Bulb Log 46– 12/11/2014

[Mavers]

It must be difficult to know what to write for us at this time of year Ian. The info about the Swedish peat & accompanying photo of the new peat & rock bed is interesting. It must have been a wonderful trip.

[Ian Y]

Mike

It does become a problem filling the Bulb Log when the days are dark and the weather is so bad that I cannot get into the garden never mind taking any pictures.
I have a massive back catalogue of photographs that I have not used in the bulb log that I cold fall back on but I do like to use current material.

It was not the best time of year to visit Gothenburg for seeing the garden but it was a delight to spend time with my many friends over there.

In the meantime I am sitting in front of my SAD light keeping busy writing the chapters for Erythroniums in Cultivation.

[Leena]

In the meantime I am sitting in front of my SAD light keeping busy writing the chapters for Erythroniums in Cultivation.

I'm sure many are eagerly waiting for Erythronium chapters, I am.

[Ian Y]

Chapter 1 - SEED is well on the way to being finished Leena but you will have to wait as I do not intend to post any until the start of next year.

[Leena]

I can always wait for the good things, it is like waiting for seeds to germinate and grow, and finally flower.

[Allan Krijgsheld]

Hello Ian,

First of all I want to thank you for all the information you are sharing in your bulb log. I like it very much, especially the information about sowing is very helpful for me.

In your bulb log 46/14 your are talking about a small light system for the home grower. I don't know much about the situation in the UK, but these kind of led light systems are available in the Netherlands. Some people use it to grow Cannabis, but it is not forbidden to use it for Narcissus or other plants. At the moment I use a led light to help my seedlings through the winter. I just start to use it, so I don't have much experience, but I think it is working fine.

[Ian Y]

Hello Allan and welcome to the forum.

I will search about and see what LED  lights are available for small scale growers.
They would need to be affordable both to purchase and to run before I would consider them. Please keep us informed of your experiences with your lights.

Thank you also for your kind words it is always encouarging to get such feed back on my efforts.

[johnw]

Ian / Allan  - The Heliospectra set up covering an area 9' x 9' is available from Texas at US$2850.  I have a call in to my former colleagues to see what they can supply in LED for the home situation.  They said there is such a thing.  I'll report back.

johnw 

[brianw]

LEDs are very cheap to run, but not to buy, and some notorious unreliable unfortunately. The larger commercial units seem to be very reliable. Recent Which CA forums show smaller units often very poor. A new fitted kitchen here 18 months ago had 14 work-top display units fitted and 5 failed in a few months. The whole batch were replaced and so far none of those have failed. As plants seem really only to need red and blue LEDs not sure about looking at such growing conditions. Maybe these run cooler, as over heating of stressed control gear seems to be the reason for unreliability.

[Mavers]

I'm looking forward to the Erythronium info you have prepared for us Ian.

I find the dull, short daylight hours of this time of year difficult too Ian, it's a comfort to know others feel the same. It's the reason I became interested in snowdrops in the first place as I found the new shoots appearing above ground lifted my spirits immensely.

Sorry I haven't responded before, it's difficult to keep up with all that's posted on this lively forum. 

[Ian Y]

It is another very dull day Mike, and I am sat in front of my SAD light working on chapter 2, the bulb, of the Erythroniums in Cultivation.

The winter flowering plants certainly help lift our spirits but I can absolutely recommend using an approved SAD light, you will notice a difference within a few days of using it.

It is not just the plants that crave more light in winter than we get in our Northern latitude.

[Mavers]

I have never used one Ian so will look into buying an approved lamp.

The weather has been very gloomy here too. I finish work at 1pm on Fridays & cant wait to see my garden & greenhouse in the daylight.

[Roma]

If it's anything like here you'll still need a torch

[johnstephen29]

Your daylight hours must be short Roma?

[Roma]

In theory, John we should be getting about 7 hours of daylight but it's been so dull lately it's difficult to see things properly in the greenhouse even at midday.  Last Sunday was an exception with at least 6 hours of sun which is about the total for the previous two weeks.