Jaboticaba Update

Happy Jaboticaba plant 2of3

Happy Jaboticaba plant 1of3

Looking over my blog, I noticed that it has been almost exactly six months since I potted up my jaboticaba plants. While their growth isn't nearly as explosive as my cherimoyas (updated to follow), they certainly have put out quite a bit of foliage! There was a bit of browning on the tips of the older leaves but I attribute this to the low humidity my apartment experienced (despite having a fish tank and humidifier in the room). These plants seem to love water and the more I water them, the happier they seem to be. Based on this and their slow growth, I think they would make an outstanding specimen for an upcoming project, "Paludarium Redux".

Aphids!

As I've been catching up on work, I haven't had much time to take care of the plants aside from a daily misting and biweekly watering.  I noticed, however, the pepper plants that I'd brought in were getting a sort of fuzzy appearance which I at first attributed to a large, secondary flower bloom under their new HPS light. When I thought about it a bit more though, I looked closer (underneath leaves in particular) and noticed that I had an aphid invasion on my hands! After doing some research and a bit of thinking, I came up with my (mostly?) organic fix.  In a 32 oz. spray bottle, I mixed 18 oz. of coffee (not piping hot!), 1.5 teaspoons of 70% neem oil and a splash of OMRI listed insecticidal soap spray topped off with RO water. The coffee and soap are certainly organic but the neem oil did not seem to be. Perhaps there is something about the remaining 30% or the manufacturer did not go to the bother of being OMRI listed? I'll have to do more research. Coffee contains caffeine (of course) which the plant produces to protect it from insects.  What gives us a nice morning pick me up overwhelms the insect nervous system causing death.  On inspection of my coffee plants, I did not find a single aphid on them, possibly due to the plant's defense. I did notice they had made their way to the loquat seedlings which makes me think that the softer, less waxy leaves are more appetizing to these critters. The neem oil is a natural extract of neem tree seeds that deters insects from biting the plant and causing those that do to die from a variety of effects. The soap helps to emulsify the neem oil which is naturally hydrophobic.  I sprayed down the infected plants to dripping on both the top and bottom of every leaf and hope that this acts to stop my pest invasion.  If not, I will give it a try in one more week. DISCLAIMER: I have not read before about mixing these products and take no responsibility if this harms your plant.  This is a test of a broad organic pesticide that works through numerous mechanisms.  I will update this post in coming days/weeks to discuss its efficacy both in terms of ridding the plants of aphids as well as any potential side effects. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment on my solution (pun intended)!

Building a 4' T8 Light Stand

As I worked to clean and organize my plant table, I decided to build a light stand for an inexpensive T8 fluorescent shop light I'd purchased. While it would have been nicer and more efficient to go with a T5 set up, the 2 bulb T8 light cost only $20 with bulbs. To the best of my knowledge, that kind of money wouldn't even buy the ballast for a T5 light! This project was quite simple and I only managed one minor botch.

Parts List:

• 2 untreated 8' 2"x4" boards (~$4)
• 8 2.5" decking screws (had on hand)
  
• box of 4 90^o angle irons with screws ($2, only used 2)
• box of 4 screw end metal loops ($2, only used 2)

Directions:

1. One of the 2x4's was cut into 2 3' leg pieces.
2. The other 2x4 was cut into a 5'6" beam piece and 2 ~15" support pieces.
3. the 15" support pieces were screwed to the leg pieces perpendicularly at the bottom to form 2 large "T's". I used 2 screws for each attachment.
   
4. The 5'6" beam was placed on top of the "T's" and screwed into it, forming the stand.
5. I put the angle irons in the under side of the beam/inside of the legs to help stabilize the whole set up.
6. I measured where the support holes were in my T8 shop light and marked approximately where I wanted the light to hang. I drilled a small hole at these spots and hand tightened the screw ended metal loops (I am not sure the proper name) into the holes. Note that you shouldn't drill too big of a hole and that plastic screw anchors might be a good idea... but this seemed pretty solid to me.
7. Using the chains and hooks included with the shop light, I hung the light and plugged it in. I use a lamp timer to keep the lights on 14hrs/day. This timer would have added another $6 or so to the cost but I already had one set up and the 3-way socket plug had an empty spot. :) You could manually turn the light on and off but chances are, you'll forget and the plants will like having the regular schedule. You'll need to adjust the height of the light/plants to find an optimal distance.

And there you have it! A nice set up for keeping your plants happy over Winter (or year round) for under $30, a fraction of the cost of most pre-fab light set ups. The stand also makes it easy to put up a few clamp work lights with full spectrum CFL's for addition lighting. One minor mistake I made was putting the supports on the inside of the leg as opposed to the outside. Putting them outside would have been a bit more structurally stable so I'll know better for my next stand. It seems quite sturdy though and has helped me organize the plant table quite well.

This should show the hardware a bit better. In the top right corner is the angle iron and you can see the eyelet screw coming out of the 2x4 next to it. This set up is sturdy enough to hold a gallon of fermenting liquid (DIY ginger ale!) that adds a bit of CO₂ to the grow table (as it sinks down from above). It may not be a significant increase in CO₂ levels but it keeps the jug out of the way!