Mastodawn

Michael Aichlmayr Jul 10, 2023

I have scoured the internet and I cannot find one of these 15MMFD (15 pf) Bud Radio LC-1660 Dual Tiny Mite Variable Capacitors.
Does anyone have a source?
If not, does anyone out there know what the actual range of these variable capacitors are?

Michael Aichlmayr Feb 26, 2023

Hey gardening friends. I'm worried about this Tobago Treasure chile.

When it was a seedling, one of my lights fell on it, and damaged the stem.

Three months later it seems healthy, but the stem looks terrible. I'm concerned it'll get worse, or break.

In hopes of developing roots above the injury, my thought is to take the leaves off the bottom four nodes, paint it with Dip'n Grow, and re-pot it with the nodes in the soil.

Has anyone done anything like this before?
Thoughts?

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Michael Aichlmayr Dec 22, 2022

Here are a couple closeups. The original setup has four cables. Each cable goes from an attachment on a corner to the carabiner at top. The modified setup has two cables. Each cable goes from one corner attachment through the carabiner and to an attachment on another corner.

Michael Aichlmayr Dec 22, 2022

I've been trying to decide how to get more control over the height of my lights because the cable and carabiner assembly is long enough that I can't install the adjustable cord (and I don't want to put holes in the ceiling).
Then it hit me, (duh!), take out two of the cables!
You can see the difference in the photos. On the right in each photo, cables installed as intended. On the left, my modification.
It's still not much adjustment, but it's better.

Michael Aichlmayr Dec 22, 2022

Wow! It… Is… Suddenly… Freaking… COLD!
It *WAS* 10°C (50°F) this afternoon.
This evening we've had an inch of snow, and it has dropped to -24°C (-11°F), with wind chill -32°C (-25°F)!!

Past that messed up snow on the round table, is a bale of Pro Mix (planting mix I'm using for my chile peppers). I needed more for my repotting. Gah! What an ordeal! I had to chip at it with a scraper and dig out the pieces with my bare hands. It took 20 minutes before I could feel my fingers, but I got it!

Michael Aichlmayr Dec 22, 2022

The chillins are growing!
I decided I'd better re-pot the ones sharing a cell before the roots became inextricably intertwingled.
I was almost too late!
If I'd known I'd get better than 25% germination on some of these, I wouldn't have put more than one seed in a cell. 🤦‍♂️ (And I think I may have finally learned my lesson… That was not easy! I hope I didn't stress them too much!)

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Michael Aichlmayr Dec 16, 2022

The Tobago Treasure chile pushing it's seed coat off is making great progress!

Both pics are the same photo taken with the scanner macro/loupe lens, and the 2X physical zoom on the phone.
The less magnified pic was only cropped to center it in the frame.
The close up is a tighter crop to show off the detail.
As with any close up photo, depth of field is an issue.
I may see if I can manage to focus stack a few shots. Might be a challenge with a phone camera that has a mind of its own.

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Michael Aichlmayr Dec 16, 2022

Here is a tray of chile (pepper) seedlings, and a few close-up pics taken of them with the lens.
[Tobago Treasure working off its seed coat, Shishito terminal bud and first true leaves emerging from between the cotyledons (seed leaves), 7-Pot Bubblegum terminal bud and first true leaves.]

Michael Aichlmayr Dec 16, 2022

This is the up-cycled macro/loupe lens I harvested from an old flatbed scanner, and the makeshift "device" for attaching it to my phone camera. (Yes it's up-cycled twist-ties too. 😁)

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Michael Aichlmayr Dec 12, 2022

So this is fascinating. It appears that there is behavior for detecting that the seed coat is stuck, AND pushing it off. After the first leaf came out of the seed coat, it was loose enough to gently wriggle off. Notice how much longer one leaf is than the other? It seems to have deliberately grown one leaf longer to push the seed coat off the other! Fantastic!