28w LED Grow Lights

I don't know about any of Y'all that view my blog and read all the off the wall shit I post. Sometimes there are many views and sometimes there aren't that many that look at my blog or read it.

Even so, less or more readers are Ok with me either way, it's just a Journal for me to share different things that occur for me at the spur of the moment or even planned.

This post is about LED Grow lights. I don't know if any of Y'all are gardeners or not, but this is one of my favorite past times I look forward to during the summer months. It gets me outside, it helps with some Physical Therapy, being disabled and in a wheelchair, this helps me keep my hands active to keep strength and dexterity in them.

So, here's the thing, where I live, I have 1 west window which is the only one in the house that gets a little sun in the latter part of the evening. Not merely enough to keep seedlings growing. Matter fact the lack of sun is not good for seedlings. They need the sun to grow.

Well, I've decided to break down and purchase a few things I wanted to try out. I got a Clamp Lamp and some 28w LED Grow Light Bulbs.

I've had seedlings growing for about a month and good amount. 72 Cells full of Tomatoes and Different peppers. Most of them died but probably 12 peppers and 5 or 6 tomatoes.

I have a Heating mat I let my seeds sit on to get the heat they need to germinate, once germinated, they go in the window or a source of light so they can grow during the early spring so they can be planted in late spring.

Well, as I mentioned before, I have a lack of sun in the west window, so I purchased these items. You would never believe the success of these lights.

My plants are 6 weeks old almost 7 weeks. As soon as I put on these lights for an artificial sun, they all perked up and started growing.

All the plants went from around 1 inch to about 4 to 5 inches with all their second leaves and growing more and more. Just in 2 weeks, they have sprouted vigorously. I've very very impressed with these lights. For now on, when I get things going next year, I'll have a better outcome to my garden, I used to buy plants and this would cost me a large amount which is Ok to a point cause I can every year.

But now, I'll save even more money by just getting seeds and potting soil. I can use the seeds from this year's harvest for next year's growth. So pretty much self-sustaining seeds from all the plants no need to buy any more seeds.

But anyway, I just wanted to tell you how much a success these grow lights were and I'd recommend them to anyone that don't have significant lighting in their house and don't have a greenhouse. These lights can be fund on eBay Right here -> 28w LED Lighting They are around $14 bucks for a set of 4 which is an excellent deal.

If you end up getting some, send me a comment on this post of your progress and let me know what you think about them.

Canning - Tomato Juice

Canning. Does anyone can every year or season? What do you can? Beans? Corn? Sauces? Jams and Jellys? Juices?

Last night I had what felt like close to 10lbs of Tomatos. Give or take a few lbs.

I boiled and canned all of my Tomatos lastnight so they wouldn't go bad. I got more yield from my Tomato plants this year then what I had in the last 2 years which I'm grateful but would've been more grateful if I had more then what I did.

I Planted 12 Rutger Tomato plants. 8 of them did not do any good, the remaining 4 I Planted here at my house, and they took off like wildfire. Maybe it was the soil, maybe it was the sun, I don't know, but I had more from those 4 then I had in a long time.

I only had enough Tomatos to Process 4 Pints of Juice. It's well under what I wanted for the season, but I guess I'll have to do with what I have, maybe next year things will be better.

For anyone who is interested, here is the recipe I use to can and process my Juice.

Tomatos
Pickling/Canning Salt
Pint Jars
Water Bath Canner or any Kettle

Quarter up your Tomatos, Core them and cut bad spots out.

Take about 1/4 of the quarter up Tomatos and blend them to make juice.

Pour in a kettle with the Quartered Tomatos and start boiling with lid off, the object is to boil off the water to thicken the juice.

If you wanted added flavor, add Carrots, Celery, Peppers or other veggies.

Boil for an hour until the quartered tomatos are soft. Put in a Food Mill and seperate the juice from the skin and seeds. If you got a Juicer, you can juice them the modern way.

Put juice without the skin and seeds back in the kettle and boil for another 5 to 10 minutes or until thickness is desired. If you wante Tomato Paste, boil til thick.

In the mean time, if you have a dishwasher, Sani-wash your jars to heat them up, on a side burner, heat up the lids and have your water bath up and ready.

Ladle in your Juice or paste into 1 Pint Jars to about 1/2 to 1/4 head room, put 1/4 tsp. Pickling Salt in each Jar, Put on lid, screw it on til its a little firm, then another 1/4 turn there after and toss into the water bath canner.

Process in Boiling water for 10 to 15 minites, Pull out and put on Towls overnight, check lids to see if it's sealed, if not refridgeate it.

That's all there is to it. Enjoy your Juice!