My girls

I usually don't post pics, but I feel like sharing. I am a minimalist (and lazy too). I usually don't top or FIM (sometimes I do). I don't like adding all kinds of nutes/enhancers, bottles with half-naked ladies or demons on them. For fertilizers, I sometimes will use Maxsea (All Purpose and Bloom), but have been using comfrey more and more for my fertilizing needs.

Been growing since around 2011. I am by NO means an expert. I am always open to suggestions and critiques--you never know when someone will give you a great idea. Always keep your ears/mind open.

Ask questions. Learn! Not just for weed, but anything you might have in your garden. I'm only doing this because there seems to be some really nice people on this forum, so I figured what the hell. Those pics of the broad-leaf plants, that's comfrey! And, I LOVE it. I won't go into that here. But, as weird as this sounds, I love my comfrey plants more than my weed plants.

@forty winks, pic #12 is for you.

(What do you wear when you masturbate? for those not in on the joke.)

 

I HATE CUCUMBER BEETLES. Time to plan for a genocidal attack tomorrow. I have some Bonide 8 Insect Insect control, but that shit is strong, and I don't want to kill beneficials.

I think I'm going to try nicotine to kill them.

 

Brewing up some nicotine tea for tomorrow morning.

Items Needed:
Lots of Cigarette butts
Old Pot hold 1 gal water
Stove/Induction Burner
Dish Soap
Strainer, Pantyhose, cheese-cloth, dirty underwear, etc.

*Cook outside, if possible

Collect Butts. Put in pot. Add 1 gal water. Mix a little bit. Bring to Boil. Boil for 20 minutes. Stir every few min. Strain. Should be a nasty dark tea.

Dilute 1:2 water. Add few drops dish soap to the spray solution. Spray top and bottom of leafs.

Supposed to good for mites, and larva. Might kill cucumber beetles, but if not, it *should* keep them away. Apply frequently. Nicotine will evap away quickly. Apply in morning and/or evenings. I took pics, will post later, maybe.

Will kill beneficials, but this pesticide is short lived and more organic that the chemicals available commercially. This is what our grandpas and great-grandpas used back in the day before it was banned commercially.

The stench making it, makes me want to quit smoking cigarettes.

Can add garlic and Tabasco sauce, and/or special blend of herbs and spices to give it your signature *BAM* that Emeril Lagasse would approve of.

 

I love the smell of rotting comfrey in the morning...MMMMM Hmmm!

The nicotine spray seems to work pretty well. While I saw a couple cucumber beetles out this morning, was only 1 or 2. Also saw some dead little gnats on the leaves. I made a slightly stronger mixture this morning with garlic, sriracha sauce, and nicotine juice.

Need go get couple better hand sprayers. My reused windex ones aren't up to snuff. I have a 2 gal sprayer, but not quite ready to use it yet.

I have too much comfrey growing, I think I'll use a bigger barrel vs multiple 5 gal.

 

Nice!!!! I saw that post(s) you had on aloe, I forgot to ask you about that. That looks very very interesting. I love aloe (sunburns, etc), but had no idea it was great for plants.

I'm working right now on a new barrel for the comfrey. I have too much of it growing around, and multiple 5 gal buckets just isn't doing it for me anymore. My landlord has a shitload of pvc fittings, etc--more than a hardware store it seems, and so currently, I'm just about to drill a hole on the bottom of a 55 gal barrel and hook up a hosebib to it. I was going to attempt to use the compression/extraction method (no water) for concentrated comfrey vs what I have been doing which is just put bunch of comfrey in 5 gal and fill with water under weight of a brick. I'll still do that, but I do want to see if the "dry" comfrey method works better or not for my needs. I have no idea. My landlord doesn't think so, but encouraged me to try it, cuz it might work out better. If not, then I will have a glorified rain barrel I can use instead hahaha. Off hand, I think I might like this method because I can just keep adding the comfrey, and weeds (docks, thistles, etc). around the property and just keep the barrel loaded up and weighed down. From the hose bib, I'll just have a short cut hose going into another container that will hold the concentrated comfrey, and just dump that into another 55 barrel I use for my watering.

I kinda used this site/pictures for inspiration:

Making comfrey juice in a barrel - organicgarden.org.uk

I'll take a picture of it, once done-- if it works and if I'm not too ashamed at my craftsmanship, lol.

 

I have the worst luck with tomatoes. I keep putting them out too late in the year. Those leaves don't look that "deep" of a green. Could it be fertilizer? All I kinda know is tomatoes like a lot of sun and heat (?). And they are usually consistently hungry for nutrients.

 

Testing the barrel for leaks. The hose bib valve I had was old, and leaked a little bit. So, I went to the hardware store to get some washers. They included screws but I think was too wide thread and didn't want to force it. Hunted around house for screw would work. And hopefully, I found one that would work ok. Leaking around flange area a little, but I haven't tightened it down yet.

I drilled a hole on the bottom of the barrel. Used a 1/2 pvc threaded male adapter and put through from inside, so it sticks out. That adapter, on the other end was a little tall (unthreaded end to insert pvc pipe and glue it) so I hacksawed it down to make it as thin as possible (basically just the threaded end to the hex nut) so liquid can make its way down--it sticks up a little--but as liquid accumulates, it will start to drip down.There is a hose-bib washer on the inside, and once it stuck out, I put another hose bib washer, then screwed the hose bib down. So its sandwiched.

Filled with 1/4 water and let see to check for leaks. After about 30 min, it started to pool water around the flange area, so tightened it down and currently testing again. I might just remove it, and put some caulking/permatex around it to help seal. It's a slow slow leak, and it may not matter much anyway since the valve will be open to allow the concentrate goodness to drip into a bucket/container, so it might be a moot point. <edit: just checked again after tightening, and I think I got it!..no pooling water) Also, it very well would seal up on it's own over time once it gets crudded up. I dunno. Here are some pics. Still testing/refining.

I'll hook up an old short/cut hose to the hose-bib and have valve open. Keep barrel stocked with comfrey/weeds and weigh it down with a nice heavy round stepping stone. And keep it covered (I found a pot drain plate that fits perfectly on top). After some time, the comfrey/weeds will rot/decompose and drip slowly in the container. I'll dump that in my other barrel when I water and hopefully be around the 1:10- 1:15 dilution ratio. But can be more/less too, should be pretty forgiving. I should put a screen in front of the hole, but I'll probably learn the hard way..lol.

When I have it on a stand/blocks I'll have the barrel ever so slightly tilted toward the drip spout, just a tiny bit to help drip.

 

Nicotine not working as well as I hoped. It does work for gnats,mites, and seemed to kinda keep the beetles away for a bit, but the cucumber beetle is just too hardy. I hate these fuckers. I would find one about every 4-5th plant. Not a complete infestation, but still. Why they don't go after my lemon zucchinis that are right there?!?!?, no idea.

I have been told that Dr. Bonner's (peppermint) will kill them on contact, but I'll get some later on. I have some safer soap, which after researching doesn't seem to kill them I have some Bonide Pythrum (8 insect control) which will, so I will use that again (used it last year and worked a little too well). Oh well, I tried. Plants look good, just some chew holes here and there, and I would like to keep it at that, and not any worse. Hate these fuckers.

Time to go nuclear. Maybe if I don't get Dr. Bonners, I'll get a blend of Pytherium and Neem--been advised that works well too.

Made a lazy-ass water barrel stand with cinder-blocks and made a hole in the ground for a smaller bucket. I had some height issues with the barrel not being quite high enough up for a 3/5 gallon bucket, so improvised and dug deep hole in front, where the bucket will go so the concentrate will gravity drip better. Hooked up old hose to the spigot inside a semi-seal bucket top. I'll upload pics later. I'm tired. Sun about ready to set. Time to mix up some bonide death juice.

edit: Bonide 8 is permethrin based not pyrethrum (basically a man made pyrethrum), so it's not organic. But will try to minimize having to use it.

 

And the deed is done.

I feel like Harry S. Truman.

 

Todays pictures:

 

Haven't watered for 3 days. Want to dry out the pots, just in case I might have been over-watering. I'm a lazy grower. Reuse soil. The bottoms tend hold water in longer, so to minimize anything, I wanted to let them go for a few days longer between waterings, before I water them again. Watching them intently in case one or more start to wilt. Esp today being warm. Pots seem a little lighter today. I don't usually do this, but just in case.

I wasn't even going to grow this year until friend decided to plant a bunch of leftover clones in my pots. I wake up one morning, and BAM, there they are, little 4-5 inch clones wisping in the wind. Guess I'm growing this year, hahahah.

 

Gave everyone a tiny shot of water today, just to get through today, and pots should be dry enough by tomorrow to give them a good watering with comfrey.