have left from a one of @stonemason's KNF recipes. I'll probably hit the easy button and switch to powdered oyster shell when that runs out. Shredded paper bags are mixed in, too. The green has been mostly cucumber, since I've had a lot of that lately. A little squash, banana peal or watermelon added in here and there. And like a teaspoon of spent coffee grounds that I saved and dried out, I've been sprinkling a little wheat grain, that the lady gave to me along with the worm bins, on top of it all.

II have wetted paper bags torn to fit the bins that I remove to feed, moisten and replace over top of the worms and feed, before putting the lids back on.

I took a few paper grocery bags to work and tried running them through the shredder, today. That worked great. I'll be filling a box full of that to take home. Pretty big time saver.

Do you have any tips on feed or anything else? I still need to study up on when to add new tiers to the bins and when and how to collect castings. I looked up the owner's manual on all of that, but just did a quick scan and it didn't stick in my brain, lol.

damn bro, your worms are eating better than i am!!!!! don't tell mine, man they leave and go to your house if they knew all that!! haha

but seriously though, it sounds like you're right on top of it with all the good stuff!!! mine really enjoy the ground egg shells too. cucumber is probably their favorite vegetable.. i just throw the while peels in there and they're gone the next day!! and the coffee grounds i swear they get a kick of caffeine in them!!

the only tip i ever figured out myself that isn't already out there is that most people put a damp layer of newspaper over the very top. it works but it doesn't last long at all. what i do is pre cut amazon boxes to the square size and use those. they hold better moisture and last way longer!!

i don't add an extra layer until theres only an inch or two of space left and then i put a heavy coat of shell or pumice or whatever you're using for their gizzards. you may already have large bags of oyster from your chickens like i do?

then a new tub and fresh bedding about 1/3 full, then rinse lather repeat.

Any concerns with the blue ink on the Food Lion bags?

none whatsoever! the only paper to stay away from is slick shinny adds.. it's a different ink or coating or something i can't remember but no slick pages. i always try to peel any plastic stickers too.. they won't eat it but it bugs me to see.

as long as they're not crawling out you're doing great job!!

 

[BlueCollarBob]

it would be a lot of fun i think!! be a great retirement hobby!!!

I agree. Looks fun, good for our part of the planet. I've read that you can see a noticeable difference in vegetable and flower gardens after getting bees, too.

damn bro, your worms are eating better than i am!!!!! don't tell mine, man they leave and go to your house if they knew all that!! haha

but seriously though, it sounds like you're right on top of it with all the good stuff!!! mine really enjoy the ground egg shells too. cucumber is probably their favorite vegetable.. i just throw the while peels in there and they're gone the next day!! and the coffee grounds i swear they get a kick of caffeine in them!!

the only tip i ever figured out myself that isn't already out there is that most people put a damp layer of newspaper over the very top. it works but it doesn't last long at all. what i do is pre cut amazon boxes to the square size and use those. they hold better moisture and last way longer!!

Even being new to the worm stuff, i can already tell that this makes sense .

i don't add an extra layer until theres only an inch or two of space left and then i put a heavy coat of shell or pumice or whatever you're using for their gizzards. you may already have large bags of oyster from your chickens like i do?

Oops! I thought that the egg shell covered this. I do have oyster shell for the chickens and powdered oyster shell for the garden, if one is better than the other.

then a new tub and fresh bedding about 1/3 full, then rinse lather repeat.



none whatsoever! the only paper to stay away from is slick shinny adds.. it's a different ink or coating or something i can't remember but no slick pages. i always try to peel any plastic stickers too.. they won't eat it but it bugs me to see.

We do a lot of online order and pick-up for groceries. The worst part of running the bags through the shredder was having to peel a shiny white label identifying it as our order off of every damned bag, lol.

as long as they're not crawling out you're doing great job!!

No runners, so far.

I really appreciate you sharing your worm bin experience. I prefer to research new stuff before jumping in, but I got the bins when an unplanned opportunity presented itself. I still haven't done a good study on it. Just some quick browsing. Hard to imagine I'll continue the blending and stuff, since it isn't necessary. I do like to prepare big batches that I get a couple feeds out of, though.

 

[Zen_seeker]

I’m i don't add an extra layer until theres only an inch or two of space left and then i put a heavy coat of shell or pumice or whatever you're using for their gizzards. you may already have large bags of oyster from your chickens like i do?

then a new tub and fresh bedding about 1/3 full, then rinse lather repeat.

I need to watch a video on starting mine. I think I have all I need. @Stoneyluv would the rock dust/minerals be good for the gizzards? So I need to buy crushed/powdered shells?

Haven’t picked up the worms yet. Going to try starting with 50.

 

[BlueCollarBob]

I'm almost afraid to go check on the outdoor plants. Had a surprise storm sneak up on me with high winds. I bought some stuff to rig up cover, but haven't installed it, yet. I went out and put up a wind break, and saw one branch down already, dammit.

I chopped the indoor girls today, but now wish I had worked outside. Just the way it goes, sometimes.

Shishkaberry X Sour Lime OG (Freebees from Captain Red Beard). First indoor grow. Chopped and drying:

 

[Zen_seeker]

I'm almost afraid to go check on the outdoor plants. Had a surprise storm sneak up on me with high winds. I bought some stuff to rig up cover, but haven't installed it, yet. I went out and put up a wind break, and saw one branch down already, dammit.

I chopped the indoor girls today, but now wish I had worked outside. Just the way it goes, sometimes.

Shishkaberry X Sour Lime OG (Freebees from Captain Red Beard). First indoor grow. Chopped and drying:

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[BlueCollarBob]

I've hit one of those hectic stretches and have some catching up to do here. I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you have been up to.

This is just a quick dump and run on my grows. I've been battling weather and complacency. Weather got me because I didn't get the outdoor plants covered, before the first storm hit. High winds caused some initial damage and that was followed by trying to stay ahead of the powdery mildew and caterpillars. I've cut out some bud rot on one of the white widows and a lemon sour diesel. The lemon sour diesel is where I found some caterpillar damage.

I had decided to buy a bud trimmer in time to have on hand for the outdoor harvest. Originally, I was going to pick up one of the models I've seen recommended on Bud Builders, but I came across a store on eBay offering X-Trimmers on sale for $25 each. At that price, I decided to give them a shot and ordered two. Today, I used one to do a quick wet trim on a white widow and the top colas on the lemon sour diesel. I don't have any experience with electric trimmers to compare these to, but I really enjoyed using the X-Trimmer. If they hold up, I'll count them as a steal at $25.


I had to get the Shishkaberry X Sour Lime OG out of the tent so I can dry the plants I harvested today. The bowl trimmer made short work of the dry trim. The two plants yielded 11.5oz. I don't know what is an average harvest for this plant as the seeds were freebies from Captain Red Beard's. Honestly, it could be considered a horrible yield and I would still be thrilled. This was my first ever indoor grow and I didn't have high expectations.

This grow was vegged under MH and flowered under HPS. I bought some new metal halide bulbs, including one from Mass Medical Strains. I plan to try all metal halide for the next grow...


Got these into the tent to start drying, today. Six of the larger top colas from lemon sour diesel on the left. The white widow is on the right.


I did wash using 2/3 cups of 3% H2O2 per 5 gallons of water, followed by a double rinse. I didn't play around. If I saw anything that even made me think of rot, I got rid of it. This cut into my yield significantly, but I'm growing far more than I need and have the luxury of not needing to try to save everything.

Fingers crossed that the remaining white widow and the orange widow survive the ten or so days until I'll have a chance to harvest them .

 

[Zen_seeker]

Glad the damage wasn’t too bad. Hope it goes smoothly now. Watching your results with the X-Trimmer. Probably $60 up here like everything else but I’ll have a look.

 

[BlueCollarBob]

Glad the damage wasn’t too bad. Hope it goes smoothly now. Watching your results with the X-Trimmer. Probably $60 up here like everything else but I’ll have a look.

For me, it's clearly a timesaver versus scissor trimming. I did pull a stupid move while cleaning the blades and was rewarded with a small cut on the palm of my hands. I'll remember to remove the battery before cleaning, next time. Each trimmer came with three 9v batteries and a charger that charges 2 batteries at once. I almost finished the trimming I did on one battery and that was with whatever charge was on it out of the package.

I should have taken a photo of the wheelbarrow I was tossing the buds I didn't keep. There was a lot. There will be more, by the time I get to finish the remainder of the lemon sour diesel and the remaining orange widow and white widow. I'm traveling with the wife now and it's killing me to think about it. If I had it to do again, I would have taken the big top colas out of all four plants. Just to make sure I had some of each. It may do better than I expect, but the humidity is still high and temps are dropping pretty good at night. We'll see....

 

[Zen_seeker]

For me, it's clearly a timesaver versus scissor trimming. I did pull a stupid move while cleaning the blades and was rewarded with a small cut on the palm of my hands. I'll remember to remove the battery before cleaning, next time. Each trimmer came with three 9v batteries and a charger that charges 2 batteries at once. I almost finished the trimming I did on one battery and that was with whatever charge was on it out of the package.

I should have taken a photo of the wheelbarrow I was tossing the buds I didn't keep. There was a lot. There will be more, by the time I get to finish the remainder of the lemon sour diesel and the remaining orange widow and white widow. I'm traveling with the wife now and it's killing me to think about it. If I had it to do again, I would have taken the big top colas out of all four plants. Just to make sure I had some of each. It may do better than I expect, but the humidity is still high and temps are dropping pretty good at night. We'll see....

I took a look but the real store wants $250+ US!


I saw the $25 and this $35 deal but it’s US only and eBay is risky enough when local. Haven’t used it since 2005 when I got screwed for a CPU. Took over a year to get all my cash back.

Still tempted but sons the one with the accounts and he’s against it unless I push.

 

[ninjadip]

I took a look but the real store wants $250+ US!View attachment 116023

View attachment 116025
I saw the $25 and this $35 deal but it’s US only and eBay is risky enough when local. Haven’t used it since 2005 when I got screwed for a CPU. Took over a year to get all my cash back.

Still tempted but sons the one with the accounts and he’s against it unless I push.

Just use PayPal for the purchase on eBay, they will do more for a refund than ebay. Almost guaranteed to get your money within a week, or so has been the case for me.

 

[Observer]

hey!