AG Jalapenos - Office Harvest (12/20/2017) ** Term 11/26/18

[drbanks]

You know how I keep saying there isn't any room left in my apartment for another Aerogarden?  Well, when they sent me the Harvest as part of the Farm Plus deal, it presented me with a problem.

So, I put it on the bookshelf over my desk at work:

[Shawn]

Excellent plant for it!

[serri588]

There is always more room if you optimize correctly.

so many machines! So few outlets! What will I do now???(the scene in my house)

[serri588]

I've started buying the largest packs of power strips I can find. I'm a tech junkie as well, so the AGs are just compounding an existing problem. Sadly, I haven't found anyone selling like 10 packs of surge protectors for cheap yet.

Please be careful of overloading those things..a lot of electrical fires reported on the news  because of doing that.
Thoughts of safety going your way,gal!

[serri588]

I have a strict rule of one per outlet- usually, when they get overloaded it's because someone was daisy chaining them. The other reason is damaged cords. I've got plenty of extension cords and power strips. I've got no problem tossing any that looks dicey. For that matter, just the fact that I keep them either very carefully tucked away or securely attached to something up off the ground probably helps keep them from getting damaged in the first place.

Thank you for the concern though. All it takes is some electrician getting lazy or a lightning striking too close and all my careful planning will be for nothing. There was an apartment building a couple blocks up that burned down last year. Not sure what set that one off though. I'm just getting my apartment set up the way I like it, I'd hate to have to start over.

[drbanks]

I once nearly burned my foot at a friend's house when I stepped on an extension cord that was being used to power the vacuum cleaner.

We had a pleasant talk about fire hazards and current carrying capacity.  Fat power cords are fat for a reason, and if you ever find one getting warm, it's either because you have too big a load on the other end, or it isn't fat enough.

I used to have a stereo receiver that was so high powered that when the power would come back on after a power outage, it'd trip the circuit breaker.  I'd have to try to reset it two or three times before its capacitors were charged enough that it didn't look like a short circuit.

Ultimately, that stereo wasn't really appropriate for living in an apartment building for reasons that were far too obvious to my neighbors.

[Shawn]

I have two units and another item plugged into a CPU Battery backup.

another thing I am afraid of is the battery pack for my lap top! They get hot hot hot and have started fires while on rugs and mats.
I have a trivet underneath mine on the rug and make sure I unplug it .The thing is powerful, but my laptop runs out of power fast w/o it.

[serri588]

If your laptop battery or power brick gets hot enough to start a fire there is something seriously wrong with it. They definitely will get hot enough in some cases that they will be uncomfortable to touch, but should never get hot enough to cause a flame or even singe most household surfaces.

I  do remember vacuum cleaner cords getting quite hot. It's been so long since I used mine for than a minute that I don't remember if my current one does.

I wonder if the trend towards energy efficiency has affected the rate of electrical fires at all. Most of my systems use far less power than their predecessors. Living in a newish building (less than 10 years old) also reduces the risk of a fire due to electrical problems thankfully.

Don't mind me. I am just afraid of fire . Period. I even have faux flame candles in my house rather than NORMAL candles.

[Shawn]

I am with you Corinne,  I also do not burn candles.

[MaryL]

I should take pictures of my AG outlet arrangements so you tech friends can advise if I’m in the clear.  I think I’m ok because I’ve not put more than one multi-plug thingy per outlet (they’re not surge protector strips though).  But I’d hate to make a dumb mistake.  Lord knows we’ve had enough fires here lately.

[drbanks]

Coming back to work this morning after the holiday staycation, I was quite delighted to see three sprouts sticking out of the pod.  That was fast!  They aren't big enough yet, but in a week, I'm going to have to make the hard choice of picking the one that survives, and kill the other two.

[drbanks]

It's Nutes Day!

[jcosmo]

Nice! At what point do you have to remove all but the best? Do you wait until they reach a certain height or have X sets of true leaves?

[drbanks]

I'm a week, I'd say

[drbanks]

Today was culling day.  I had three sprouts, picked the strongest looking one.  Has about 6-10 true leaves on it already, and I'm probably a week away from the first raising of the hood.

It has its 4 week anniversary tomorrow.

[MaryL]

I’m surprised you’re so close to raising the hood already.