Hey, @DefNSmokn, would you mind sharing a description of your shade screen setup? I’ve got some 2-3 week seedlings that see direct sun from about 7 am to roughly 2 pm and are in shade after that (Phx area). They seem to be doing OK for now (get cupped slightly in the high heat), but I know when the 110’s hit, they’ll need more protection. What percent of light is your shade screen allowing? Thanks for any info…
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Sure! @wannabe63
Its just temporary since we are having our house built atm, we are staying with in laws for a few more weeks.
Anyways, I hammered 18” rebar into the ground, and slid the PVC pipe over it, securing it to the 2x4 on the block wall. The shade screen is from Lowes, im not sure what % it really is, but it looks like 50%.
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@DefNSmokn, you’ve got skills, very functional and economical shade structure! And it gives you the flexibility to open up on the rare cloudy day, or keep the shade in the brutal sun. Thanks for sharing.
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In Southern AZ using WW photoperiod seeds. I’m about 5 weeks into my grow and the plants are 12-18"tall / 10 nodes high
25gal fabric pots, soil mix of FF ocean blend, coir and Perlite (approx 30%each) and about 10%Vermiculite.
I have them raised about a foot of the ground and I’m going to put a tub with gravel and water under them in a couple of weeks. That helps lower temps and creates added air movement around the root zone.
They’re in direct sun from sunrise until about 12, then the 20%(?) shade cloth covers them for a few hours, then back in direct sun until night. I started putting the seedlings outside on covered porch day 2 after sprouting. They got early morning and late afternoon direct light until 3weeks old then moved to current setup. These WW absolutely love the light!
I’m using a thin sheer white curtain suspended right above the plants for midday protection only. I have another 30% outdoor shade cloth to add in a few weeks when the temps get too high. I plan to have it cover from about 9am-4pm. I’ll also add a loose wrapping of the white cloth around and over the pots to help keep that area cooler (help retain evaporative cooling from soil).
Monsoon humidity in Pima Co is usually 40-60%. Obv higher when it’s rained and can get much lower with a high front. Until July, humidity is generally under 25% (often in the single digits). Obviously, there are natural swings throughout even a single day.
Currently I water less but expect to be doing a full watering (several gallons) both morning and night through the summer. The coir, Perlite + loose soil mix will let it dry fast and that helps keep the whole pot cooler (harness the beauty of natural evaporative cooling!)
This is gonna be fun!
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@AZoutdoors2021 I can see you’ve put a lot of thought into this grow. Love the way you’ve responded to the myriad of challenges that growing in the low desert involves.
What are you using for water? I’m about 90 miles north of you, and the tap water here, per city report, has 567 ppm right out of the faucet. I can deal with the chlorine/chloramine with aquarium chemicals, but for the beginning, my three week old plants are drinking better water than I am.
You must be getting crazy fast root growth with that medium mix. I’m excited to follow along on your grow.
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Hey fellow soaz grower! I was too hesitant to grow outside this year, but all of you here have me regretting that decision. You guys are doing great! I love all of your ideas for dealing with the heat and sun.
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AZoutdoors2021, welcome and thanks for posting!
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Welcome!
I’m hoping my white widow auto has about 3 weeks left. Started her indoors from seed Feb 13th. Transplanted her outdoors March 1st.
To me anyway, she’s starting to look like the 6 million dollar man’s space plane that he crashed from the intro.
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If you end up having to use city water very much for your gardening, a company called boogie brew makes an inline filter that connects directly to your garden hose.
I bought one to use for low/medium tier gardening stuff. My city water still runs 400+ PPM’s even after filtering. Crazy how many free minerals we get in our tap water.
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LOL! So, at least once, you need to smoke her while watching this.
She’s looking great!
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I still watch that show they play it and the Bionic Woman on Sunday afternoons.
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@Oheeeoh yeah, there are several filters that work with the chlorine and heavy metals. But the only system that removes the minerals - the ppm - is an RO system. Someday…
Going to California for a week on the 20th I’ve been trying to figure out how to water them while I’m gone. I bought a small submersible pump and some drip tubing and stuff. I’m gonna put the pump in a concrete mixing tray it holds about 8 gallons. I’ll run 1/4" tubing to each pot and a couple back into the tray to relieve some of the pressure on the bubblers. Pump will be on a timer I have two weeks to get it dialed in. I’ll take pictures during the process
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Pretty sure 8 gals is plenty of capacity for only one week
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Heck I bet you could just plant it in a self wicking 5 gallon bucket
Don’t want to transplant yet and the concrete tray was sitting right there anyway. They are in my garage in a closet. The first weekend in June they will be put in the ground in the greenhouse. It’s hot and dry in my garage the humidity is alway around 20% IL only need them watered twice while I’m gone. Thought about using some kind of wick system but two weeks isn’t enough time to tell for sure that it’s working. Pump was cheap and it will get used on other things. I’m a plumber, pumps and tubing is how my brain works.
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Looks like you have a solid plan!
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