Zen’s Winter Run 2025

[Zen_seeker]

Moved the girls after dinner last night. Light aren’t on until 4pm but I’m sure three survived the night.


We’ll see what they’re like tonight.

 

[Stoneyluv]

Moved the girls after dinner last night. Light aren’t on until 4pm but I’m sure three survived the night.
View attachment 116467

We’ll see what they’re like tonight.

is that a heat mat you have under them?

i know it's been getting cooler here so it's gotta be amplified up there.. have you had a freeze yet?

 

[Zen_seeker]

is that a heat mat you have under them?

No it’s a plastic garden walkway that unrolls. I used tie raps to hold two sections side by side to act as a riser. The washer flood tray has a raised middle that I had to deal with.

The black heat mat was in the section they just left. I’m hoping with the heat on since thanksgiving I can get by without it.

i know it's been getting cooler here so it's gotta be amplified up there.. have you had a freeze yet?

We had two frost mornings two weeks ago(?). Just before I brought the Thai pepper plant inside.

Since then it went from 2*-4* in the morning back to 10*-16*. So from lower than normal to higher than normal for this time of year.

Been a year of crazy weather and many poor crops. I think apples are the only thing that have done okay. Even the vegetables in the grocery stores look…off…not as large, off colours, and way too expensive.

I’d like to bring in the Cayenne pepper plant too but it’s bigger and bushier. We don’t have room for it. If we can keep the Thai alive until spring I’ll see about making indoor plans for some things next year.

How’s your outdoor doing? Don’t recall seeing any pics from your greenhouse in a while. You making arrangements for the Koi fish or are they good as is all year?

I’m considering bringing in some rain barrel water for the plants. It literally fed the vegetables for 1/3 to 1/2 the year with little to no fertilizer added.

 

[Zen_seeker]

20251019: GM & GGB#4

So the same night I move the plants from the small tent section to the largest section doesn’t the humidity drop? From high 70’s to low 50’s in the basement. High winds started and storms coming today so it might bump back up. I’d like 60-70% RH so added a coffee can of hot water this morning. We’ll see later. I might have to close the doors to trap the air.

The original Grease Monkey is doing great. I’m 90% certain I’ll top it and clone it by the end of the week.

Both of the GGB#4 are doing well. One’s a bit bigger than the other as it came up a day earlier. No funky leaves or colour issues.

The last GM is still trying. If it doesn’t kick in by the time I have a viable clone it’s getting replaced.

Guard dog is missing the Sunshine.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Haven’t touched the vegetable garden since Thursday. Light rain the last two days/nights with more coming. I imagine I’ll be ripping everything down by EOM.

Inside Thai pepper plant is doing better than I expected. Only two already yellowing bottom leaves didn’t spring back. No more flowers are coming in but that’s to be expected. We don’t get much sun inside. Mostly from 10am-1pm. The soil is still damp after it’s first watering a couple days ago so we’ll leave it for now.

It still has a lot of green peppers turning red daily. I picked 22 more yesterday.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Made this two years ago but wifey kiboshed the idea when she learned it was a worm compost. I’m hoping the small one I’m using now let’s her see it’s not a big deal. No escaping, no bad smells and no bugs or worse being attracted. (It’s an indoor outdoor plan so outdoors might need additional things to stop things like raccoons.)

Each crate is a bin. The top is a tumbler for mixing and dealing with either compost or the processing of the castings and soil.

Need to move it to the garage for now. But soon my precious.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Big a ass fat squirrel took my two biggest Teddy Bear sunflower heads I was drying for seeds. So I took all the remaining smaller heads inside to dry. Lots are immature and empty. So I filtered them with the worm casting screens, twice. The larger I’m saving and giving away. The smaller will go I the bird feeder.



I’m going to pop four to see if they are any good. I might keep them for my wife or toss them. She hasn’t been looking after her plants lately so we’ll see.

 

[Zen_seeker]