Raybo's (Leak-proof) InnTainers - Doing It In The Bedroom (pics)

[tam91]

Ah, those are 18 gallon containers. For some reason I thought they were the larger ones.

I've looked for a restaurant outlet. Lowes does have those racks, but for not much more Sams Club has one like yours, but with wheels. I think I'll just get that one for seed starting (not for your price though, ah well).

I'll have to experiment some more with the fertilzer next year - I think you guys have a better regimen than I do. What I really need is more sun, but not gonna happen.

I'll look forward to seeing how your experiments turn out.

Now, to find florouescent fixtures for not too much $$$....

[rnewste]

Dust,

Bit of a crap-shoot here as I only had time to actually root 6 of the plants that went into the InnTainers - the other 6 were from suckers cut from the outside plants yesterday and stuck right into the InnTainers. I have had about a 75% success rate in rooting suckers directly in wet Potting Mix, so I am optimistic they will take. If some do not, I've got plenty of replacement suckers still growing on the outdoor tomato plants.

The final InnTainer experiment should be interesting to see what transferrable root-ball develops that could then be planted outside in the Spring. I have Black & Brown Boar as well as a Pink Boar in the inner 1 gallon buckets for this trial.

Raybo

[MJACTIVIST]

My big unknown now is giving the plants the right amount of artificial light - without burning them.

Well as you know they aren't effected by photoperiodism. Also you can't ever replicate the suns lumens with a million 1000w hps's. So you'll never burn plants with too much light. What you can burn plants with is the heat from the bulb. And it looks like the hood you’re using Ray doesn’t have any glass. Also it’s not air cooled so you might have some heat issues. When I used hoods like this my test was to put your hand under the light palm down. If you don’t feel excessive heat then it’s a good distance for the canopy.
Hope this is what you’re looking for.
L8
MJ

[dustdevil]

Raybo,

About a year ago, I visited a hydroponic site where the webmaster had kept a tomato plant indoors hydroponicly for several years. It was about 12 feet tall and the central leader was something like a small tree trunk. Have you or your son ever contemplated something along those lines? Also, I wonder if the tote people might give you a partial sponsorship in light of your work and the ad possibilities...

Dust

[dustdevil]

I think my concern would be how well the underside of the leaves take to the reflected light. I don't think the rest of the plant will get toasted.

[rnewste]

Originally Posted by dustdevil

Raybo,
Also, I wonder if the tote people might give you a partial sponsorship in light of your work and the ad possibilities...

Dust

Dust,

I've never made a penny on the EarthTainer (nor do I expect to). In fact, I spend over a $1000 per year on the EarthTainer.org Website and Legal fees, etc. I simply do this for the fun of it, and meeting interesting people in the process.

Tomorrow I am being interviewed by an Editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper who is writing an article on alternative ways to grow tomatoes given the poor soil conditions in S. Florida.

As tomato plants are able to continue to grow for years, which I understand they do in Central America in the wild, there is no reason in a controlled environment, one could get several years life from a single plant. Disease would be the bigger worry, however.

Raybo

[bigbubbacain]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Next, getting an oscillating fan set up and figuring out the best way to hand pollinate the tomato blossoms.

I plan to write the full InnTainer Construction Guide over the Christmas vacation and post it about January 10.

Raybo

Ray,

That's ingenious! I envy you. I wish I had that kine of space.

I actually had really good luck pollinating with an inexpensive electric toothbrush, especially the Purple Haze that I grew from your seeds last year. If I ever find room, I'm goint to try and grow a volunteer plant to term in "deep water aero" setup that i normall use just for growing seedlings.

[rnewste]

MJ,

Thanks for the tips on the Light. Today I will scope in the direct, and secondary light pattern to set the distance appropriately. I want to find out how close I can have the Gill Netting below the Light in Rack #2 without it catching on fire.

Bigbubba,

I remember some posts by Morgan where he modified an electric tooth-brush. I'll have to do a search in a few days in the archives.

Raybo

[tam91]

Off topic, but I gotta do it - bigbubbacain, I LOVE your avatar.

[rnewste]

MJ,

This is the HPS bulb my Son sent me with the HydroFarm light.



He said this spectrum would work for tomatoes over the entire growing sequence.

Raybo

[rnewste]

The InnTainer system went "live" tonight:



Son recommended I set the Lumentek Ballast at 250 Watts initially, until the seedlings gain some growth, then switch the output up to the 400 Watt setting.



This room is REALLY bright when the Light is in operation with good coverage of the 4 ft by 4 ft planting area. Looks like a Lighthouse beam from outside in the yard. Hope the neighbors don't get upset, and with it going off at 8:00pm each night, nobody should loose any sleep.

Raybo

[desertlzbn]

Just be careful that the po po doesn't think you are growing anything your are not suppose to be!

[Stepheninky]

Originally Posted by rnewste

Dust,

I've never made a penny on the EarthTainer (nor do I expect to). In fact, I spend over a $1000 per year on the EarthTainer.org Website and Legal fees, etc. I simply do this for the fun of it, and meeting interesting people in the process.

Tomorrow I am being interviewed by an Editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper who is writing an article on alternative ways to grow tomatoes given the poor soil conditions in S. Florida.

As tomato plants are able to continue to grow for years, which I understand they do in Central America in the wild, there is no reason in a controlled environment, one could get several years life from a single plant. Disease would be the bigger worry, however.

Raybo

Just an ideal but since you love to share ideals and teach others about Earth Tainers and do experiments with different media and fertilizers etc... You might consider starting up a you tube channel and making video updates, once you have enough subscribers you can become a youtube partner meaning that they will give you a royalty every time your videos are watched. I know someone that does it and at first they did not expect much from it but since they posted videos anyways said why not and he said he was very surprised by the first check he received.

[les matzek]

ray,
you should find out that you would get better results
starting with mh for growth and then switchinh to hps
at flowering time and keep the light fairley heigh to
get the most coverage,regards.

les

[MJACTIVIST]

Ray I use the same bulb, start to finish. It will work great no worries. Hope you have great success.


Well lesandninamatzek your kind of right and kind wrong with that statement.
HPS and MH cover different areas of the color spectrum. HPS is more orange/red and the MH is bluer. The best would to use both, HPS and MH.

keep the light fairley heigh to get the most coverage,regards.

You’re right about that, but the light penetration of a 400w is not great so, you can't keep it too far away from the canopy. A 400w has 31.5 inches of light penetration.
L8
MJ