Growing ginger in the uk.

[Oldgreybeard]

We have so many flights going over us & police / air ambulance that i've been really wary to use a decent sized led array, the idea of bust doors & search warrants for non existent drugs would probably cost the life of at least one dog if they decided to turn up.

would try first with a singular led 60 - 100 grow bulb which is what used a few years back for spot growth on a heated seedling tray. ..even the leds will cost you a lot (usually have fans built in for overhead set ups)in terms of running costs.

I helped install the LED light for our neighbour earlier this year, and it was pretty simple and reasonably energy efficient, although it drew around 120 watts when running at full power. It didn't have a fan, but the LEDs (hundreds of them) were bonded to a large finned heat sink. The neat thing about it was that it had a variable light adjustment, via a knob attached to the control box. I set it up for her on a time switch, so it came on early in the morning and turned off around mid-morning, to fool the seedlings into thinking the days were longer than they really were.

Seemed to work OK for tomatoes and it didn't give off a great deal of heat. Interesting design, though, as there was a mix of LED colours, mostly white, but interspersed with some red LEDs and some that looked a sort of violet/blue colour. Presumably this was optimised for the wavelengths that leaves absorb energy. I'll try and pop around to see her later and ask if I can take a photo of the light.

In her case the greenhouse is a sort of lean-to conservatory built along the rear wall of her house, with her back door opening directly into it, so the waste heat was perhaps being partially recovered by the reduced heat loss from that wall. Very obvious when the light was on, though. Her house is about 80m or so from ours and the glow from the light when it was on was very obvious when we looked out of our spare room window early in the morning. I don't believe it attracted any attention, though, even from the DCI that lives in the house behind ours and has a clearer view of her place then we do.

[Mr Gus]

I don'tont want to tempt fate for a dogs life taken.

& I really do not like entertaining the police even for a minute when being held up needlessly by them.

The bulb I got years ago (still working) was simply to bring seedlings in under heated trays on, a bit of overwinter oomph to the grey winter light here, it was ok for the money but I decided against an overhead because you can make all the excuses you like, state fact & question law but a copper will generally not simply go awaywhen politely asked to.
(see various "am I being detained" videos)

The lady you set up the led for,generally id say (plant dependent) soil heaters & led combination, not one without the other ..best of both worlds is a ground insulated growing bed, even if it is temporary & portable (collapsible) superb kickstart growth potential & low wattage done right.


Having basic measurement beakers & a lab type set up to brew coffee with in sight when you open a door is enough to set them off, & signage is ignored because "it doesn't apply to us"

These days I wont let a cop set foot on the property (nor politicians, ..too many career @holes within both sets to bother)

[Oldgreybeard]

Things do seem a lot more relaxed around here with policing in general. In the summer my walk into the village went past a house with a large (and very smelly) crop growing in plain site in their garden - anyone walking past could easily see half a dozen healthy looking plants with distinctive leaves and a pretty obnoxious smell, yet AFAIK no one did a thing about it. Seems to be a "live and let live" culture, and the police don't seem to be the slightest bit interested in people growing a few illicit plants.

Those plants were still there when the police community support lady visited a couple of weeks ago, and I doubt she could possibly have missed them, as I could smell them when the pair of us were outside looking at the damage to our new wall. I'm sure they'd react to a large scale operation, but I have the feeling that they just aren't bothered by small scale stuff. I can understand the concern that something might look a bit suspicious, but I just don't think that the police have the resources to look into every single thing that looks slightly suspicious. Given the scale of growing this stuff in the UK now (not talking about ginger or tomatoes . . .) it's pretty clear that blind eyes are being turned by the police. Wouldn't surprise me if they've actually given advice that they won't bother about someone growing a few plants for themselves.

[Mr Gus]

They come down harder on folk practising home distillation technique (yet it is legal in N.Z. under rule of HM dynasties dept) to the point that sticking it like for like in a front garden would land you in a heap of trouble, regardless of meticulous knowledge, book keeping (ala bio-diesel) ..the fact that you can now buy a small scale rectifiers license (via hoops) astounds me, but you still have to be prepared for visits & inspections (again like home bio-diesel)

https://distillinguk.uk/how-to-obtain-y ... s-license/

Considering booze is a big export from the uk youd think there would be more leeway for those wanting to learn at home / club basis prior to stumping up cash for qualification courses


If you are feeling generous OGB, make her an insulated layer & top for a seedling heater, which of course can be turned off, sand bagged & set aside for other seasonal useage.

Hollow-form plastic planking pre-sized dog whelping bed kits are a good starter for design

[Oldgreybeard]

I watched one of Big Clive's video's a while ago on an electric distiller that was sold as being for "water purification" but was obviously also designed with distilling alcohol in mind. These things seem to be on open sale all over sites like eBay, and I don't believe for one moment that they are only being used to "purify" water.

One thing the internet has done is muddy the waters when it comes to what's legal and what's not. Not only do we now get bombarded with information about things that may be legal in other countries (but not here) but it seems anyone can buy all they need for pretty much any illicit enterprise with a few clicks on a mouse button.

I've long held the view that some of our laws are simply crazy. We allow risky things like drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco to continue, but come down like a tonne of bricks on anyone that indulges in smoking a bit of pretty harmless weed (and yes, I do know that the modern varieties are far from being as harmless as the stuff was in my youth). Other countries have found that continuing to try and legislate against something that pretty much anyone can grow for themselves is pointless and that it's safer (and more profitable in terms of tax revenue) to make them legal. Even Germany is moving to make the stuff legal now, I read the other day.

[Joeboy]

I watched one of Big Clive's video's a while ago on an electric distiller that was sold as being for "water purification" but was obviously also designed with distilling alcohol in mind. These things seem to be on open sale all over sites like eBay, and I don't believe for one moment that they are only being used to "purify" water.

One thing the internet has done is muddy the waters when it comes to what's legal and what's not. Not only do we now get bombarded with information about things that may be legal in other countries (but not here) but it seems anyone can buy all they need for pretty much any illicit enterprise with a few clicks on a mouse button.

I've long held the view that some of our laws are simply crazy. We allow risky things like drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco to continue, but come down like a tonne of bricks on anyone that indulges in smoking a bit of pretty harmless weed (and yes, I do know that the modern varieties are far from being as harmless as the stuff was in my youth). Other countries have found that continuing to try and legislate against something that pretty much anyone can grow for themselves is pointless and that it's safer (and more profitable in terms of tax revenue) to make them legal. Even Germany is moving to make the stuff legal now, I read the other day.

Read that too, SWMBO were chatting about the THC & CBD volumes these days. Looks like somewhere from 7 to 15 times the strength of a bit of hash back in the day (day being 83-91). Also some disturbing reports that even a bit of pressed hash won't be the Mars bar & giggling session of yesterdecade. Its at least quadrupled in strength. Sad really and no thank you very much.

[nowty]

I watched one of Big Clive's video's a while ago on an electric distiller that was sold as being for "water purification" but was obviously also designed with distilling alcohol in mind. These things seem to be on open sale all over sites like eBay, and I don't believe for one moment that they are only being used to "purify" water.

At least one of those distillers is in fact used for purifying water for SWMBO ironing station. I ran the last production run a couple of weeks back which should see her through till next March.

https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... ler#p13157

[Oldgreybeard]

I watched one of Big Clive's video's a while ago on an electric distiller that was sold as being for "water purification" but was obviously also designed with distilling alcohol in mind. These things seem to be on open sale all over sites like eBay, and I don't believe for one moment that they are only being used to "purify" water.

At least one of those distillers is in fact used for purifying water for SWMBO ironing station. I ran the last production run a couple of weeks back which should see her through till next March.

https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... ler#p13157

Would collecting the condensate from the air con drain be much the same? I run the condensate drain from ours to the water butt, seems to be pretty clean water and bound to be mineral free.

[Countrypaul]

I watched one of Big Clive's video's a while ago on an electric distiller that was sold as being for "water purification" but was obviously also designed with distilling alcohol in mind. These things seem to be on open sale all over sites like eBay, and I don't believe for one moment that they are only being used to "purify" water.

At least one of those distillers is in fact used for purifying water for SWMBO ironing station. I ran the last production run a couple of weeks back which should see her through till next March.

https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... ler#p13157

Would collecting the condensate from the air con drain be much the same? I run the condensate drain from ours to the water butt, seems to be pretty clean water and bound to be mineral free.

Condensate from the Aircon could contain various contaminents such as pollen, spores, even insects, virtualy anything that you could find in the air (depending on filter efficiency). Distilled water should have very litle of those as they should remain in the original vessle.

Try puting a bottle of each on the window cill and see which grows first if you want to check.

[nowty]

I watched one of Big Clive's video's a while ago on an electric distiller that was sold as being for "water purification" but was obviously also designed with distilling alcohol in mind. These things seem to be on open sale all over sites like eBay, and I don't believe for one moment that they are only being used to "purify" water.

At least one of those distillers is in fact used for purifying water for SWMBO ironing station. I ran the last production run a couple of weeks back which should see her through till next March.

https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... ler#p13157

Would collecting the condensate from the air con drain be much the same? I run the condensate drain from ours to the water butt, seems to be pretty clean water and bound to be mineral free.

There was some thread on St Elsewhere a long time ago and I think the views were a bit mixed as you still get some crap from the atmosphere in it. I think the thread was more about using it for topping up lead acid batteries. For me it's far easier using the water distiller, its solar powered and I use it at times of the year were the house benefits from the waste heat.