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.
