TexasGardenDoc

Grow lights aren’t cheap and the way they are marketed can make it all very confusing to the average or new gardener. I’ve used this light setup for years and it has done particularly well for me when starting seeds for transplants. Since I had to replace my old worn out grow-light system, I thought it was a perfect time to clear up some of the confusion over what grow lights are and how they work, and to give you a really easy and simple way to make your own on the cheap with parts you can get at just about any hardware or home store. This setup will show you how to use regular fluorescent light bulbs and a basic shop fixture to you’re your very own, highly effective, inexpensive grow-light! Now I prefer these fluorescent lights, but you can use LED lights. I just find them a bit more expensive, they do last longer though, but for me personally, I’ve not had good results compared to the fluorescent bulb setup. Time-stamps and a basic explanation is below to make it even easier to reference the information later! TIME-LINE: 00:00 – Short Introduction 00:55 – Introduction and Backstory 02:31 – What is a Lumen? 04:18 – What is a Kelvin? 06:18 – Putting it all together 06:53 -- Options for lights and fixtures, What's the difference? 08:57 – How Far to keep your lights from plants 09:51 – How to hang your new grow-light 11:49 – Summary and product info What is a Lumen: The easiest way to think about LUMEN is, it’s the total amount of visible light come from your bulb. Think of the lumen measurement as the total number of ‘beams of light’ that are coming out of your bulb (this is for forming a mental picture of how they work it is in no way the actual scientific definition of a lumen!) Different types of lights and bulbs will produce different amount of lumen. I’ll list a few here by their wattage for reference: 100W – around 1600 Lumen 75W – around 1100 Lumen 60W – around 800 Lumen The big difference when looking at the examples above is that Watts do not necessarily equal brightness. What I mean by that is Lumen equal brightness but Watts is the amount of energy the light is using. So lower watts can have higher lumen and higher watts can have lower Lumen! Confused yet? Don’t be, Lumen are what matter to us as gardeners. What is Kelvin: To make it really simple, Kelvin basically describes the color temperature of a light. You always see this as the rating with a ‘K’ behind it, usually shown on the light package as an arrow on a line. That line goes from very warm light on the left (low kelvin) to very white light on the right (high kelvin). For reference here is a list of the Kelvin colors and what you might associate them with: 1,900K – Candle light 2,800K – Your standard old school incandescent bulb 4,800K – Sunlight on a clear day 10,000K+ - Absolutely clear blue sky The things above will kind of give you a feel for what Kelvin looks like color-wise. If we are just starting seeds to transplant, we want to keep the light color to very cool lights (5,000K and up). However, if we want to grow plants under lights, maybe so it will produce flowers or fruit, we want keep the Kelvin range to the more warm side of the spectrum, 4,500K down to about 3,000K. Optimal Combinations of Lumen & Kelvin: For seed starting you just have to remember one number 5,000! 5,000 Lumen and above and 5,000K and above. I prefer personally to use lights that are in the 6,000-7,000K range and a total combination of Lumen (meaning all lights in the housing added together for Lumen only) of around 6,000. The reason for this is the lights do not have an infinite shelf life. The longer you use them, the less effective they become. Using a slightly higher number give us a bit longer use and more wiggle room! Distance from lights to plants: Distance from the plant to the light is dependent on the number of Lumen your light is producing. If we have really low lumen, in our case around 5,000 Lumen, we need to keep the lights very close to the plants. If we have very high amount of Lumen that distance to the plant increases. Here is a list of distances for reference: 5,000 Lumen – Seed Starting 6-7” after leaves form 2-8” 10,000 Lumen – 12-14” 30,000 Lumen – 5-7 Feet This is a generalization, you’ll need to experiment with positioning based on the type of plants, and your space! Links to Products I used (NOT AFFILIATED): 48” T12 Two Bulb Shop Light (Lowe’s): https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lithonia-Lighting-1233-Linear-Shop-Light-Common-4-ft-Actual-5-5-in-48-in/1000410165 F40 T12 Fluorescent Light – 2,900 Lumen (per Bulb) 6,500K (Lowe’s): https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-40-Watt-48-in-Medium-Bi-pin-T12-6500-K-Daylight-Fluorescent-Light-Bulb-2-Pack/1003011522 Thanks for watching and don't forget to get your hands dirty! Follow me on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@texasgardendoc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texasgardendoc Twitter: https://twitter.com/TexasGardenDoc

This is an unbelievably tasty Louisiana Style Hot Sauce recipe that will impress everyone who has a love of hot sauce. It's a fermentation recipe too which makes it super easy and super tasty, not to mention really good for your body! *some people are scared of fermentation, DON'T BE! Hit me up in the comments if you have questions! 00:00 - Intro 01:30 - Ingredients & Filling the Jar 08:37 - Water & Salt Solution Calculation 11:44 - Getting Ready to Ferment 13:29 - Length of Fermentation 13:39 - 3 Day Fermentation Check-in 14:26 - Processing to Final Hot Sauce 16:00 - Glass Stopper Top Bottle 16:48 - Straining liquid to make Traditional (non-chunky) Louisiana Style Hot Sauce Link to Products in this video: *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases using the following links. If you do not want to use this specific link but want the product simply go to the product using Amazon's built in search functionality to purchase instead: Easy Fermenter Kit: https://amzn.to/3qxvzSi Airlocks With Lids: https://amzn.to/35S0uRs Glass Weights: https://amzn.to/3bMNlNq Cheesecloth: https://amzn.to/3qv08YS Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar: https://amzn.to/35KxviD Glass Stopper Bottle: https://amzn.to/3nR10FK Hot Sauce Bottles: https://amzn.to/3syuv2z Recipe: Equipment Needed: 1- Quart Mason Jar - Wide mouth 1 - Fermenter Lid - OPTIONS: Regular lid and Rubber Bands / Air-lock-Water Stop 1 - Glass Weight - OPTIONS: Ziploc bad filled with water / Boiled stone 1 - Kitchen Scale - OPTIONS: you can just use about 1 Tablespoon of salt instead but measuring is WAY better Ingredients: Kosher Salt - OPTIONS: Pickling salt or any salt that does NOT contain iodine (iodine will slow or stop the fermentation process) 15 - Peppers of Choice 5 - Cloves of garlic (more or less for your taste) 1/2 - White onion OPTIONS: You can use any onion you like but I prefer white 1/2 - Tomato Water - NO Chlorine, fluoride, etc. Use bottle spring water or distilled/filtered water Apple Cider Vinegar - Optional Directions: Wash all material well (especially if store bought) Chop materials and layer into mason jar ending with Tomatoes to keep other veg from floating up. Fill jar with clean non-chlorinated water and check the weight of the contents (being sure to subtract the weight of the jar) Now add 2.5% salt by weight (or about a tablespoon in most cases) Top up with water. Place a lid on top and shake to dissolve salt and release air. Place fermenter lid on top and allow to fermented for 3-4 weeks. To process, pour out about half the water in the jar. Pour everything else into a blender and blend until smooth. Add a little ACV if you desire. Bottle chunky, or strain through cheese clothe or a fine sieve and bottle. Store in fridge. Thanks for watching and don't forget to get your hands dirty! Follow me on: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@texasgardendoc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texasgardendoc Twitter: https://twitter.com/TexasGardenDoc

n this video I'll show you how to take your bad garden soil and turn it into the perfect mix for growing your own food and vegetables. I do typically practice a no-dig or no-till style of gardening, but when your soil is THIS BAD you have to take more drastic steps! 00:00 - Intro 00:27 - Overview 02:56 - Step 1: Break up the compacted soil 08:08 - Step 2: Add organic material deep into the soil 10:47 - Step 3: Add organic compost to the top layer 15:10 - Step 4: Mulch I'll also show you how you can use what you have lying around instead of having to buy expensive materials elsewhere! Thanks for watching and don;t forget to get your hands dirty! Follow me on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texasgardendoc Twitter: https://twitter.com/TexasGardenDoc

Storms can be devastating in the garden! We all face the occasional pop-up storm or seasonally we know they are coming. PREPARATION IS THE BEST SOLUTION! In this video I will discuss different ways to protect your garden from heavy wind and rain. With Hurricanes being so prevalent in my area it is always something I have to keep in the back of my mind. Throw in 2020 and the PEACH it's been of course hurricanes seem to be an almost weekly threat! I have used these techniques successfully over the years to protect my garden and vegetables as best I can from unexpected weather and storms. Gardening is always challenging but that's also why we LOVE those delicious organically grown fruit and vegetables! DON'T PANIC! Just remember that you know your vegetable garden best and if you slow down and think it through, I KNOW you will come up with even more creative ways to protect your garden during storms! Amazon Associate links - As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases using the following links. If you do not want to use this specific link but want the product simply go to the product using Amazon's built in search functionality: Landscape Staples on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3iPVUa6

4 very simple ways to save seeds for next years garden! In Early 2020, first time gardeners (and even the old-time gardeners) had a really hard time finding seeds and transplants. In this video I show you 4 very easy ways to save some common seeds from your backyard garden. These techniques apply to lots of different types of vegetables, so don't be afraid to experiment! That's what I do too! Here I demonstrate, beans, peas, peppers, okra, and (BONUS VEG)! Hang out for the bonus seed saving how-to at the end and leave a comment below about your favorite seed to save and how you do it!