jamesp
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Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Sept 9, 2014 19:48:35 GMT -5
Ditch with weeds from 3 years of soil removal. Native soil with 50/50 sand clay mix.  Pull trailer up to mighty mouse digger.  Layout 66 eight inch pots for water lilies, paper plate in bottom, add pellet fertilizer  Cover pots w/screed  Three dumps from mighty mouse  Rake out over screed and remove it, final smooth pots  Pull down to growing area, water lowered and aisles dry to avoid slipping and breaking bum  Put pots where needed, yellow one on left, red one on right. Seedlings stored in same row from April set to remove seedlings   Plant, raise water and sell starting next April  Takes about 45 minutes per trailer. Usually pot up 1500-2000, about 30 trailers. Made it easy for me to do since the government wants to outlaw labor. |
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 9, 2014 20:37:54 GMT -5
Sweating just from seeing the photos James!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 9, 2014 21:09:06 GMT -5
Sweating just from seeing the photos James! I did 5 trailers today, but notice the overcast Michael. Makes it a whole lot easier. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2014 21:32:40 GMT -5
And don't even think of letting a friendly kid work for a few extra bucks. That's child labor protected by labor relations and other union type laws...
Nice work Mr. James!
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quartz
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breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,359
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Post by quartz on Sept 9, 2014 22:59:51 GMT -5
That's a pretty slick system you've developed there.
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Post by snowmom on Sept 10, 2014 3:40:11 GMT -5
love seeing the working photos of the nursery, worked in a greenhouse years ago, field work is different. you have this stuff down to a science. so cool!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 10, 2014 5:20:37 GMT -5
love seeing the working photos of the nursery, worked in a greenhouse years ago, field work is different. you have this stuff down to a science. so cool! Evolution due to aging joints Deb,ha. Water plants float in regular potting soil so clay keeps them weighted down and provides needed micro nutrients they need. Pots are heavy so shallow pots are used to reduce carrying weight but still maintain density to sink. Clay does not work in potting machines, so also this process. Slow release fertilizer developed for under water use in Japanese rice industry serves well. Water level lowered in early spring to increase heat from the sun to bring crop out of winter dormancy and raised in the heat of the summer to keep them cool. Mother nature is there to serve, just got to go w/her flow. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2014 9:22:13 GMT -5
Evolution due to aging joints Deb,ha. Water plants float in regular potting soil so clay keeps them weighted down and provides needed micro nutrients they need. haha! I love suthen' colloquialisms! Especially the double redundancy's. "provides needed nutrients they need." Priceless! Sorry Jim I just couldn't resist taking a shot at ya! You know I am in awe of your ingenuity and problem solving abilities. You can pot lily's into your 70's with that method. No real heavy lifting. You might get less done per day, but you can use those methods a long time. Priceless. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 10, 2014 10:35:19 GMT -5
Evolution due to aging joints Deb,ha. Water plants float in regular potting soil so clay keeps them weighted down and provides needed micro nutrients they need. haha! I love suthen' colloquialisms! Especially the double redundancy's. "provides needed nutrients they need." Priceless! Sorry Jim I just couldn't resist taking a shot at ya! You know I am in awe of your ingenuity and problem solving abilities. You can pot lily's into your 70's with that method. No real heavy lifting. You might get less done per day, but you can use those methods a long time. Priceless. Funny thing about english/grammer, Back when I was in college Georgia required their colleges to issue an english test for obvious reasons. The engineering school constantly had the higher grades on that test. Who would guess that ? Yes, that process is down to a simple low weight bearing cardio. Just enough to keep the ole joints lubricated. It also got rid of a half dozen competitors over the years. Plants on concrete do well, along w/some proprietary tricks. Lilies lucrative, so I have had my share of competitors. All that is one subject, more importantly is workman's comp and insurance could not touch me. Glad I saw the writing on the wall 20 years ago when that system was installed. I did not put my competitors out of business, lack of fore sight of the the guberment put them out of business. Guberment did a big favor for me. I may not be able to speak good English but I do know a little about kicking your a$$ in the water plant biz  |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 10, 2014 10:53:36 GMT -5
Ingenious, innovational, resourceful, creative, clever
Need I say more?
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Sept 10, 2014 11:37:20 GMT -5
Older, slower, painfuller, tireder, grumpier |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 10, 2014 11:39:21 GMT -5
Yeah, but you're still working. Don't even think about stopping...
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snuffy
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Member since May 2009
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Post by snuffy on Sept 10, 2014 13:36:58 GMT -5
Looks like ya got that down pat!!
snuffy
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Sept 10, 2014 13:44:47 GMT -5
Looks like ya got that down pat!! snuffy The tiny veggie garden whips me like a yard dog. Wouldn't last an hour in that monster garden of yours in Texas heat snuffy. Veggie garden king of hard work if it is weeded and picked. |
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Post by Pat on Sept 10, 2014 13:59:27 GMT -5
jamesp when I first saw your title, I thought it would be photos of you relaxing, drinking beer  That's a great system you have developed. I was wondering how your screed step would be useful here. Haven't come up with anything yet. We don't do volume plantings. Just elevating it and dumping rocks on it for rinsing would be useful here, though.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Sept 10, 2014 14:20:00 GMT -5
jamesp when I first saw your title, I thought it would be photos of you relaxing, drinking beer That's a great system you have developed. I was wondering how your screed step would be useful here. Haven't come up with anything yet. We don't do volume plantings. Just elevating it and dumping rocks on it for rinsing would be useful here, though. When you dump the soil on the top of the pots the screed allows you to rake it over the pots quickly and evenly, without dumping the pots over. It also distributes the weight of the soil when dumped in a pile and screens out the big rocks and clods. I use little screeds for filling flats too. Smaller mesh for delicate seedlings Pat. So the soil is fine grained and has no lumps in it. Since the system is quick it gives me too much time to relax and drink a beer or 12 I mean 2. I have seen Pat's garden. Girl don't play. A neighbor's wife helped me for years, she would work you into the dirt. Let me show you a picture of how she used to abuse me for stress relief, wife taking photo:  |
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Post by Pat on Sept 10, 2014 17:47:30 GMT -5
jamesp You have such a hard time! Such abuse!
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Sept 10, 2014 18:12:13 GMT -5
jamesp You have such a hard time! Such abuse! I miss Mona. She is a Kentucky gal. Moved about 5 years ago. Worked here quite a bit, and only took pay in the form of rock hunting trips and arrowhead 'shopping' as she called it. My wife and her tight. |
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quartz
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breakin' rocks in the hot sun
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Post by quartz on Sept 10, 2014 23:16:27 GMT -5
Carol says those pots likely get heavy and the plants entangled, wants to know how do you get them out?
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jamesp
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Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Sept 11, 2014 0:22:30 GMT -5
Carol says those pots likely get heavy and the plants entangled, wants to know how do you get them out? In such shallow water the stems are short and don't cross much, used to grow them in 18 inch deep water and they tangled terribly. The deeper the water the longer the stems and wider the spread. Carol asked a great question, went to shallow water to prevent tangling, amongst a few other reasons. She's hired !! An order of about 40 lilies, they are fairly compact  |
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