The temperatures have moved upward so that the threat of frost is absent. As such I have started moving my plants outdoors.
Of my 15 or so plants, 4 were outdoors today and looked all the same as they had looked indoors. The RH around here is 30-60% now, with temperatures 35-65 deg F for the next week.
The new home for the plants is a raised bed I prepared from nearly 1 cubic yard of compost. The bed is approximately 13' across, 21" deep, and 8" tall. For now I have the potted plants sitting atop the bed to adjust to the climate which is more variable outdoors than indoors. I will transplant them into the bed soon. The idea for the raised bed is to give the plants a more aerated home that drains. Since it is located on a northern face, they will never get direct sun. Last year showed that potted plants liked the location. The front and back of the bed is contained with mesh and lattice work, so it will drain and air can get in through 3 of the 6 sides.
I was think of adding some potting soil to the raised bed.
I was alos thinking of adding some Plant Tone natural fertilizer and some contolled release coated fertilizer to the compost, both of which would be added at rates less than label since the compost is abundant.
What do you all think?
Sounds excellent. The only thing I would say is to maybe hold off on the fertilizer until the plants are established some in their new home.
Today I scored some gardening cloth to put over the bed to help keep the weeds out. More importantly, it will help keep the cats out, too. Damn pets, crapping in the beds. Anyway, I wonder if that cloth helps retain moisture. I also got some soaker hose. I am thinking of burying it in the bed before the plants go in. These items were freebies.
More fun in the yard on Sunday. Woo hoo!
Make sure you cut good size holes in the cloth, it traps everything underneith, including air, water ......I'd put soaker on top, let in rundown and through. Weed cloth is a bitch if something goes wrong, very difficult to cut, or work around.....Just some words of caution. weeds shouldn't be too bad unless its in full sun.....shade weeds are easy to pull....Pre-emergent products work OK also.
I am glad I asked.
The weed cloth seems like something to use elsewhere.
THe soaker hose would be used only intermittently, not constantly.
No cloth, and hose on top.
Yeah I figured you wouldn't use it constantly.......I don't have much experience with hose, but have lots with drip systems otherwise. Modern emitters hae pretty much anything you can think of. Little sprayers from 1-30 gph....some ones I use on larger camelias and bushes can be dialed from 1-5 gph, and turned on and off if you don't need any on that plant. That one feature alone deserves the Nobel Prize .....for a 50 cent part.
Weed cloth is ok the first year....usually, then weeds do come up through it, or grow down through it, then you pull them, and up a section comes....which is a real pain....like trying to re-bury a bedsheet in the garden......clotted with dirt.....grrr I could talk for hours about that one!!!!!
good luck with your plants!!!
I moved most of my plants to the garden yesterday and this morning got up to be greeted by gail force winds which once again snaped most of them at ground level.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :oops:
Yeah, Tennessee got torn new ones. Ouch.
The pots kept falling over during the week while I was letting them get used to being outdoors before transplanting them into the bed. Fortunately the bed is against a wall, so the wind is not so severe.
10 of 16 the indoor plants are now in the raised bed.
A couple of interesting observations made during the transplanting:
1) The pots were really rootbound. Roots all against the inner surface. Some were white, but many were not. They will be happier in the larger space.
2) The potting mix in the old pots was cool. Transpiration/evaporation through the terra cotta pot leds to cooling. Cooling may be a benefit in summer, but not during early spring. Consider that the root mass/stem is almost the heart and brain of the plant and having a cold bath constantly does not seem like a ideal climate.
3) The new bed was warm from the compost decomposing. I have been trying to aid it by populating it with any earthworms I find.
The bed and the pots had been outdoors in place for a week, so everything had a chance to equilibrate.
I opted not for the soaker hose at all, but did opt to cover the bed with the non-woven fabric and cedar mulch on top of the fabric. The compost is rather porous since it has been chopped (first going into the compost pile and second coming out of the compost pile), so I don't think aeration is going to be a difficult issue. That was also part of the intent of using a raise bed, to prevent soaking and to promote drainage.
If these plants fail, I still have the six parents indoors under the lights.
Spring......we are getting inches and inches of oool rain....On the subject of coolness and warmness......I have been keeping an outside remote thermometer buried 6 inches down through the winter, with one 6 feet in the air. Also have a split setup int the hot n'humid orchid house, where I do cuttings, including Bongos Blossers. Ground is always 10 degrees cooler in day, and about 7-10 degrees warmer at night. Greenhouse temps also have large difference, but we have 6 fans running, so its mitigated somewhat, I try and pull cool air UP from the ground in the summer, and hot air DOWN in the winter.....its not an ideal setup, more like a homeowners hobby deal.......(not my fault!!!!!
Something I noticed, seems obvious, but will mention it anyways.
It it feels warm to the touch, its hotter than you are, so thats above 98.F If it feels cool to the touch, its below 98 F.
My cuttings water was getting too hot I think, so I have shifted stuff to my apt. which is unheated...stays about 60 F all day.
Things which feel cool to tje touch are often 70 degrees F,
Update...
A little over a week ago we had a sleet and a slight freeze - 4 of the 10 outdoor plants were zapped rather hard, but not totally. I think everything will pull through. Some plants are showing new growth already.
As for the indoor plants, there were moved this evening from their root-bound terra cotta pots, so half-barrel planters made of cedar. The planters are 2x the diameter of the terra cotta pots.
No more mineral build up to glaze the inside and scale-up the outside of the pots. Hopefully the roots will be much happier in the half-barrels.
I wonder if cedar makes a good material for cactus planters?