It has been a busy summer preparing for our apiary opening next spring. Add that to a record drought in Texas with over 90 days of 100+ temps and lets just say the outdoor greenhouses didn't see a lot of action.
The strawberries have rebounded nicely and are actually producing fruit again -that's right, fresh strawberries in December! The blackberries are putting on veg again slowly, blue and raspberries just didn't make it through the drought.
We are starting up the TreeHouse with three autopot systems and we are going to attempt to grow some Endovia trees from seed. They need to germinate in some cold temps so we think they will do well. We have wanted to use the autopots (thanks for the suggestion Zach) for a while now using coir as a medium and we are getting our chance. We may toss in a few other flowers to beautify the house a little. We expect the autopots this weekend so we will prove some video and updates next week.
Showing posts with label Blueberries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blueberries. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Berry House Configuration Changes
It has been a brutal summer with over eighty days of 105+ temperatures. Normally we get a week here or there in August, but nothing like this. Couple that with a severe drought, and the rest is history.
We learned a lot about operating a greenhouse in the summer. A comment was made in one of our posts about burying the water reservoirs. I absolutely recommend this - except where you have caliche (sand/water compacted like concrete) as we do. Nothing short of a jackhammer, or some dynamite, can penetrate. Hence, burying was not an option for us - only a chiller.
The heat stress on our berries was pretty intense. We also noticed some sagging in our grow trays. This occurred over time and most likely was a combination of weight from the Hydroton and the heat. We are rethinking medium for next summer.
The raspberries and blueberries were doing ok until the intense heat of summer. We did have a heat / drought tolerant blackberry that did great - right up to the point where we took drought to an extreme by losing a system controller. Those that survived that incident are doing well again.
As you can see we removed the mixing tank and two grow systems from the house. Our thought of having that many systems in one greenhouse was misguided. We are down to one Monster Ebb n Grow, and the three stands for the strawberries. We will continue with this plan for next summer with a few other re-engineering thoughts between now and the cool weather. Once winter hits we will do some additional changes and hopefully next year have a better result in the greenhouse.
We learned a lot about operating a greenhouse in the summer. A comment was made in one of our posts about burying the water reservoirs. I absolutely recommend this - except where you have caliche (sand/water compacted like concrete) as we do. Nothing short of a jackhammer, or some dynamite, can penetrate. Hence, burying was not an option for us - only a chiller.
The heat stress on our berries was pretty intense. We also noticed some sagging in our grow trays. This occurred over time and most likely was a combination of weight from the Hydroton and the heat. We are rethinking medium for next summer.
The raspberries and blueberries were doing ok until the intense heat of summer. We did have a heat / drought tolerant blackberry that did great - right up to the point where we took drought to an extreme by losing a system controller. Those that survived that incident are doing well again.
As you can see we removed the mixing tank and two grow systems from the house. Our thought of having that many systems in one greenhouse was misguided. We are down to one Monster Ebb n Grow, and the three stands for the strawberries. We will continue with this plan for next summer with a few other re-engineering thoughts between now and the cool weather. Once winter hits we will do some additional changes and hopefully next year have a better result in the greenhouse.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Fried Berries
The weather has been terrible this year. Five inches of rain since January. It has been 104-109 degrees all week. No rain in sight. The strawberries are surviving just fine but the blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries are struggling. We shaded the greenhouse a few months ago which helped with overhead sun but the western sun is torching the blackberries. In just the past week all the leaves dried up from such "magnified" sun coming in the front doors of the greenhouse. Root systems are fine on the plants so we will keep watering hoping for more canes to come up. The raspberries have started a few new shoots so we are hopeful the others will too.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Chiller Activated
It is in the high 90's by noon and by five we hit 100 degrees here now. The past two days we had 103 with a "feels like" (according to my weather station here on the ranch) temp of 107.
Chiller was turned on and is now cycling the water reservoirs every 30 minutes. I am glad we invested the money in the RainBird controller, valves, and pump start relay back when we installed the greenhouse. This whole control system really makes water control a breeze - especially compared to what we go through in the indoor grow room.
We did complete water and nutrient changes in the greenhouse yesterday. We are still using the SNS mite control - seems to be the only one we have had any success with so far. Expensive, but it works better than others we have tried.
The blueberries are down to one plant. Hmmmm. The blackberries are looking really good. Best of the three "bush" berries. We have two raspberry plants we are trying to nurture back to health after a good infestation of mites. The strawberries are doing very well. Lost a few to crown rot but more than made up for those with all the runner plants we had growing off the other plants.
Chiller was turned on and is now cycling the water reservoirs every 30 minutes. I am glad we invested the money in the RainBird controller, valves, and pump start relay back when we installed the greenhouse. This whole control system really makes water control a breeze - especially compared to what we go through in the indoor grow room.
We did complete water and nutrient changes in the greenhouse yesterday. We are still using the SNS mite control - seems to be the only one we have had any success with so far. Expensive, but it works better than others we have tried.
The blueberries are down to one plant. Hmmmm. The blackberries are looking really good. Best of the three "bush" berries. We have two raspberry plants we are trying to nurture back to health after a good infestation of mites. The strawberries are doing very well. Lost a few to crown rot but more than made up for those with all the runner plants we had growing off the other plants.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Where Has The Month Gone
I apologize to all of you that have sent me messages asking what is happening with the various plants we are growing. We have several projects going on here at the ranch that have caused me to limit my time on the blog. Sorry for that.
We have had mixed results in the greenhouse ("Berry-House"). Several of our plants have done extremely well, others, well lets just say there are a lot of hungry bugs outside. We began spraying with some organic solutions several weeks ago on Mondays to slow them down. It did, but not completely. We have also noticed that some of our plants seem to be getting a fungal disease or something. Such is life in outdoor gardening I guess. We keep studying though and are not giving up.
The strawberries that we have picked so far have been fabulous. We are getting major runners on the plants now. One reason we only planted 5 strawberries per tray - leave room for the runners! Good thing we did - as you can see they are filling up the trays nicely.
We have had mixed results in the greenhouse ("Berry-House"). Several of our plants have done extremely well, others, well lets just say there are a lot of hungry bugs outside. We began spraying with some organic solutions several weeks ago on Mondays to slow them down. It did, but not completely. We have also noticed that some of our plants seem to be getting a fungal disease or something. Such is life in outdoor gardening I guess. We keep studying though and are not giving up.
The strawberries that we have picked so far have been fabulous. We are getting major runners on the plants now. One reason we only planted 5 strawberries per tray - leave room for the runners! Good thing we did - as you can see they are filling up the trays nicely.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Berry House Nutrients
If you are interested in growing hydroponic blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries in a greenhouse there really isn't a whole lot of reference materials that I have found on commercial hydroponic nutrient applications. We took a "we'll try these" approach and so far so good:
Blackberries / Strawberries / Raspberries
Flora Micro / Flora Grow during vegitative state at 10ml/gallon
Flora Micro / Flora Bloom during transition and flowering state at 10ml/gallon
Diamond Nectar at 10ml/gallon
Liquid Karma at 10ml/gallon
Sweet (Berry) at 15ml/gallon
Cal-Mag at 8ml/gallon
Flora Kleen at 5ml/gallon
pH at 6.6-6.8
Blueberries - same as above except pH at 4.9-5.1
If you have other ideas or formulas that work, please let us know. We started the plants we received from Burpee at one half of these formulations just to get them started. We changed to full strength after three weeks.
Blackberries / Strawberries / Raspberries
Flora Micro / Flora Grow during vegitative state at 10ml/gallon
Flora Micro / Flora Bloom during transition and flowering state at 10ml/gallon
Diamond Nectar at 10ml/gallon
Liquid Karma at 10ml/gallon
Sweet (Berry) at 15ml/gallon
Cal-Mag at 8ml/gallon
Flora Kleen at 5ml/gallon
pH at 6.6-6.8
Blueberries - same as above except pH at 4.9-5.1
If you have other ideas or formulas that work, please let us know. We started the plants we received from Burpee at one half of these formulations just to get them started. We changed to full strength after three weeks.
Berries Growing Well in Rion Greenhouse
Our "Berry House" is doing very well. We have been in production for several weeks now and we are very happy with the results.
We installed the Rion Greenhouse shade this week to help cut down on the heat we were getting inside the house. The plants are getting plenty of water but needed a little shade. We also added a circulating fan to move the air a bit more across the plants now that they are flowering.
As you can see in the video, water heater insulation blankets were placed around the Monster Ebb n Gro nutrient barrels to cut down on heat absorption. We added a four inch air stone disk to each of the strawberry nutrient tanks as well.
We installed the Rion Greenhouse shade this week to help cut down on the heat we were getting inside the house. The plants are getting plenty of water but needed a little shade. We also added a circulating fan to move the air a bit more across the plants now that they are flowering.
As you can see in the video, water heater insulation blankets were placed around the Monster Ebb n Gro nutrient barrels to cut down on heat absorption. We added a four inch air stone disk to each of the strawberry nutrient tanks as well.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Greenhouse Growth
All of our strawberry plants continue veg production it seems almost daily. We noticed a huge spike in activity every day since planting and now is leveling off a little. Leaves are mainly getting larger on the plants while production of new leaves has slowed down.
The Blackberries took off like a rocket too. We have great veg production on every plant. WOW.
The Blueberries and Raspberries are a little slower out of the gate. We have one Blueberry plant with a few small leaves and tiny buds on a few others. The Raspberries are the slowest with just hints of buds on one plant.
The Blueberry reservoir is keeping us hopping. Trying to keep the pH at about 4.6 is taking a lot of acid additions. The ppm level of the water is going up with all of the acid additions.
We have wrapped the Monster Ebb n Gro nutrient tanks with water heater insulation blankets to help keep the temp down. The black barrels absorb that sunlight and on average were 5 degrees higher than the strawberry tanks. We anticipated this but in our excitement to get into production didn't get it done. It is now done. Temps are much better now.
We have not activated the chiller full time yet as temps have been reasonable. I anticipate another month or so before it is "on" 100% of the time.
The Blackberries took off like a rocket too. We have great veg production on every plant. WOW.
The Blueberries and Raspberries are a little slower out of the gate. We have one Blueberry plant with a few small leaves and tiny buds on a few others. The Raspberries are the slowest with just hints of buds on one plant.
The Blueberry reservoir is keeping us hopping. Trying to keep the pH at about 4.6 is taking a lot of acid additions. The ppm level of the water is going up with all of the acid additions.
We have wrapped the Monster Ebb n Gro nutrient tanks with water heater insulation blankets to help keep the temp down. The black barrels absorb that sunlight and on average were 5 degrees higher than the strawberry tanks. We anticipated this but in our excitement to get into production didn't get it done. It is now done. Temps are much better now.
We have not activated the chiller full time yet as temps have been reasonable. I anticipate another month or so before it is "on" 100% of the time.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries
The Rion Prestige "Berry House" is in production. We have 26 strawberry plants, 6 blueberry plants (3 varieties for better pollination), 5 raspberry and 5 blackberry plants.
When we planted the strawberries on Tuesday there were no leaves on any of the plants, just roots and sticks (old runners). We now have leaves (yes, plural) on every plant. We are very happy to see this. We are using a different nutrient manufacturer (General Hydroponics) than we used in the indoor grow room (Canna) to give something new a try. We still remain pleased with Canna too, a little expensive, but great results.
We know that the rasp, blue, and blackberries may outgrow the space we have them in now but with a second greenhouse under construction, we will have plenty of room to expand. There is very little to no information on growing these plants hydroponically so we are wandering in the dark. We are following basic berry growing principles of each of these types of berries so we will see how we do.
When we planted the strawberries on Tuesday there were no leaves on any of the plants, just roots and sticks (old runners). We now have leaves (yes, plural) on every plant. We are very happy to see this. We are using a different nutrient manufacturer (General Hydroponics) than we used in the indoor grow room (Canna) to give something new a try. We still remain pleased with Canna too, a little expensive, but great results.
We know that the rasp, blue, and blackberries may outgrow the space we have them in now but with a second greenhouse under construction, we will have plenty of room to expand. There is very little to no information on growing these plants hydroponically so we are wandering in the dark. We are following basic berry growing principles of each of these types of berries so we will see how we do.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Rion Greenhouse Officially In Production
It has been a little over a month (not every day), a lot of sweat equity and learning experiences. We are live in the house !
We got the cracked manifold replaced and continued our water test. We had a minor setback on two of manual control wires. Rain Bird wires controlling the same valves were fine, manual switch wires had an open circuit. Had to replace the wires, and we were back in business.
The Merlin Pro R.O. system has been working hard and produced all the R.O. water we needed to fill the production tanks today. We added nutrients, tested pH, EC, and Temp. We were ready to plant.
We got 26 strawberry plants in the ebb and flow (flood and drain) trays, and 6 blueberry plants (3 varieties) planted in one Monster Ebb and Gro system.
Tomorrow, Raspberry and Blackberry plants go in. We will then video the production house for you to see.
We got the cracked manifold replaced and continued our water test. We had a minor setback on two of manual control wires. Rain Bird wires controlling the same valves were fine, manual switch wires had an open circuit. Had to replace the wires, and we were back in business.
The Merlin Pro R.O. system has been working hard and produced all the R.O. water we needed to fill the production tanks today. We added nutrients, tested pH, EC, and Temp. We were ready to plant.
We got 26 strawberry plants in the ebb and flow (flood and drain) trays, and 6 blueberry plants (3 varieties) planted in one Monster Ebb and Gro system.
Tomorrow, Raspberry and Blackberry plants go in. We will then video the production house for you to see.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Inches away from the finish line
We made it through the day washing hydroton, finishing the Monster Ebb and Gro system connections, plumbed in the nutrient mixing tank, moved the stacked ebb and flow tables in place and connected the pumps/drain/overflow, and we even ran a little test on the system pump. What a great day.
What is left?
1. Install the greenhouse gutters
2. Complete water test through all grow systems
3. Chiller test
4. Plant !
What is left?
1. Install the greenhouse gutters
2. Complete water test through all grow systems
3. Chiller test
4. Plant !
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Rion greenhouse just about completed
We have our first greenhouse almost ready for production. We have our chiller installed, water tanks and grow systems plumbed and ready to go. The misting system is installed and tested. We still need to connect the grow pots to the Monster Ebb n Gro systems.
The Rain Bird sprinkler controller has been programmed and passed all system checks on valves and wiring. All wiring in the main control panel has been tested. We still have a lot of hydroton to wash and need to move in our ebb and flow (flood and drain) tables.
The only "test" left is.....water. We will be doing the complete water test in the systems Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully it will be a good day.
The Rain Bird sprinkler controller has been programmed and passed all system checks on valves and wiring. All wiring in the main control panel has been tested. We still have a lot of hydroton to wash and need to move in our ebb and flow (flood and drain) tables.
The only "test" left is.....water. We will be doing the complete water test in the systems Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully it will be a good day.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
We Have Power and Plumbing
We turned on the electricity in the greenhouse today. First switch I flipped was for the exhaust fans. It has been getting pretty warm working inside there these past few days. We still have to do complete systems tests on all of the circuitry, solenoid valves, Rain Bird, System Pump, etc.
We started our grow system plumbing today as we finished all of the electrical distribution within the house (sans Chiller which arrived late today). We have three Ebb and Flow tanks plumbed for the strawberry grow tables, and tomorrow we will finish the three Monster Ebb n Gro systems for the berry bushes (rasp, black, blue).
We are in the final days on the critical path as I got an Email from Burpee today indicating that our plants will be here on Tuesday next week...still so much to do between now and then. I think we will make it though.
We started our grow system plumbing today as we finished all of the electrical distribution within the house (sans Chiller which arrived late today). We have three Ebb and Flow tanks plumbed for the strawberry grow tables, and tomorrow we will finish the three Monster Ebb n Gro systems for the berry bushes (rasp, black, blue).
We are in the final days on the critical path as I got an Email from Burpee today indicating that our plants will be here on Tuesday next week...still so much to do between now and then. I think we will make it though.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Greenhouse Review
We have talked and talked, now you get to see it live. We have some internal plumbing, electrical and other miscellaneous work to do and then we will begin grow system installations. We are looking forward to finishing this house so we can get construction underway on the second house before the summer Texas heat hits.
We will be growing blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries hydroponically in this greenhouse. Since we have a wild animal population from Africa, Asia, and North America here on the ranch that would devour these plants in a day, the greenhouse is the only option. Many of these plants need to "winter over" between growing seasons so a protected outdoor environment such as this seemed ideal.
We will be growing blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries hydroponically in this greenhouse. Since we have a wild animal population from Africa, Asia, and North America here on the ranch that would devour these plants in a day, the greenhouse is the only option. Many of these plants need to "winter over" between growing seasons so a protected outdoor environment such as this seemed ideal.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Greenhouse Foundation Complete
We have been busy this past week. The greenhouse kit arrived; we have laid a pad for the foundation; completed a cinder block foundation; completed the first phase of construction (the roof) and will begin assembly of the main portion of the greenhouse today.
The Monster Ebb n Gro systems, Merlin Garden Pro R.O. system, Tall Blue Pre-Filter and assorted electrical and plumbing equipment is all here.
We have placed the orders for the Raspberry, Blackberry, Strawberry, and Blueberry plants that will have a very nice home in this greenhouse.
The pad was laid in such a way that a second greenhouse could be added easily and will be once we finish the first one.
The Monster Ebb n Gro systems, Merlin Garden Pro R.O. system, Tall Blue Pre-Filter and assorted electrical and plumbing equipment is all here.
We have placed the orders for the Raspberry, Blackberry, Strawberry, and Blueberry plants that will have a very nice home in this greenhouse.
The pad was laid in such a way that a second greenhouse could be added easily and will be once we finish the first one.
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