Where propagation really shines is in plant production. Just about anything you can find in a nursery and many fruits and vegetables in a grocery store can be propagated. Just a few from the produce shelves that can have successfully propagated include potatoes, sweet potatoes (in a long enough growing season), Jerusalem artichokes, horseradish, Haas avocados, limes, wild persimmons, wild cherries, and tangerines. Fruits such as apples, plums, pears, cherries, apricots and peaches do not propagate very successfully from seed since these are most often grown on rootstock that is different from the fruit that is actually produced. Think of the seeds from these fruits in the same manner as seeds saved from hybrid vegetables. The growing results are similar for a variety of reasons. Grapes, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and blackberries are so easy to propagate that everyone should start with these.
One method of propagating is called layering. This is mostly used for vines. Grapes, gooseberries, and scuppernongs are the vines I have successfully worked with. Take the vine that has current year’s growth and simply burry a 6 inch section of it about a foot or so from the end. Wait about two months and then cut the vine where it is buried on the parent side of the dirt. Dig up the vine and replant in its own spot. It helps the process along to scrape, cut, or abrade the outer layer of the vine before burying. Make 3 – 3 or 4 inch long cuts just through the outer layer. It is also helpful to place a brick on the vine to hold it down. One can easily get 10 vines from each parent plant. Done every 2 month over a normal growing season, a grower could easily layer hundreds of vines per year from one parent.
Layering also has a slight twist used on Blueberries. Take a small muslin bag of peat or compost and wrap it around the branch where you have scraped down to the cambium layer as you would to layer a vine. Secure the bag so it will stay in place for 6 to 8 weeks. Keep the bag wet, and within 6 to 8 weeks, the blueberry branch will have new roots and will be ready to cut from the parent plant.
By taking cuttings from certain trees, you can successfully propagate many different types of trees found in your garden center. One can use this method only when some other method does not work well. It is a little more demanding method to get right. Some trees/bushes are more successful with propagation through cuttings at different times of the year and some do better with green, soft wood while some do better with brown, mature wood. Basically, take a 6 inch or so cutting near the tip of the branch. Strip the greenery from the 3 inches closest to the place of your cut. Dip the cut end in a rooting hormone available at most growing centers, and stick the cutting in a growing medium. Some have successfully used sand mixed with potting soil. In several months, you should have roots on the new young plant. Keep watered well and in a warm, sunny location, preferably a cold frame or greenhouse in the winter until the spring and then transplant to the permanent location.
Apples, pears, Asian pears, plums, apricots, cherries, and peaches are easily and cheaply propagated through grafting. To graft a fruit tree, taking cuttings from parent trees (scion wood) in the spring before the fruit trees break dormancy and start budding (that would be now !!!). The parent tree will determine the type of fruit bore on the new tree. Order your rootstock to arrive about the same time. The rootstock determines the size of the mature tree and the resistance of the tree to disease, pests and weather (wet and cold tolerance). There is rootstock that is specialized for each type of fruit. Do your research or ask the nursery that is selling you the rootstock. If the scion wood is cut before the rootstock arrives, wrap them in a wet towel, sawdust, or sand and store them in the refrigerator until ready. Cut the rootstock and scion so that the diameter of the two is near the same size. The cut to join the two pieces is hard to describe, but the cuts are made to each piece less than a half inch long along the length of the wood. The pieces are fitted together like fingers meshed together. There is a tool that makes a puzzle piece cut in each end that joins the two pieces. The tool costs about $60 and I don’t think the blades can be sharpened. I use a simple knife to make the cuts. The cuts fit together so that the joint is secure and then the graft is taped with a special tape that doesn’t damage the tree. When the two pieces are joined, the cambium layers (the slick layer just under the outer bark) must be touching. Pot the new tree and set out in its permanent location next spring. If the graft does not take, but the rootstock lives, a new graft can be tried the following spring. Also, be sure the scion wood has at least 4 buds and is joined so that it is pointed in the same direction as is grew on the tree. It is easier than you think to graft them upside down. The $15 to $20 tree can now be propagated onto $2 rootstock to produce new trees. One word of warning, some recently developed fruit cultivars are protected through the Patent and Trademark Office (I am not sure of the proper term) and should not be propagated without permission.
I won’t mention bamboo, raspberries and blackberries other than to say it is hard to keep them in the areas where intended. New shoots can be dug up and transplanted to a new area. A border of sheet metal or metal roofing scraps can be buried 12 – 18 inches below ground level has been successful in keeping bamboo from becoming a nuisance.
Propagation of vegetables from the produce section is great fun to do with the kids. Try anything and everything that you or your kids think might be fun. Don’t worry if you waste a few dollars.
It is possible to use slips from potatoes bought from the store. Some potatoes are sprayed with a chemical to prevent or delay them from budding, but usually a few manage to bud anyway. One will always have better luck with seed potato slips.
If one takes sweet potatoes and slits them lengthwise in half and then lay them in a pan of water covered with some potting soil do this about January. The slips send up vines that I plant as soon as the weather permits.
Wild cherries, wild persimmons, horseradish, and Jerusalem artichokes have been grown successfully by planting the entire fruit or root and waiting for the produce.
Possibly the most unique thing tried is the California Haas avocado. It is successful about half the time. Several times,it doesn't work, and it was damaging the new plant and it didn’t live. Take the large seed out of the avocado. The California Haas has the hard, golf ball sized seed in the middle, not the softer and larger seed in the Florida avocado. Soak the seeds for about two weeks and let them start to split. Once this process starts, take three toothpicks and insert them in the side of the seeds just enough to support the weight of the seed just above the midsection with the pointy end pointed down. The idea is to space the toothpicks in such a manner as to keep ½ to 2/3rds of the seed submerged in a cup of water. Now wait, and wait some more. After perhaps three months, roots should come out the bottom, followed by a single stem out the top. At this point, you can plant into a pot. I just started playing around with avocados last year and have not had any produce from my small trees.
Your USDA climate zone will determine what you can leave outside year round and what you have to bring in to a greenhouse or garage. I am in zone 7, so I protect the avocados and other tender plants in winter.
Ham Radio Conditions/MUF
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Communications: the Keystone
Ham Radio is a simple and relatively inexpensive way for people to communicate over great distances (even between continents) and shorter distances (between cities and states). The frequencies that are used will determine the length of distance the ham can communicate.
The commercial radio stations are located in the lower end of the radio spectrum. So when you tune your radio to a local AM station in your area, you are in effect listening to the same type of communication that happens on the ham portions of the radio spectrum. The lower ham frequencies are located just above those local AM stations. The commercial stations (AM) will use considerably more power to extend their transmission distance than a ham operator can by law. Commercial stations may use from 1000 watts power, (like lighting up ten 100 watt light bulbs to the maximum allowed power in the US of 50,000 watts which would be like turning the switch on five thousand 100 watt light bulbs. The maximum power level allowed by US law is 1500 watts for ham stations, but most hams generally use around 100 watts for their stations.
The reason AM is preferred for long range communication especially during the nighttime hours is that the AM radio waves "bounce" off of certain layers of our atmosphere from the ground to the affected layer and back to the ground. This allows the radio waves to travel in a curved path around the earth. As a rule of thumb... the higher the frequency the transmitter is set at, the straighter the line of the radio wave. Generally speaking higher frequencies will not "bend" as readily as the lower wave frequencies because they will not bounce off the atmosphere (Ionosphere) but rather will penetrate out into space.
Ham radio operators cannot use the commercial AM radio band, but can use the frequencies just above that "band" (or group of frequencies). For many years, the AM band was the only frequencies that were used commercially because of the aforementioned quality of lower AM frequencies to "bend" around the curvature of the earth.
FM stations came into being in the 1960's which allowed commercial radio stations to play stereophonic sound or higher quality sound on those frequencies. The quality of FM is that it is "crystal clear" without static, and allows for music (or voice in the ham portion of the band) to be transmitted virtually without the noise or interference that is found on the AM band. Tune off frequency on the AM band of your radio, and you will get tons of "static" or noise. Tune off frequency on FM and you will only get what we call "white noise", not noisy static.
The only problem with FM is that the frequencies that are used can only be broadcast in "line of sight" mode, or in other words you have to be able to electronically “see” the antenna of the station that you are trying to listen to. As the earth curves, the FM radio waves go straight out into space and do not "skip" or "bounce" around the curvature of the earth. Hence the reason for FM station repeaters. When you listen to your favorite (PBS stations especially), they will also include a list of "translator" or repeater stations that they use for greater coverage around your state. You can see these also on the television stations sometimes, because they use FM to broadcast their sound, and AM to broadcast their picture. Now with digital TV, even that technology is old hat. With the band width of the original AM/FM analog station they can now fit in more than one station in the same space by using digital technology.
With this background information one can see that having access to ham radio equipment and knowing how to use it can be invaluable to you unless are hermits living in a cave never talking to anyone, or knowing what is going on around you both near and far. Most of the commercial radio stations will be shut down during an emergency and information will be quite scarce. Because of the government plans for an emergency network, even the information they give will be the same on every station broadcasting because they will all be hooked to the central station. By the way, in Utah, that central and nuclear hardened station is KSL and KBYU FM.
However most ham stations can run on batteries, or small generators and can be up and running in a very short amount of time allowing the operator to communicate with other hams in his area or hundreds of miles away. Usually a group of hams will form a "net" or a group contact time and frequency where they will meet each day and check in on a roll. For example the Beehive Utah Net meets daily at 12:30 just past noon mountain time and during the net passes messages to the other operators around the area in behalf off people who are not hams. There are about 170 men and women who meet daily on that net; it can be heard at 7.272 MHz. During time of emergency, this is usually the only way people will be able communicate locally (no cell phone service/ no other telephones are working) or are jammed with calls. This is really the only way to communicate outside of your community.
The LDS church seems to feel strongly about ham radio. If you drive past the humanitarian center off of I 215, you can see the antennas sitting on top of the buildings. I think that there is even one on the top of the church office building. They can see the need for communication.
Licenses are required to use the radio, and a short class will help you pass the short test to get started. This license is call the Technician Class License and does not require any Morse code. The only drawback to the Technician Class license is that it generally only allows one to use locally available FM frequencies for local conversations. To be able to talk long distance on the AM frequencies (called High Frequency of HF for short)you must pass a technical test and be licensed as a General Class operator. Now,you don't have to pass a 5 word per minute Morse code test. However if you can learn CW, a whole new world will open up to you. With a little study, this can be accomplished quite readily. Using CW or Morse code you will be able to contact people under the worst propagation conditions where voice communcations are not possible.
Not having a license does not preclude your ability to purchase a Ham Radio Transceiver, However, if you are not aware of the frequencies where the "nets" meet, and are not aware of procedures you can become quite quickly a liability rather than an asset.
Radio stores can be found in some localities, usually larger cities. For example SLC has only one small store. It is well stocked, and the owner is very good at getting you set up. Many people use the internet. You can purchase on eBay, or there are other retail stores like www.aesham.com. This is a large store located in Las Vegas and has branches in other areas of the country. They are very competitive price wise, but you need to know what you are buying, otherwise you may be purchasing something that you can't use. Get some help before you venture too far into this hobby, it can get quite expensive.
For further information contact your local ham club...Google it for your area (exp. ham radio club Los Angeles)...etc. you will find most hams will be pleased to help you get licensed and will support you after you get started. Contact the American Radio Relay League or ARRL for short (ARRL.net).
The commercial radio stations are located in the lower end of the radio spectrum. So when you tune your radio to a local AM station in your area, you are in effect listening to the same type of communication that happens on the ham portions of the radio spectrum. The lower ham frequencies are located just above those local AM stations. The commercial stations (AM) will use considerably more power to extend their transmission distance than a ham operator can by law. Commercial stations may use from 1000 watts power, (like lighting up ten 100 watt light bulbs to the maximum allowed power in the US of 50,000 watts which would be like turning the switch on five thousand 100 watt light bulbs. The maximum power level allowed by US law is 1500 watts for ham stations, but most hams generally use around 100 watts for their stations.
The reason AM is preferred for long range communication especially during the nighttime hours is that the AM radio waves "bounce" off of certain layers of our atmosphere from the ground to the affected layer and back to the ground. This allows the radio waves to travel in a curved path around the earth. As a rule of thumb... the higher the frequency the transmitter is set at, the straighter the line of the radio wave. Generally speaking higher frequencies will not "bend" as readily as the lower wave frequencies because they will not bounce off the atmosphere (Ionosphere) but rather will penetrate out into space.
Ham radio operators cannot use the commercial AM radio band, but can use the frequencies just above that "band" (or group of frequencies). For many years, the AM band was the only frequencies that were used commercially because of the aforementioned quality of lower AM frequencies to "bend" around the curvature of the earth.
FM stations came into being in the 1960's which allowed commercial radio stations to play stereophonic sound or higher quality sound on those frequencies. The quality of FM is that it is "crystal clear" without static, and allows for music (or voice in the ham portion of the band) to be transmitted virtually without the noise or interference that is found on the AM band. Tune off frequency on the AM band of your radio, and you will get tons of "static" or noise. Tune off frequency on FM and you will only get what we call "white noise", not noisy static.
The only problem with FM is that the frequencies that are used can only be broadcast in "line of sight" mode, or in other words you have to be able to electronically “see” the antenna of the station that you are trying to listen to. As the earth curves, the FM radio waves go straight out into space and do not "skip" or "bounce" around the curvature of the earth. Hence the reason for FM station repeaters. When you listen to your favorite (PBS stations especially), they will also include a list of "translator" or repeater stations that they use for greater coverage around your state. You can see these also on the television stations sometimes, because they use FM to broadcast their sound, and AM to broadcast their picture. Now with digital TV, even that technology is old hat. With the band width of the original AM/FM analog station they can now fit in more than one station in the same space by using digital technology.
With this background information one can see that having access to ham radio equipment and knowing how to use it can be invaluable to you unless are hermits living in a cave never talking to anyone, or knowing what is going on around you both near and far. Most of the commercial radio stations will be shut down during an emergency and information will be quite scarce. Because of the government plans for an emergency network, even the information they give will be the same on every station broadcasting because they will all be hooked to the central station. By the way, in Utah, that central and nuclear hardened station is KSL and KBYU FM.
However most ham stations can run on batteries, or small generators and can be up and running in a very short amount of time allowing the operator to communicate with other hams in his area or hundreds of miles away. Usually a group of hams will form a "net" or a group contact time and frequency where they will meet each day and check in on a roll. For example the Beehive Utah Net meets daily at 12:30 just past noon mountain time and during the net passes messages to the other operators around the area in behalf off people who are not hams. There are about 170 men and women who meet daily on that net; it can be heard at 7.272 MHz. During time of emergency, this is usually the only way people will be able communicate locally (no cell phone service/ no other telephones are working) or are jammed with calls. This is really the only way to communicate outside of your community.
The LDS church seems to feel strongly about ham radio. If you drive past the humanitarian center off of I 215, you can see the antennas sitting on top of the buildings. I think that there is even one on the top of the church office building. They can see the need for communication.
Licenses are required to use the radio, and a short class will help you pass the short test to get started. This license is call the Technician Class License and does not require any Morse code. The only drawback to the Technician Class license is that it generally only allows one to use locally available FM frequencies for local conversations. To be able to talk long distance on the AM frequencies (called High Frequency of HF for short)you must pass a technical test and be licensed as a General Class operator. Now,you don't have to pass a 5 word per minute Morse code test. However if you can learn CW, a whole new world will open up to you. With a little study, this can be accomplished quite readily. Using CW or Morse code you will be able to contact people under the worst propagation conditions where voice communcations are not possible.
Not having a license does not preclude your ability to purchase a Ham Radio Transceiver, However, if you are not aware of the frequencies where the "nets" meet, and are not aware of procedures you can become quite quickly a liability rather than an asset.
Radio stores can be found in some localities, usually larger cities. For example SLC has only one small store. It is well stocked, and the owner is very good at getting you set up. Many people use the internet. You can purchase on eBay, or there are other retail stores like www.aesham.com. This is a large store located in Las Vegas and has branches in other areas of the country. They are very competitive price wise, but you need to know what you are buying, otherwise you may be purchasing something that you can't use. Get some help before you venture too far into this hobby, it can get quite expensive.
For further information contact your local ham club...Google it for your area (exp. ham radio club Los Angeles)...etc. you will find most hams will be pleased to help you get licensed and will support you after you get started. Contact the American Radio Relay League or ARRL for short (ARRL.net).
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Soon...
Soon our blog will be up and running with great information for all. Please be patient while we learn the "world of blogging."
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