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  • Author Author: ntewinkel
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Greenhouse update

ntewinkel

So I gave up on the temperature monitoring for the time being, as watering it became more important.

 

With us wanting to take a few vacation days, I figured I should get this going so that we don't need someone to constantly water it.

 

I have been chipping away at it very slowly over the summer.

 

At the start of the summer I added a sprinkler water line going around the inside perimeter, with little tubes and dripper spikes going into every pot.

For a while I used just a bucket with a little fountain pump to send the water to the line to try it out and all was well.

 

I then bought a (clean and new) 120 liter garbage can that I use to hold the water. It's still using the little fountain pump because it seems to do the trick.

 

So I have the task of watering reduced to me just having to plug in the pump now image  I chose a garbage can because it was a fraction of the price of a rain barrel of roughly the same capacity. So the whole project is still affordable too.

 

I made the mistake of adding an organic liquid fish fertilizer into the water though, which then caused some kind of fungal or algae growth (something slimey) that clogged all of the little dripper tubes and took me a full day to clear up again. My neighbour is using a hydroponic setup in his greenhouse and his fertilizers don't seem to have that issue, so maybe the fish stuff is a bad idea. So the automatic fertilizing part needs some work - maybe I'll eventually get an in-line dispenser or something.

 

For the technology of it, I have it pretty much done except for assembly - I bought an electrical box and with outlet - the type that one would add to a workshop wall to add a plugin. I was able to mount the relay board into the bottom of it. Then I used an old computer power cable and wired it into the box and the relays. So basically you plug that into the wall and the two outlets are relay controlled. With the Arduino beside it I can easily control the power to the two outlets.

 

That left me with needing a way to power the Arduino board, so I bought a wall plugin to power cell phones off eBay (less than 2 bucks) - it has a spot to plug in a USB cable so I could plug the arduino into that. That works, but why use an extra outlet? So I took the adapter apart - the cover came off easily with one screw and nothing was glued. I then desoldered the power connections and added some "pigtails" (short electrical wires) that I could just wire into the same electrical outlet to get power. So far, so good.

 

Then to make it more compact still I desoldered the big USB connector and soldered on a short length of a USB cable with the end that plugs into the Arduino board.

That all works welll too.

 

That's where it's at right now. I have enough space in the outlet box to fit in the power adapter, but I still need to figure out how to mount it safely.

 

And then the trickiest part might be where I try to squeeze an Arduino Nano into the box too, although I'm thinking that because I want to use a 16x2 lcd display that I'll have to use an external box for that anyways.

 

Cheers,

-Nico

Parents

  • Hi Nico,

     

    Yea, adding anything to pure water results in slime.  If you look at most irrigation systems, they all use pure water and then later apply the fertilizer in a separate application.

     

    You might want to look at some of the hydrogardening being done in Holland.  They mix up a nutrient fluid just before they do their plant feeding so that they plumbing only holds the stuff for a very short time.

     

    As you stated in your blog, its a slow learning experience.  Have you done any calculation on how much longer you extend your growing season with the greenhouse?  I would be interested to see what types of new crops you could grow given the more controlled environment.

     

    Thanks for the update,

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    Hi DAB,

     

    Thanks for the reply.

    I like the idea of running some nutrients and then flushing with clear water. It's not fun having to clean out the lines, so that sounds like a great way to avoid doing that again. I will have to figure something out for that.

     

    This really is still a big experiment for me - I don't know how my parents always got such a bountiful veggie garden and here I am struggling to even grow zucchinis - maybe it skips a generation image

     

    For growing season, I've checked around with the local organic growers and they seem to go year round with certain crops. I live on in the Pacific NorthWest (though in Canada we call it the Pacific SouthWest image) so the temperature is quite moderated year round.

     

    My main issue in the winter is light - there just isn't enough sunlight to get things growing much. So with grow lights it would do very well I think, but I'm not that dedicated image

     

    Also it's a cheap little greenhouse, so it still freezes at times in the winter, though not as much as outside.

     

    My plan for the greenhouse was mainly to start plants for transplanting in Feb/Mar, and then grow hot weather crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers through the main season. It kept my tomato plants safe from very early on (I think March) when my wife decided she needed the seedlings out of her office (the only place that was safe from the cats digging in them!)

     

    I think I might try starting some cold weather crops like lettuce, spinach, and kale in the fall and see how they do in there through the winter. Apparently kale will survive outside so I'll be trying there too.

     

    I have a book specifically tuned for veggie growing in this area (Pacific Gardener), which I'm using to try to figure out what and when to plant.

     

    I'd be interested to hear your ideas too.

     

    It sounds like you have some experience in gardening and greenhouses?

     

    Cheers,

    -Nico

Comment
  • in reply to DAB

    Hi DAB,

     

    Thanks for the reply.

    I like the idea of running some nutrients and then flushing with clear water. It's not fun having to clean out the lines, so that sounds like a great way to avoid doing that again. I will have to figure something out for that.

     

    This really is still a big experiment for me - I don't know how my parents always got such a bountiful veggie garden and here I am struggling to even grow zucchinis - maybe it skips a generation image

     

    For growing season, I've checked around with the local organic growers and they seem to go year round with certain crops. I live on in the Pacific NorthWest (though in Canada we call it the Pacific SouthWest image) so the temperature is quite moderated year round.

     

    My main issue in the winter is light - there just isn't enough sunlight to get things growing much. So with grow lights it would do very well I think, but I'm not that dedicated image

     

    Also it's a cheap little greenhouse, so it still freezes at times in the winter, though not as much as outside.

     

    My plan for the greenhouse was mainly to start plants for transplanting in Feb/Mar, and then grow hot weather crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers through the main season. It kept my tomato plants safe from very early on (I think March) when my wife decided she needed the seedlings out of her office (the only place that was safe from the cats digging in them!)

     

    I think I might try starting some cold weather crops like lettuce, spinach, and kale in the fall and see how they do in there through the winter. Apparently kale will survive outside so I'll be trying there too.

     

    I have a book specifically tuned for veggie growing in this area (Pacific Gardener), which I'm using to try to figure out what and when to plant.

     

    I'd be interested to hear your ideas too.

     

    It sounds like you have some experience in gardening and greenhouses?

     

    Cheers,

    -Nico

Children
  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Hi Nico,

     

    I grew up in farming country, so I have been around agriculture methods a lot.  As I went into engineering, my wife and I did some square foot gardening until it became too much for us to do.

     

    Being ecclectic, I watch all of the science shows on TV and do occasional web searches on ideas.  That is how I found out about the effort the Dutch are doing to bring practical crop production methods into an Urban setting that keeps quality up, foot print down and the food as organic as they can.

     

    I have been to your neck of the woods and the Vancouver area has many stunning gardens and variety of plant life, so with a greenhouse and grow bulbs, you should be able to grow most vegatables there.  If you put a solar collector on it and install a heating pad, you should have no problem in seed germination or in growing most plants.  You might want to do the upside down planting method.  In a controlled environment, they can be quite efficient in both space, food and water usage.

     

    Given your climate, you should be able to do cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, lettuce, and most of the squashes year round.  Just remember, one zuchini plant generates a lot of fruit.

    Luckily, I discovered that I could use zuchini in my grandmothers 14-day pickling process.  If you like sweet pickles, send me a private email and I will share the recipe.  It is easy to do and the pickles are very delicious.

     

    So keep plugging away, gardening is fun as long as you have the energy for it.  I had to give it up after I was disabled, but we found a local company that delivers fresh organically grown local produce right to our door.

     

    So eat healthy and have fun.

    DAB

     

    PS: If you use grow lights, be prepared for a visit from the local drug enforcement agencies.  I don't know about Canada, but here in Ohio, they always assume we are growing illegal plants in our basement.  But that's another story. image

  • in reply to DAB

    Hi DAB,

     

    I've been meaning to msg back for a few months now, but on the bright side there's more to report now that the outside growing season is slowing down for the winter.

     

    I think I overwatered my tomatoes all summer with my arduino controlled watering system - it was basically just a timer because I didn't have the time to add the moisture sensors. The plants struggled, and when I went to throw the dead ones out after quite a long time of not watering it, the soil was still sopping went and smelled kind of swampy. Oh well, we had plenty of tomatoes for our needs anyway. Next year I'll plant fewer tomatoes and (hopefully) treat them better.

     

    I still need to find some time to clean out the summer stuff and plant some winter crops in the greenhouse. It may not happen, with all the other things going on, but I've seen some pictures of people using eaves-throughs as planters, which seems like a pretty neat and easy setup, so I wanted to try that with some lettuce. I did start more kale for overwintering, but the slugs are being pretty mean to me this year. I've sent hundreds of slugs into exile this year already, but I think I started that too late which gave them a big headstart.

     

    We also have a couple of companies that will deliver a box of fresh organic food to our door, so we will likely sign up for that soon too. My wife was actually just talking about that last week. And it's amazing how affordable it is, especially considering how much effort it takes to grow anything myself.

     

    And LOL about the grow lights - we have lots of "entrepreneurs" in this area too so we'd likely have a similar visit. I bought two CFL grow lights (the kind that go into regular light sockets) that I plan on using for (legal) seedlings in the spring, so the energy draw shouldn't be too alarming.

     

    I didn't have too many zucchinis this year, though at one point I gave about a dozen to a local charity for zucchini races (they add wheels and send them down a ramp), and my mother in law made some relish. There's still a handful growing out there but between the drought and the shorter days they're not growing very fast anymore.

     

    Hope you had a wonderful summer, and hoping that the winter will bring loads more fun and interesting projects image

     

    Cheers,

    -Nico

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Hi Nico,

     

    Yea, tomatoes do not like being in a swamp.  By the way, they are very heavy feeders during production time, so you might want to add fertilizer during the season to keep them happy.  Also, if they are indoors, they will continue to produce through the winter if you keep them from getting frosted.

     

    Good winter crops are your cabbage family.  Try Broccoli, culiflower, cabbages, especially red cabbage and radishes.

     

    My wife and I have been using a local organic fruit and vegetable delivery service.  So we have also been enjoying delivery of fresh food.

     

    The summer was way too hot, but that encouraged me to stay inside and work on my books.  We published Volume 3 and Volume 4 is in final edits.  I have also been working on a new theory on the essence of dark matter.  So far I have accounted for magnetism, dark matter and dark stars.  Plus I think I know how Hydrogen is formed in the sun and neutrons.  Very interesting possibilities if everything works out.

     

    So as you can see, I have been having fun all summer and look forward to cooler the winter weather.

     

    Have fun,

    DAB

  • in reply to DAB

    Wow, that's some pretty neat stuff you're working on! What are the books you published?

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Hi Nico,

     

    I am working with two other gentlemen to publish the "World War II Sea Wars" series.  We are documenting ship movements during the war year for all navies and those commercial ships that we can document.

    Volume 1 : The Nazi's Strike First, covers Aug 1939 through March 1940.

    Volume 2 : France Falls, Britain Stands Alone, covers April 1940 through September 1940.

    Volume 3 : The Royal Navy is Bloodied in the Mediterranean, covers Oct 1940 through May 1941.

    Volume 4 : Germany drives Russia to the Allies, covers June 1941 through November 1941.  Due out in 4th Qtr 2012.

    Volume 5 : Air Raid Pearl Harbor, This is No Drill!, covers December 1941 through March 1942. Due out 2nd Qtr 2013.

     

    You can find the books at Lulu.com.

    If you like history, these books are the most detailed ever published covering Naval activities of the period.

    You can also get them as PDF's.  Each Volume is between 500-550 pages of data, with very little commentary.  We present the facts, not propaganda.  Give them a look.

     

    Thanks

    DAB