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I too am pretty excited. Laying out the tags for the plants this year has been giving me some pretty good ideas of some baskets. Of course I had a plan when I bought them, but having to get replacements gave me a fresh selection of plants to use. One mix that I have in mind combines several of our plants to make a patriotic basket. It will have red, white and blue flowers and a splash of yellow to remind you of fireworks.

All of the plant material that I purchase in for the greenhouse is patented. So as a result I will not be doing any cross breeding with these named varieties. However, I will be doing crosses with seed petunias that we will be planting / seeding next week. All of those seed grown petunias are non-patented so I am free to use them in my breeding work. I will also be crossing them with the cold resistant petunia I discovered which is a deep purple.

@@AgTeacherThoughts Is this something you do with your students? Do they get to cross their own combos?

I have some students who have been working on crosses already. We just haven't planted the seeds yet. We used donor pollen from some seed petunias late this Fall. I will be planting them with my students in a few weeks as our horticulture class starts up for this spring.

@ awesome!! Excited to see what you guys create. I’ve been working on some hybrids now and they’re incredible. First gen crosses are has bright as the parent firefly plant! But it will take a few generations of back crossing for me to get one that looks identical to the other parent

Yes, I'd call it the Amazon Effect. In the last decade we have massively increased the work load of shippers. Shipping and return shipping have lead to massive back ups in our area. Our local USPS has sent out notices from time to time saying that packages were going to be delayed days due to massive backlogs. I don't recall having these issues in the 1990's. But yes, I think workers just don't care anymore.

Those trays are what my plugs that I purchase arrive in. If you have a greenhouse business nearby, stop by and ask them if you can have their old plug trays. I think the one I show is a 102. It has 102 cells in it.

The plant stems are really bruised and damaged. Even with water and a humidity cover they continued to decline. They're nearly all dead now. I have already submitted a claim with the broker to receive credit for the damaged flats. So no more heroic measures need to be taken. The best news is that I was able to reach out to one of the greenhouses that grew some of our plants and have them rush me some replacements. Those replacement plugs ship out on Monday and I should get them Tuesday or Wednesday. But yes, it hurts my soul too. In one of the videos it does nearly bring me to tears looking at the tray of dying plants.

In the first 35 seconds of this video, I am actually fighting back tears. th-cam.com/video/2NPBnZvkP60/w-d-xo.html

@@AgTeacherThoughts yes, I seen that and my heart hurt for you. I had 12 petunia babies started and have lost five which disappointed and saddened me. To see what you went thru, man, I just about cried for you.

One of the boxes traveled all the way to Memphis Tennessee. I am sure that is why that one was destroyed. It was shipped from Oregon and went all the way to Memphis before coming back to Spokane Washington and down to us in North Idaho. The other box, who knows. It shows it just kind of was stuck in Spokane for two days before coming down to us. I'm wondering if one of the boxes rolled down a conveyor. I have no other understanding of how it could have happened. It just formed a wad of soil and plant material.

@@AgTeacherThoughts Oh my gawd, this is mind blowing. I’ve seen damage to shipped products before but never to this degree. FedEx has some splaining to do on this one

Yes, Al's Garden Center is a wonderful company. I am so thankful for them in helping us still have a season. My family has known them for many many decades and we used to purchase from them when our family greenhouse operation was still functioning.

Thank you for following us. Yes having a greenhouse is an excellent educational tool. In our area most of the agricultural crops are grain and legumes. This means that during school year most of the fields are empty or under snow. As such one of the only ways I can teach about plant nutrition, pest management, and plant propagation is through a greenhouse. We can demonstrate every problem you might encounter in a field crop in a small controlled environment just 30 yards from our classroom. So yes very very useful. As far as fundraising with a greenhouse that too is a part of our educational process. Students learn marketing, budgets and expenses which they encounter through our growing season and plant sale. So all around one of the best agriculture tools you can provide at a school

Ha! But how would I make sure the rockets landed upright?

@@AgTeacherThoughts 😂 well it’s good to see you can laugh a little. If I was close enough to give you a hand I would have come over.

No, I did not mention them. This was not the growers fault. This was a problem with Fedex who handled these packages.

@@lexithompson3030 Can you if the company that free them was this careless? It was an unrelated shipping company that is responsible

Next year I will just make the 800 mile round trip to pick them up in person. That way I can make sure they get the princess treatment. I have inquired about picking them up at a larger nursery in Spokane who receives a truck directly from the grower, but the broker advised me it would be a $100/Box surcharge. So driving back to my old stomping ground it is.

@ save your boxes and inserts for next year. Save yourself the packing charge when you pickup, and use the boxes to stack the trays in the backseat of your car.

Considering your recent loss it would be worth it to make the trip yourself for future orders. I’ve watched all kinds of videos regarding online plant shopping and I still haven’t been brave enough to make the leap. My large grower is a 45 min drive so I will be picking up my mini order myself ​@@AgTeacherThoughts.

I will keep updating the progress. The hardest thing is there may not be plant material available to replace what we lost. I have a grower / vendor who has a lead on some replacements. We will see what happens.

The two boxes that had the most severely damaged plants had to have been tumbled multiple times. Plugs don't form wads of soil unless they have been tumbled over and over. It was such a loss. Hopefully one of my vendors can pull through and help replace the material.

It's not looking good for the Cha Cha Yellow. There are so many broken buds. I show it again in an update video. I just don't think they are going to make it. However, good news is I have a vendor working on finding some replacement plants.

That sucks 😢

Thank you for watching. Yes, I will be showing some things you won't be able to get at your local nursery. For one, Firefly Petunias, the ones that glow in the dark, are not yet permitted to be shipped outside of the U.S. I have a lot more about them and many other plants as the season starts. Thank you for subscribing.

@@AgTeacherThoughtsI saw them at Cultivate. Can’t wait to see how they do in your location.

Sunshine Mix # 4. It is sold at Home Depot and Lowes. Sunshine mix #4 is just the right soil for your plants in both 4" pots and 12" hanging baskets.

Yup

Learning the creed teaches you about public speaking without having to write the speech. You might not realize it now, but learning to speak in front of people is a great job skill for the future.

There will be a lot more videos this year. Just starting up for the season. I will do some more videos about plugs definitely.

There have been great advancements in the world of LED grow lights. I have used several different brands of lights, most of them work equally well. The key to using them is intensity and quantity. You need enough lights to cover the entire plant, two separate tube lights spaced a foot apart will do fine for most plants. Also keep the lights fairly close to the plant. Keeping them between 12 to 18" above the plant will provide sufficient intensity.

If you haven't had chance to catch the show yet. Here is a link to one of my videos on my other channel: th-cam.com/video/eUNopGGh4Sg/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared

I just bought a few thousand plants. Unfortunately I had a disaster this year. Videos about it are being released this week.

I will be planting this harvest of seeds this weekend. Stay tuned to see their progress.

We are doing this as a CLF (Constant Liquid Feed) test trial. They are getting their prescribed rate of feed for each watering. We repotted them awhile back to one gallon pots which allows them to go 3-4 days between waterings. When we water them we use about 1 to 1-1/2 cups of water at a time. This is enough to cause water to run out of the bottom of the pot. This is very important to ensure that salts are flushed through the soil and do not build up.

@ wow that’s wild. 1tbsp/gal is the weekly rate for jacks petunia but the fireflies actually do best at that rate for constant feed?

That is the what the research is showing so far. It is also the rate I have recommended for consumers for 30+ years for hanging baskets. Of course for baskets I recommend 2-3x per week on the fertilizer instead of CLF. But this seems to work just fine for the fireflies.

That's why we are doing the research. To help folks be happy with their Fireflies and that they perform to the best that they can.

Jack's has three recommendations depending on your desired PPM. There is 1/2 teaspoon, 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. The point of the experiment is to find which rate is the best for the general consumer balancing plant quality and cost. Yes, you can feed them at the full rate of 1 tablespoon per gallon of water, but that gets very expensive very quickly and you will go through a lot of fertilizer. The question really is how little fertilizer can you use on these and still get the best growth and glow. I buy Jack's in 25 pound commercial bags, but the average consumer buys it in 1 or 5 pound containers. I want to make sure folks get the best value for their fertilizing rate. I have grown tens of thousands of petunias, and these guys are honestly a bit different and quite picky. Just trying to find what is best.

@@AgTeacherThoughts I see, thanks for the clarification. I grow these too and you are right they are picky. the cold weather one you mention is really interesting.

Accidents can happen to anyone.

The tree had to be removed for good neighbor relationships. The fruit was falling on the neighbor's property too and they were having allergic reactions when picking them up. I warned them of the fruit's toxin and we mutually decided the tree had to go. I have since replaced the tree with a sunset maple tree. It is equally pretty and the seeds are also consumed by local wildlife. That way both the animals and our neighborhood can enjoy the tree.

@AgTeacherThoughts that makes sense

It had to be removed due to the toxic stinky fruit. I replaced it less than a week later with a sunset maple tree. The new tree will provide shade for my family and local wildlife. The seeds in the fall are also collected by native squirrels. It joins a nearly 50 year old crimson maple tree in my front yard.

@@AgTeacherThoughtsaww RIP ginkgo

Yup, went out front this evening to find the young buck trying again. Not the one I thought, just a fork-n-horn.

I just dropped the first public speaking video today. It's the introduction video, more videos will follow. I'll try to teach you what I have learned in 30 years of public speaking. th-cam.com/video/u-A_HmY5fyI/w-d-xo.html

I rely on Jack's Classic Petunia FeED for feeding my plants. They also get a lot of natural light and right now they are supplemented with LED grow lights. We are currently running tests on fertilizer rates. I will have results in a few months.

@@AgTeacherThoughts I use Jack’s too. It’s just weird that my firefly crosses look lush and green and the original fireflies are yellow while on the same lighting and fertilizer regiment

I know they are a pretty picky plant and yes, there is some room for improvement in the plants. Luckily I know a lot of that is being worked on and I have been told that a much brighter strain may be available for next year.

@@AgTeacherThoughts oh no way, that’s exciting! By next year do you mean spring 2025 or spring 2026?

@@AgTeacherThoughts guessing next year means spring 2025 but I was surprised because I’d heard some people were told by light bio new versions were coming the following season, not this upcoming one. But that was months ago so I’m sure that could’ve changed One of the growers in the Facebook group just now commented in response to my reply under someone else’s post that it’s possible they’ll have different plants this season, but I’m not sure that necessarily means brighter yet. What did you hear?

Parli and Public Speaking are skills you will use throughout your entire life. Enjoy them they can be quite fun. I am also starting a new series on public speaking. The first video will be out in a day or two after editing. Make sure you subscribe so your are notified when the new series comes out.

Unfortunately I am not able to share seeds with you. The rules of the patent and the guidance from Light Bio prohibit the sharing of seeds, starts or cuttings. Also, rumor has it that the next generation of Firefly petunias will be brighter anyway so you might want to wait for those.

@@AgTeacherThoughts I completely understand. I'd like to order another one, but I'm just afraid it will turn out the same way as my previous two orders, where none of the three plants survived the transport and I'll be left with third plant care instructions. I have been looking forward to having glowing plants at home for so long. And in the end it was just a big disappointment.

Not everything is perfect the first time. I have tried my best to help those who purchased these plants be successful. I've also given my professional feedback to Light Bio on what needs to change. This is a new frontier for gardeners and growers alike.

It's about a month to month and a half of pellets for a stove depending on how much you use it.

I have a chart in my classroom. I will check it tomorrow and let you know.

Yes the ethanol is 92% and cloudy. The best we can tell is that the cloudiness is from the still itself. It seems as if some of the copper in the still has oxidized and is leaching into the finished product. We plan on cleaning the still and re-distilling this with a later batch to clear it up. It is not really necessary to clear it up, as this is never intended for human consumption. We are only using the ethanol as a fuel, the small amount of copper won't do much to the engine. The only reason to re-distill it is that it keeps the copper from contaminating our clay molecular sieves we use to to take the ethanol to 98%. Our last part of our process is also to denature the ethanol which will also make it toxic to consume.

@@AgTeacherThoughts that may be a result of too much yeast nutrient. It tends to push the mash pH down. A low pH and you can get copper acetate (also from a bacterial infection causing acetate production) or copper sulfate. A high pH can make stuff too I think. Either way will give you that blue slue

Yup, we checked the pH on our current run to make sure that doesn't happen again. Right now we are doing a wheat fermentation. It's looking pretty good. We'll know soon how it goes.

Excellent!!!! The best part is paragraph 5 is the shortest! Once you learn it, you will never forget it. I will be posting new public speaking tips in the coming weeks. So subscribe and follow along.

Certainly, I have a whole play list: th-cam.com/play/PLdLMsDhSVF-neMlCi_DuzlFmx6x8qvhAn.html

@@AgTeacherThoughts cool! Thanks!!!

Unfortunately I am not familiar with Jackfruit. It does not grow in the area where I live. Jackfruit trees cannot withstand temperatures below -2 C. My area often gets down to -20 C during winter. As such I can answer in generalities about plants and why they may abort fruit. Lack of proper or complete pollination can be one cause of aborted fruit. Likewise the weather such as drastic changes in temperature or wind events can cause fruit to fall. There may also be changes in moisture levels of the soil such as a prolonged dry period. I would suggest searching for Jackfruit cultivation groups on the internet for further information as to what may be causing your issue. I am sorry I cannot be more helpful.

I have seen my share of supertunias. I remember when they were released nearly two decades ago. I do have some videos of field days I have attended. you should try to catch one in your area. th-cam.com/video/EvHBRjAvi6M/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared

I will have more info once the research concludes.

We just started a sugar batch yesterday. I'll update that when we have results. Also stay tuned as we will be doing a series about making cyclekart that run on our own ethanol.

I've been working in greenhouses since I could walk. this stuff is just in my blood.

@@AgTeacherThoughts great

Roses are pretty tough as long as you leave the crown alone.

We don't have that issue where I am located. They capture steelhead fry and put PIT tags in them. PIT tags are an RFID chip coated in glass and about the size of a grain of rice. When the fish return from the ocean years later the detected by electronic sensors strung across the river.

What brand and type of soil are you using? If you are using a soil that has any parts that are mulch, that can be a carrier of mold. Soils that use just new materials tend to have lower mold spore loads. When taking cuttings, it is also important that you do not leave damaged leaves on cuttings, or bury any leaves on the cuttings. Both can lead to mold.

@@AgTeacherThoughts I'm using promix. It's basically a peat/perlite mix. I do remove any leaves the fall off the cuttings right away so they don't mold on the growing media

Yep, it's one of the very few reasons it was brought over from Europe to the USA.

It was just a happy little accident. Glad you enjoyed that humor.