Whatcha Up To???

[wolffman]

More of the same. Hauling rocks, and I have 3 new flowerbeds going. This will do it for the front acre. I bought this Bluebird Power Rake years ago for dethatching and never used it much...tried to sell it several times. Glad it didn't sell, it's a nice little machine for flowerbed prep.

 

[w_r_ranch]

The 28 cu. yds. of finely shredded pine bark mulch was delivered this morning, so I spent my day distributing it in the garden.

 

[ksk]

Window World arrived at 4 pm to install new windows[they were scheduled for 11 am].The wife and I are very satisfied with both the instillation and the windows.Lot of thunder and lightning last night.Very little rain.

 

[Waite]

Wellsir, I've about had it. This weather sucks. It's sucked for two weeks, it continues to suck, and it's going to suck for another week. Temps are anywhere from upper 30's to low 40's, mixture of sun/rain/snow/clouds/wind, and overnight lows anywhere from mid the lower 30's to the upper teens. Yesterday we started in the 20's, had a rain/snow mix, and ended the day with strong thunderstorms bordering on severe.

We're running about 10 degrees below normal every day. The long range forecast is saying that a week from today is supposed to be the turnaround. finally getting to the 50's with the odd upper 60 degree day thrown in here and there.

The only good news is that my new trees have been getting plenty of water.

It's been a long winter.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Continued mulching the garden, then watered it.

 

[wolffman]

Tired of hauling rocks. Decided to turn one of the planned rock beds into a groundcover bed. Going to modify septic spray heads to water it. Tires for trailer should be in this week, and then I haul the boulders. Need to weed the garden.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Decided to turn one of the planned rock beds into a groundcover bed. Going to modify septic spray heads to water it.

Don't do that. The chlorine in the discharge will kill the plants over time.

 

[wolffman]

Don't do that. The chlorine in the discharge will kill the plants over time.

Even Asian jasmine?

 

[w_r_ranch]

Yes even Asian Jasmine.

It is a fact that bleach (chlorine) contains salt (sodium chloride). When you buy a gallon of bleach at the grocery store, what you are buying is the chemical sodium hypochlorite mixed with water in a 5.25 - 8% solution. Bleach itself breaks down mainly into salt, oxygen & water when it is released into the environment (per the Clorox website).

Texas A&M says it is sensitive to salt. Here is a link to the PDF file (page 16):

An Index of Salinity and Boron Tolerance of Common Native and Introduced Plant Species in Texas

 

[w_r_ranch]

Made bread.

Yeah, you guessed it... I continued mulching the garden & then watered it.

 

[wolffman]

A surprise rain shower this afternoon. Looks like we may get a little more.

I spent a little time mocking up a pathway to the chicken coop in the backyard from stoneyard scraps. We'll see what the lady says when she comes home. I warned her that it was going to have to be 'eclectic'', haha. Need a paver saw. Picked up some nice travertine today and I'll get the rest tomorrow. Tires for trailer came in, need to get them mounted and grease the bearings.

 

[Waite]

Tired of hauling rocks. Decided to turn one of the planned rock beds into a groundcover bed. Going to modify septic spray heads to water it. Tires for trailer should be in this week, and then I haul the boulders. Need to weed the garden.

Don't do that. The chlorine in the discharge will kill the plants over time.

Where are the chlorines coming from?

 

[wolffman]

In an aerobic septic system, there is a chlorine reservoir that is drawn from via venturi mechanism and injected into the final tank of the system. I add roughly 2 gallons/year.

I'm going to try irrigating with the water anyway. Grandma used to have some awesome flowerbeds that received washing machine runoff and I know that chlorine content was much higher. I'll let y'all know if I fry the new plantings lol!

 

[Waite]

Ok, an aerobic septic system. The cool thing about that is most of the chlorine will be spent by the organics. Have you ever checked the residual? I'll bet it's not much.

 

[wolffman]

Ok, an aerobic septic system. The cool thing about that is most of the chlorine will be spent by the organics. Have you ever checked the residual? I'll bet it's not much.

No, but the Bermuda grass doesn't show any stress from it. 2 gallons/year with respect to the amount of water the system pumps a year, I think the concentration is probably pretty low.

 

[Waite]

Yup. I'd bet if you used a test kit the residual would be very low. Most water systems run a minimum of 0.5 - 4.0 mg/l, (or Parts Per Million), and I doubt the concentration in your system is even that high, especially using bleach which as previously stated is typically <10%.

My rainwater collection system uses a 300 gallon tote connected to a gutter on an almost flat roof with a large maple over it. The result is it gets loaded up with organics to the point it can smell, it's really compost tea. If the tote gets half empty and there's no rain in sight, I top it off with city water. The organics and chlorine work together to A) spend the chlorine and B) kill enough of the organics to have a nice amount leftover for the plants with no odor. Once it's set for a day the chlorine is gone.

The other thing to take into consideration is rain. I know you guys don't get it regularly down there, but any build up is going to get dispersed when you get one of those Texas gully-washers I remember!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Where are the chlorines coming from?

Chlorine is in the bleach, however it is not the chlorine that is the real problem... it is the buildup of salt in the soil. As I mentioned in post #3709, the bleach itself breaks down mainly into salt, oxygen & water.

In an aerobic septic system, there is a chlorine reservoir that is drawn from via venturi mechanism and injected into the final tank of the system. I add roughly 2 gallons/year.

Actually it is injected directly in to the discharge pipe on the way to the 'sprinkler' heads. Our system uses 1 - 1.5 gallons per month.

Bermuda grass doesn't show any stress from it.

Bermuda grass is listed as tolerant (4.6), while Asian Jasmine is listed a sensitive (1 -1.5). To convert dS/m to ppm, simply multiply it by 55. For example:

Bermuda will tolerate up to 253 ppm (watered directly). It will tolerate from 330 - 440 ppm in the soil.

Asian Jasmine will tolerate up to 82.5 ppm (watered directly). It will tolerate less than 165 ppm in the soil.

​

The only way to know is to do an actual soil test... anything else is a just gamble.

 

[wolffman]

Actually it is injected directly in to the discharge pipe on the way to the 'sprinkler' heads. Our system uses 1 - 1.5 gallons per month.

Ours isn't set up that way. It uses a venturi that sucks chlorine from a reservoir (basically a large PVC pipe) and shoots it into the final tank where it mixes with that section of tank. Then the irrigation pump pulls from that tank and sends it to the spray heads. 1 gallon month? Wow, that seems like a lot.

 

[Waite]

If the salts ever become a problem you can feed gypsum. Once it's watered in it will leach salts from the soil.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Salinity Class Use Restrictions For Clay/Loam Soils

Salinity Class ---------- dS/m ------------ Potential Tree and Shrub
-------------------------------------------------- Use Restrictions

Non-Saline ------------- <2 ---------------- None
Very Slightly Saline --- 2 to 4 ----------- Limited
Slightly Saline ---------- 4 to 8 ----------- Moderate to Severe
Moderately Saline ---- 8 to 16 --------- Severe
Strongly Saline ------- 16 or Greater -- Extremely High

 

[w_r_ranch]

It's drizzling on & off here (0.12" thus far).

Did the weekly shopping & picked up our quarterly supply of prescriptions.

Seasoned up 5 pork shoulder steaks that I plan on smoking for dinner, I figured I cook enough today to last a few days as it's suppose to be very windy & maybe 60 degrees tomorrow. I'll make soybean succotash to go with it & Mrs. Ranch is making macaroni salad.

 

[wolffman]

Salinity Class Use Restrictions For Clay/Loam Soils

Salinity Class ---------- dS/m ------------ Potential Tree and Shrub
-------------------------------------------------- Use Restrictions

Non-Saline ------------- <2 ---------------- None
Very Slightly Saline --- 2 to 4 ----------- Limited
Slightly Saline ---------- 4 to 8 ----------- Moderate to Severe
Moderately Saline ---- 8 to 16 --------- Severe
Strongly Saline ------- 16 or Greater -- Extremely High

That TX A&M link you posted lists clovers as sensitive. Those spray heads grew some beatiful (lol) clover this year, so I'm guessing I've got pretty low concentration. Enough of this discussion, I'm sending Asian jasmine to the front lines, and I'll be sure to post the outcome of this battle.

 

[w_r_ranch]

The weather here sucks today. the temperature has been dropping all day. The high for today was at midnight when it was 73... currently it's 43 & the wind is howling out of the north.

Since I had nothing else to do, Mrs Ranch gave me her shopping list... The mat on the back porch is deteriorating badly, so I ordered a new 9'X12' rug.

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Then I ordered a 7 piece wicker sectional per her request.

​

 

[w_r_ranch]

Still cold here (47 degrees), but at least the wind has died so I could watered the garden, asparagus bed & the trees.

Ordered new latches for the exterior deadbolts (had one fail last night so I'll replace all of them).

Made stuffed jalapenos.

Replaced the water filter in the well house & filled up the salt for the water softener since it's warmer now (65 degrees).

 

[Waite]

Watered all of the seedlings. Even the most stubborn peppers are up, so I shut off the heat mats.