November 21 2009

I think I am the only greenhouse on Long Island that is growing without heat.

I have not confirmed that, but it is what my shocked neighbor told me while we were having coffee the other day. I'm happy with the results given the situation. The baby leaf spinach is yummy, so is the cilantro, lettuce, parsley and basil. I am happy to see a 6" squash appear at the 7 week mark from seed. The beans and peppers are about 15-16" tall. The various tomato varieties are very healthy. After the roof blew apart, I thought I had lost a row of new seedlings, but today they are doing quite well with new growth. The only plants that have been lost are the ones eaten by the "critters" who frequent the property at night. The plants are now fed once per week with the various Jennifer's Landscape Vitamins blends.

fungus gone

The fungus that appeared after I applied vitamins to the high N potting soil is now gone. the plants are just as strong and healthy as the ones that were not planted in peat based potting soil and high N fertilizer.

November 14 2009

The plastic blew off the greenhouse during the Friday the Thirteenth night's storm. The plants are doing pretty well although they still do not receive heat or water - other than the rain that has poured in over the weekend. The seeds were planted about 7 weeks ago. I am not sure how they will fare as the greenhouse owner is not certain he will recover he structure, even though I rented the space through December. Personal tours of the greenhouse by appointment only.

Week 6

Picture #1

Tomato plants growing in topsoil with wood chips and Jennifer's Landscape Vitamins. Start of the 6th week from seed.

Picture #2 & #3

I felt sorry for the littler plants that were grown in chemicals and decided to feed them before leaving for a week to see what would happen. This is the fungal mass that grew on the top of the soil. It did not appear to hurt the growth of the plants - but was a complete suprise. This only occurred on soils that had an abundance of high N value and a peat based potting mix. The compost and topsoil soils without high N values did not develop this. (Picture #1)

Picture #4

Its been awfully cold on Long Island and the greenhouse has not been heated. The plants have not been watered in a week. Still, the only loss is from the "varmits" that dig up plants and eat their roots.

Some comparison shots

I got a few requests from people to see comparison shots of the plants grown with conventional fertilizers in the most common peat moss based mixes against the topsoil and vitamins versus the compost and vitamins. Here are a few pictures that tell the whole story.