Transplanting Seedlings and Eco Strimmers

 Chamomile roots running out of space in the plug cell

I’ve been delving into all things electric this week. At the moment the only items I have running from lithium-ion batteries are my cordless drill and vacuum cleaner.  Things will change though as the time has come to see about replacing my tired petrol driven strimmer/brushcutter and I’m thinking all electric might be the way to go. 

Over the last few months my lad has been doing a lot of research into electric/solar power eco vehicles and renewable energy and it won’t be long before it becomes a social stigma to use fossil fuels, just like smoking is now.  

At one time I had a notion to build my own passive energy eco house in the country and live off the grid. As I’m a bit of a townie now and enjoy the convenience of walking to the shops and amenities, I’d prefer to fit out my current abode when I can afford it to be an eco-house and contribute to the grid to offset some of the installation costs. With the latest technology coming down in price, converting an older house to renewable energy seems to make more sense to me and would be easier and far more cost effective than starting from scratch.

The idea we are aiming for is to produce the power via solar panels, store it in batteries and use it to power the house, garden equipment and hopefully my electric guzzling pottery kiln which runs at about 9kw. An electric car is a few years off for me as I’ll wait until the price goes right down for an older one but there will come a day when I’m plugging it in to charge up with stored solar energy.

   

Eco Strimmer

Small electric strimmers and lawnmowers have been popular for a while with casual gardeners but many professionals still prefer the petrol powered machines.  Electric industrial types were limited to the amount of power they could store and usage times before recharging, but not anymore. 

The new designs of heavy duty industrial machines can cut for at least an hour on one battery and as the batteries take less than one hour to charge you can swap them when one is empty. By the time the second one runs out the first one will be full again. You’d still have time for a quick cuppa in between battery changes which will keep the health and safety people happy.  The noise levels on the electric machines is far less than combustion engines too so you shouldn’t need ear protectors and could even talk as you were working without having to shout.

If you don’t have easy access to plug sockets when you are working out on site, there is a pre-charged back up storage box that could fit into your vehicle that can recharge the batteries for up to seven hours’ worth of work.  

I’m not sure if I’m in the big league enough to warrant such machinery, I think I’m more interested in the technology side of things that actually buying one.  They don’t come cheap, with the strimmers costing in excess of €800 and mowers considerably more, I’ll probably just keep thrashing away with the noisy, petrol, black smoke emitting one I have until it packs in or until I start getting disproving stares from neighbours for using fossil fuels.

On the topic of ‘plugging’ things in, I was going to chat about transplanting plug plants into larger pots this week but my ramblings about solar energy has taken up most of the room on the page so here’s a condensed ‘How To’

Transplanting smaller plug plants into larger pots

As the new seedlings grow in plugs it’s important to minimise the shocks that a plant usually goes through when the roots are disturbed. 

Transplanting at the right time is paramount as your plants will keep growing and thriving. If the roots curl up around the base of the container they are what are known as ‘root bound’ or ‘pot bound’

The bigger the root system, the more your plant will thrive.

When the roots start circling and going around the container nutrient absorption becomes increasingly more difficult because the circling roots squeeze and compress the root ball. Eventually, the roots can no longer develop properly.

When the roots don’t have enough space to grow, the root system begins to be underdeveloped compared to the size of the plant. As a consequence, plant growth grinds to a halt, the middle leaves may start turning yellow or dying. The stems become harder, brittle and can sometimes turn purple. The roots can also turn brown and die. For this reason it’s important to keep an eye on the plants as they develop, even after they have been moved to 7cm pots too as it most plants can fill that space up in a couple of weeks.