160 replies to this topic

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Here's a quick update.

I finished planting all the Pings Ed & Steve gave me (thanks guys!). There weren't that many plants, but I had to pull off almost all the leaves in order to be able to attach them properly without sewing them in. And I couldn't just throw away all the leaves, so I stuck each and every one of them into the Ping wall, hoping they'll grow little plantlets soon.

Here are the pics:






All the best,
Fernando Rivadavia

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia, 29 May 2012 - 03:51 AM.

[radmegan]

jimscott, on 25 May 2012 - 15:15 PM, said:

Hi Megan.... and I forgot the guy's name...

Hi Jim! How ya been pal? Hope your plants are well :)

[radmegan]

Fernando Rivadavia, on 29 May 2012 - 03:50 AM, said:

Here's a quick update.

I finished planting all the Pings Ed & Steve gave me (thanks guys!). There weren't that many plants, but I had to pull off almost all the leaves in order to be able to attach them properly without sewing them in. And I couldn't just throw away all the leaves, so I stuck each and every one of them into the Ping wall, hoping they'll grow little plantlets soon.

Here are the pics:






All the best,
Fernando Rivadavia

Looking good Fernando! Ping Castle eh? I think I have plans that weekend... shucks!

[Daniel G]

Whoah.... that is dedication to the hobby! I've never, ever seen anything like that! For 5 years, it's good work.

I'd love to see how all those leaves turn out :)

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hello everyone,

Here's a small update. While I wait for the Pings to root and flourish, I started doing my part in making it all look prettier. :) I covered up some of the holes in the walls/wood and painted over the gutter, T-supports, and surrounding wall/wood.

Here are some pics of the painting process:









Meanwhile, I have been studying lighting options intensively on the internet and visiting some of the local hydroponics stores in the Bay Area - which has unexpectedly added quite a bit of color to this project since most of these stores seem to be geared to growers of marijuana. People watching can be fun in these shops! :) I've even run out of one place when a fight broke out between two guys after they began cursing and throwing accusations at each other, something involving one having called the police on the other and messing with his wife, hahaha.  

Anyway, if you're interested in reading the discussion about my lighting plans for the Ping wall, see this thread:

http://www.cpukforum...opic=45484&st=0


Best wishes,
Fernando

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hey everyone,

I finally decided on the type and model of lights last week: two 48 inch LED strips from Ecoxotic. Although more expensive, I chose LEDs in hopes of saving money in the long run. And I chose a mix of blue and red LEDs, since blue is supposedly good for growth and red for flowering (or vice versa). Whatever else the Pings need will hopefully be supplied by daylight coming through the window.

The lights arrived this Thursday and you can see them below, before and after I mounted the reflectors:





And now with the LEDs on:





So today I borrowed a drill from a friend, bought some hooks, marked the spots on the ceiling, and... hit a wall. Well, I actually hit hard concrete. So now I have to figure out how to attach them to the ceiling...

Fortunately though, the strips came with sticker pads on the back, so I was able to temporarily stick them to the ceiling while I decide how to permanently fix them. But because of the flat backside of the LED strip, I was only able to stick them right above the plants, a little too close as you can see below.





And here you can see where I attempted to drill a hole in the ceiling:



When I find a permanent solution, I want to move them back a bit and turn them at an angle of ~45 degrees facing the Ping Wall.


Suggestions welcome!
Fernando

[Marlon]

Nice lights! Your ping wall must be beautiful when a lot of them flower.

[mobile]

Will look cool at night time... very nightclubesque

[gardenofeden]

you just need to sync them with your music for true disco effect!

you may need an SDS drill with masonry bit to get into your concrete....

[Martin Hingst]

Hi Fernando,

I am sure the plants will like it!

Nothing for a romantic dinner though … ;-)

[mobile]

Fernando Rivadavia, on 16 June 2012 - 04:20 AM, said:

When I find a permanent solution, I want to move them back a bit and turn them at an angle of ~45 degrees facing the Ping Wall.


Suggestions welcome!
Fernando

Perhaps some 45° aluminium extrusion, such as this: http://www.jaseals.c..._extrusion..htm

[Carlos Rohrbacher]

Great! This project is a good way to make space.

[Zlatokrt]

Looks very promising, good luck with it! Do the lights get hot?
You will need a percussion drill to make a hole into a concrete.
Adam

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

I admit I also thought it looked like a disco after I set up the LED strips last night and wondered what people in the streets were thinking when they looked up at my apartment. :)

So I decided not to drill any holes into the concrete ceiling and instead decided to stick the LED strips to the ceiling with double-sided tape and some kind of aluminum profile, as suggested by a few people on this + the Brazilian CP forum, and by my friend Steve Davis (who helped set up the Ping wall and who I met up with today at the BACPS Annual Show and Sale - which had some beautiful CPs!).

Leaving the BACPS show, I stopped by a Home Depot and bought two 48 inch aluminum profiles similar to the ones in this link, except one side was narrower than the other (it had an L shape):

http://www.homedepot...n&storeId=10051

I also bought 2-sided tape that can supposedly hold 5 pounds:



I first folded regular masking tape into two 48" long sticky cylinders and placed each of these inside on of the "L" aluminum profiles, against the right angle. Over this, I placed the 2-sided tape, so that it would be facing +- 45 degrees from either surface of the "L" profile. Then I stuck the LED strip to this tape. Last, I put another strip of two sided tape on the outside of the broad side of the "L" profile and stuck this to the ceiling. Here are both already in place (sorry, i forgot to take pictures as I put this together):





As you can see from the pics above and the one below, I still needed to figure out what to do with the cables and transformer dangling from the ceiling.



So I basically taped the cables to the ceiling itself, using the tape that was actually protruding from the "L" profile:



Then I stuck the long cable to the wall:







As you can see, they are almost completely hidden by the blinds, thus very discrete:



Now I just have to add a timer, decide how many hours to leave the lights on every day, and wait for the Pings to flourish! :)  Several of the leaves I "planted" on the Ping wall are already beginning to form young buds.


Wish me luck!
Fernando Rivadavia


P.S.   Adam, the LEDs do seem to get a little hot, but nothing that made it uncomfortable to hold in my hand.

[Fernando Rivadavia]

So... Any of you curious about how the Ping Disco looks like from the street?? :)

Whoever drives down one of the main avenues in San Francisco at night will see this:



And a closer look:




Enjoy!
Fernando

[mobile]

Looks strangely artistic

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hey everyone,

Here's a quick update. Lots of leaves sprouting buds:






I've also got some flowers, starting with what I believe is P.moranensis "Molango" (bottom) and P.moctezumae X moranensis (top):



P.moranensis "Molango":



P.ibarrae:



P.moctezumae:




So far so good! :)


Best Wishes,
Fernando Rivadavia

[-Xeno-]

Awesome project, I can't wait to see what this looks like once they're all grown in and flowering.

Edited by -Xeno-, 02 July 2012 - 11:10 AM.

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Tried making my first hybrids today, something very nostalgic - I haven't done this since the mid 90's I think! :)

I just transferred pollen between the 3 open flowers: P.ibarrae, P.moranensis "Molango", and what I believe is P.moctezumae X moranensis (or maybe agnata?).

Wish me luck! ;)

Thanks,
Fernando

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hello everyone, here's a little update.

Things are going well, plants are blooming and leaves are sprouting new plantlets. I think it's safe to begin investing in acquiring new species for my wall, the set up seems to be working after all. :)  I'm even thinking of adding some Genlisea and Drosera...

Anyway, P.moranensis "Molango" has sent up a 2nd flower scape:







Unfortunately the first flower did not form fruit, but the P.ibarrae did, so I may have made my first hybrid on this wall:



P.moctezumae sent up its 1st flower, but it unfortunately wilted near the apex, not sure why. Strangely enough though, the flower has managed to stay alive and it has been like this for a week or so, still hanging on, literally:







Then I have another species (or hybrid?) in flower, but I don't know what this is:







Anyone know?


Thanks,
Fernando Rivadavia