Jul Aug Sep 2021 Ecologist Diary

 

 

13th Baby Rabbit Snail

 

14th Baby Rabbit Snail

 

15th Baby Rabbit Snail

 

Lettuce had Flower

 

 Mini Mexican Crayfish

 

16th Baby Rabbit Snail

 

Rabbit Snail breeding continue at a faster pace after the transfer of all Adult to Fish Tank. Almost one Baby is born every week, not sure if it is Twin or Triplet. Lettuce had Flower, waiting for it to bear fruit to collect the seed for future planting.

 

Had decided to keep Mini Mexican Crayfish again, this time we keep it together with the Wild Type Primitive Crystal Shrimp. Also brought some more Neon Tetra and White Cloud Mountain Minnow to replace those which had die during the power stoppage. 

 

 

Passion Fruit had Flower

 

Crystal Shrimp feeding on Spirulina Tablet

Rabbit Snail feeding on Spirulina Tablet

 

Air Plant Flower Bloom
 
 

Glass Fish Bowl

 

Lotus Seed had Sprout

 

Lotus Leaf start to open after 2 weeks 

 

 17th Baby Rabbit Snail

 

Banana had Sprout

 

 The Passion Fruit had Flower after about a year, but the long wait is worth the effort. It will be producing Fruit for the next 4 to 5 years, although the main purpose is to provide shelter for the Vegetable. Air Plant Flower Bloom, notice that it always happen when the weather are hot.

 

Happen to see Lotus Seed when I am looking for Banana Lily Seed last time, decided to give it a try. The Lotus Seed start to sprout after a day, and it had grow to a very long length in just 5 days. I found out that the life cycle is about 2 months, so I am expecting the flower to bloom in 1 month and bear Pod with Lotus Seed in 2 months.

 

One thing lead to another, due to my interest in Lotus Seed the shopping website start to recommend Bonsai Fruit Plant Seed to me. The Banana Tree really caught my attention as I never expect it to be able to fit into Bonsai Pot. The other plant that also caught my attention are Apple, Cherry, Kiwi, Fig, Peach as I only see very big and large version of them so far.

 

I also purchase some other seeds like Black Berry, Papaya, Guava,  Pomegranate, Custard Apple and Sugar Cane to try out. I didn't really held high hope for the rest as I had seen the actual version before and still feel they are a bit too big for Bonsai. The only exception in this group is Pomegranate as the photo shown is similar to Apple which I had never seen before.

 

Lotus Leaf start to open after 2 weeks, everything is according to my expectation so far. My Sixth Aunt add some earthworm poop as fertilizer, her Lotus Leaf open more and earlier then mine. Actually I had alternate between normal tap water and aquarium water between the water change every 2 to 3 days, so it also able to absorb some nutrients from the fish poop.

 

Manage to find another Baby Rabbit Snail under the Drift Wood use for Java Fern, I thought it was an empty shell like one of the previous case as it is not moving at all. But when I transfer it into Shrimp Tank, it start to show its head and start crawling around. The breeding had seem to slow down back to the normal rate of about once a month, but I am not sure what is the reason that contribute to that changes.

 

I had decided to transfer the Lotus to Fish and shrimp Tank for easy management, I had to use the Bio Ceramic Ring to help weight it down. The Rabbit Snail seem to like sucking the sticky liquid from the seed, it had cause quite a few broken stem which unable to grow back after some observation. Just hope the remaining one will continue to grow well.

 

Banana had start to Sprout after about 5 days, the remaining fruits still under close observation. I will sow new seeds if they did not sprout after about a month or two depending on the type. I had order some more Lotus Seeds to start a second batch as back up, I had also send some to Cousin Iris and a Friend for them to try it in their fish pond. 

Watermelon had Sprout

Sugar Cane had Sprout

Fig had Sprout

 

18th Baby Rabbit Snail

Watermelon had Sprout after 5 days, Sugar Cane had Sprout after 7 days and Fig had Sprout after 9 days. Most of the other fruits had not sprout, I will replant the seed at end of the month if they still doesn't show any sign of sprouting.

Apr 2020 Farmer Dairy

Wife brought some Wind Mill from China Town to deter the Birds which had been causing damage to the plants. I had also added an additional rack over the Large Tray for protection netting few days ago. Hanging shiny ornaments or wind chime will also do the trick but we do not want to cause any noise or light reflection disturbance to our neighbors.

The sunlight had start to shift toward the left after Spring Equinox on 21st Mar, it is at perfect alignment to the east and west on Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox which occurs every year on 21st of Mar and 21st Sep. It will keep shifting towards the left until 21st Jun on Summer Solstice at an angle of 23.5 Degree and towards the right until 21st Dec on Winter Solstice at the same angle.

This natural phenomenon are due to the tilt angle of the planet Earth which allow four seasons to occur above the tropic region. The Tropical of Cancer and Capricorn are also mark at 23.5 Degree above and below the Equator for the same reason.   

2nd Apr 2020 Adding Wind Mill to deter the Birds

Sunlight shifting toward the left after Spring Equinox

The Air Plant Flower Bloom, this is the second time it bloom. The first time is just one flower on another plant facing the side but this time it is the front plant with three flowers. Not sure if this is a good sign at bad time like this as the Government had announce yesterday about the new control measure for the prevention of virus spread.

The Choy Sum seem to grow very well at the Long Pot which was meant for Carrot initially, it grow much faster than expect and also surpass the one growing on Large Tray. Maybe it is because the Carrot did not sprout and the nutrient in the soil remain to boost the grow, think we will be able to harvest it in a week or so.  

5th Apr 2020 Air Plant Flower Bloom

5th Apr 2020 Choy Sum Grow Well 

The Watermelon and Okra didn't survive, I think it is because my wife had been too protective of the sprout and keep it too long in the nursery. Those that we plant directly into the pot are stronger, so I had to take a lot of effort to convince my wife not to be too protective of the sprout.

The Lime also doesn't sprout as expected, so we get some Kaffir Lime seed and regrow with same pot. The Watermelon is also regrow in same pot with the sweeter version from the seed brought from supermarket. The Okra pot will be use for another attempt on the Carrot.

We decided to add Passion Fruit, Bitter Gourd and Cactus to the Mini Farm, the Cactus initially is suppose to use for Deterring the Birds but the Wind Mill seem to work well so far even without using the Protecting Net for the Vegetables.

The remaining 5 pot of Capsicum doesn't survive in the end, the pot are use for the Choy Sum instead as my wife feel the Large Tray is a bit cramp. Peanut seem to suffer with new soil, 2 out of the 5 plant are dying. The transfer might had cause some damage to the root, so it is not advisable to transfer plant too often.

10th Apr 2020 Addition of Passion Fruit, Bitter Gourd, Kaffir Lime, Watermelon and Cactus.

10th Apr 2020 Replace Capsicum with Choy Sum

Wife decided to try Bean Sprout after seeing a lot of people post about their result on Facebook, it is not much challenge as I expect it to be able to Harvest in just 4 days. Jalapeno and Strawberry Sprout doesn't survive well, additional seeds are planted. The Strawberry seeds are now from the package we brought from supermarket, we hope it will survive better this time.

 11th Apr 2020 Bean Sprout

After about 4 days the Bean Sprout are ready for Harvest, at the same time the New Watermelon had also start to Sprout after 5 days. Seem like almost all the seed we get from the actual fruit doesn't really survive well, now we start to worry for the Cherry Tomato, Passion Fruit and Kaffir Lime.

14th Apr 2020 Bean Sprout ready for Harvest

14th Apr 2020 New Watermelon had Sprout

The Cactus had start to Sprout after 7 days, at the same time we also notice that the Cucumber, Cucamelon, French Bean, Cherry Tomato, Eggplant had start to die. I had to replant the seeds and hope for the best, Cucamelon is the one I worry most as I had no more seed after this if it fail again.

My wife think I had over fertilize it, but I think it is because of the hot weather. The Pearl Tomato seem to had more Flower Bloom after I give more fertilizer, if my wife is right the Pearl Tomato should have also been affected.

The Capsicum seem the same after fertilizing it, but the Mulberry and Peanut seem to show sign of dying. The Choy Sum which had been transfer to the previous Capsicum pot also doesn't look good, the Choy Sum in the Long pot are ready for Harvest anytime soon.

15th Apr 2020 Cactus had Sprout

15th Apr 2020 Cactus had Sprout

The Passion Fruit had start to Sprout after 12 days, it is longer than expected. Not sure what my wife did to the plant, the Capsicum and Mulberry Leaf start to wither. I had suspected that she never water enough but she say she just fertilize it with some rice water.

I had to check all the pot for moist soil and true enough almost all the pot did not have much water and soil is pretty dry up. It can't be notice on the surface as my wife usually spray some water on the surface, it took me about 5 to 6 bottle of water before I can see water slipping out from the bottom of the pot to the tray.

19th Apr 2020 Passion Fruit Sprout after 12 days

19th Apr 2020 Capsicum had start to Ripe

As one of the Capsicum and both the Mulberry had shown sign of dying, I decided to redo the soil for it. We added Lecca, Mini Lecca and Perlite to ensure the water retention and air circulation. The root seem ok as we had expected some rotting or damage before we decided to redo the soil.

At the same time we also decided to redo the soil for the pots which we use for Capsicum last time. The Choy Sum doesn't seem to grow well in the pots as the nutrient might had been fully absorded by the Capsicum previously. 

Got some left over soil after the mixing of Lecca, Mini Lecca and Perlite, we decided to use it to top up the soil for the Sweet Potato and Choy Sum Long Pot. The Large Tray will also have to top up with more soil later after the Choy Sum had been harvest.

It had been a month and the Earthworm had grow big, they use to take two month to improve the soil but now they only need one month. So it is about time we help them move their house again.

They are suppose to do the work of loosening the soil, but my wife treat them like baby and want me to break up the soil into fine powder. I ask her, if I am doing the work for them then what are they going to do? Every day just eat and sleep?

End up I still had to do all the hard work and even had to stiffen the powdered soil with a strainer to ensure it is fine enough. My wife then add water and stir it into a cray like paste before she transfer the precious Earthworm into their new habitat.

Kaffir Lime had start to Sprout after 15 days, it was a very long wait and we almost lose hope about it. New Batch of Cherry Tomato and Cucamelon had also start to Sprout after 7 days, they took almost twice the time this time and I hope it will be stronger as I planted the seed directly into the soil without nurturing the sprout.

22nd Apr 2020 Kaffir Lime had Sprout after 15 days

22nd Apr 2020 New Cherry Tomato had Sprout after 7 days

22nd Apr 2020 New Cucamelon had Sprout after 7 days

New Eggplant had Sprout after 10 days, hopefully it will be stronger as it is planted directly into soil. Have tested the PH Value of the soil, the soil for Strawberry and Peanut seem to be more Acidic than the rest. I suspect the new soil I brought is acidic but after testing it found to be normal.

Even the fertilizer appear to be normal after testing, so I just use Vinegar to lower the PH Value for other soil. Basically the Fruits or Vegetables which are sour in nature require the soil to b more acidic. Vinegar also help to kill the pest inside the soil.

26th Apr 2020 New Eggplant had Sprout after 10 days

 Another Type of Mushroom grow in Peanut Long Pot, the Peanut never survive after the soil change. Sixth Aunt say Mushroom grow indicate good soil as it is a sign of nutrient breaking down cycle. The fertilizer which is in progress now should be very good for the plant in the future.

28th Apr 2020 Another Type of Mushroom grow in Peanut Long Pot

29th Apr 2020 Mushroom grow bigger