Early Morning Watering

I usually visit the allotment on a Sunday morning, however with all the car breakdown shenanigans yesterday and the anticipated 32 degrees C forecast for Sunday, being on the allotment digging Rhubarb bed 3 was not really something I wanted to put myself through. 

It was however with the sun and temperatures we had Saturday and Sunday a no brainer that I would have to do an 7:45 - 10am visit to the allotment to water the half that is in the shade this morning. Temperatures today are anticipated to be 29 - 30C with thunder storms but little in the way of rain later tonight.

Pauline didn't want to take a half parasol with her to her new allotment but it's ideal for the table behind the Plot 1 greenhouse as I have the table up against the wall. Getting that set in place this morning made darting in and out of the greenhouse and working at the table bearable.

The Smart Reservoirs of the Greenhouse Sensation Quadgrows in the greenhouse that were topped up last Wednesday were approximately half empty this morning and I used all the 10 bottles I had ready and then had to make up another eight bottles to fill the Quadgrows up. Based on 2 litre bottles that's 36 Litres and I have 4 Quadgrows at 15 Litre each capacity so 60 Litres.

I topped up the 10 bottles and added the Type A & Type B Nutrigrow Plant Food Nutrients to the bottles so they are ready for the next top up which if the temperature remains high like this may be this weekend or mid next week.

Greenhouse Paving Slabs

Up early and to the allotment for a couple of hours between 7:50 - 10:00 am.

Cutting the two paving slabs in the corners on the entrance face of the greenhouse. I adjusted the shield on the blade and I'm now better at getting a straight cut and repeating it to cut to depth. Transferring the line of cut to the back of the slab and cutting so that with a small simple tap what I want to trim off comes off easily and cleanly. I gave a mental "thank you mate" to my Brother-In-Law in heaven, as it was his Ryobi angle grinder that I was using that was gifted to me by my Sister-in-law just before she moved to be nearer her daughter.   

 

I bought a couple of the Wilko Mini Greenhouses (blowaways) in the Wilko end of season sale a couple of years ago so that I could use them as staging in the new greenhouse. I've ended up making up a frame that has an additional mesh shelf on the bottom and the top, so I have five high shelving and the cover will still go over if I want added protection against frost early on for any seedlings. 

I took the Greenhouse Sensations bases to the Quadgrows that I used at home last year to the allotment with me this morning to see how they would fit in the greenhouse with the new quadgrow and above is the layout I ultimately decided upon. 

The I and 2 base until will be connected to 3 & 4 Base unit and I may have a header tank on the Mini Greenhouse & I may use the automatic top up feature on those units. 

The Bases for 5&6 and 7&8 will remain independent. At the moment I'm a little undecided if all 8 will be tomatoes as I do plant to grow some at home and out in one or both of the narrow beds, so perhaps I will use 5 to 8 for Aubergine especially as I may be a little late getting the solar tunnel ready for the season, and I need to grow some for my mucker Arif. 

I looked at how I Gerry rigged the vent opener in the first green house and it looks like I need to search the shed for a selection of nuts bolts and perhaps some PK screws so that I can fix the vent opener in this greenhouse. 

50 number mini 15mm bulldog clips ordered to fix the debris netting to the outside of the greenhouse and then we should be ready to rock 'n' roll in there.  

Note to self:  Take some AA Batteries to site for the greenhouse thermometers 

For those that enquired the Silicone I used was Wickes All Purpose Sealant Silicone Clear to fix and waterproof the panels that would not fix back with the fixing strips.   

Greenhouse Sensations Quadgrow

The Greenhouse Sensations Quadgrow has got to be the best product that I saw at this years Gardening Press Event. I fell in love with it because I was due to have my second Greenhouse up and running on the allotment and the fact that you feed the plants water and nutrients via the Smart Reservoir up to the pots via Four Feeder Mats via capillary action, and that there is enough water to last 10 days, plus you can add a link to a water butt and double that just blew my mind away. 

I arranged for one to be delivered and then covid-19 hit and as the wife is in the very high risk category we went into shielding before the lockdown started for everyone else and we are still shielding until the end of the month (at the moment). 

I didn't get to install the Quadgrow in the greenhouse on the allotment because although were were allowed out for exercise to allotments, I didn't want to take the risk as I love my wife more than I love my plot (just!). 

I did try installing into a pop up greenhouse in the back garden but during high winds it wanted to turn into a kite, so I abandoned that idea and instead have used the quadgrow outside in the elements. 

Not really what I got it for but it has been great and has provided me with a means of growing on the patio deck as an #IsolatedGardener.

I decided not to link the two Smart Reservoirs together and to use a 25mm grummet in each to block the connection holes as I had a need to be able to move them independently.

The pre 2019 Model was supplied as a single unit

In 2019 the Quadgrow design was improved and is now split into two Smart Reservoirs (which can be joined if required), with each reservoir measuring 24½" / 620mm long by 14" / 360mm wide by 7" / 180mm high and having a 15 litre capacity. Root filters are provided to prevent the connecting pipe from getting blocked as you can see in the photo below the roots love to grow into the Smart Reservoirs.  

This large capacity should keep plants watered for up to 10 days and is easy to fill up via the filler hole. Providing more flexibility, now that the Quadgrow is split into two sections it allows gardeners with limited space to use the Quadgrow whereas, in the past, they may not have had the space to accommodate the length of the reservoir.

The Four Pots - each pot measures 10inch / 250 mm square by 10inch / 250mm high and has a compost capacity of approx. 11 litres. They all have a decorative feature around the top of the pot. The Quadgrow including the pots are made from recycled plastic.  

Nutrigrow Plant Feed - 2.5 litres of feed are included with both the pack of one or pack of two Quadgrows. 

This award winning plant food can be used with vegetable plants or ornamentals to improve general health, speed up plant growth and increase flower and fruit production. 

Nutrigrow includes potash, nirogen, calcium and magnesium but the secret to its success is that it also includes micronutrients and trace elements in a balanced ratio. 

It is supplied as a super concentrated fertiliser. For young plants the dilution rate is 3ml per litre of water. For mature plants the rate increases to 6ml. 

Nutrigrow Plant Food can be bought on its own from Greenhouse Sensations as required.

Optional Extras or Add Ons 

Water Butt Link Kit 

The Water Butt Link Kit allows you connect your Quadgrow to a water butt, allowing you to leave your plants for even longer between watering which is ideal if you are going away on holiday. 

Greenhouse Sensations can provide just the Water Butt kit which includes a "water level controller" which is basically a cistern ball value set up with all the connections you will need or they can also provide an extension 25L water butt as well. 

Mulch Cap and Cane Support Kits 

Sold as a set of 4 mulch caps sit that sit on top of the Quadgrow pots. Included is a cane locator in each mulch cap to make it easier to support your plants. Canes are not included

Benefits of using a mulch cap:

• Warms the soil to increase root growth
• Increased root growth, in turn, benefits a bigger harvest
• Reduces evaporation for even longer between watering
• Reduces algae and weed growth in soil
• Stops pests from laying eggs in the soil, mainly the Fungus Gnat whose larvae will eat roots

            

Protective Lids 

Cold temperatures can slow the growth of young plants and make them more susceptible to disease later in life. Give your young plants a really healthy start with these propagator lids which protect plants from cold temperatures.

Specifically manufactured to fit the Quadgrow pots, they measure 270mm high and come with an adjustable air vent on the top of each pot giving you control over the humidity inside. These can be purchased singly, of in quantities of 4 or 8 depending on how many Quadgrows you have.

            

I've been asked by people on various Facebook Groups who know I have been testing a number of self watering products this year if I would recommend the Quadgrow, and I can say without hesitation I do. I can't wait to get it set up the the greenhouse on the allotment plot next year and I will be looking at other products from Greenhouse Sensations as I want to get into growing in water and hydroponics. 

For those of you that worry about the environment and using plastic on the allotment, the Quadgrow is made from recycled plastic.  

If there is one improvement that could be made to this product it would be the inclusion of a water indicator something like the Bio Green City Jungle has as I find that really useful. 

A timber dip stick is supplied with the Quadgrow but there is no mark on it to indicate a high and low level. 

The Greenhouse Sensations Web site is worth checking out as they produce so many useful growing and gardening products and they are Made in England. I will post a blog re Quadgrow Unboxing and when I install in the greenhouse there will be another post. For all thing Quadgrow related in the future on my blog use this Link

Finally for this post, I love to read a manual and so that I can easily find it again and so you can also have a read, below is the manual that came with my Quadgrow

   

If you are reading this post on a Windows 10 Computer if you click on an image you should get all the images full screen to look at. 

The Small Print. I have not been paid to write this review, I'm not on commission, trial equipment was provided to me in order to review.