BioDiesel

Seeds

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:02:31 GMT

For those of you who've asked where to get seeds in the U.S.

My first purchase was from Cary at lakebiofuels.com

the guy has thousands and thousands of seeds available. you can buy in bulk too.

if your ambition is a bit smaller, echonet.org out of florida will sell you a pack of about 13 seeds for I think $5.00. not bad to just check things out.

and I've had 95% germination with both varieties of seeds from these guys.

echonet.org also donates some percentage of the proceeds to charities, I dont know which.

Further advances

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:53:25 GMT

Nope, still dont have any land, but i planted 14 more jatropha curcas (staying small) of the seeds I had such great sucess with last year. Planted in a mixture of topsoil/sand 50/50, and THIS time, I got to use TERRA PRETA in the soil. So we'll see how that goes.

I planted 13 in regular 1 gallon planters, and 1 in a very large planter. I guess it'd be a 30 gallon one. Maybe it will not sense the confinement and grow faster and bigger. Again, we'll see.

For those tracking this, I have 8 seedlings of the non-toxic variety growing out of 21 planted. After 2 weeks of daily watering, thats less than 50% germination, while last year I was enjoying 95% or better germination of the toxic variety.

It will be interesting to see how 1 year old seeds do. Im hoping still for at least 90% germination.

I've been invited to do a phone interview by Nate at Biodieselnow. Not sure when or how it will be published but I am sure you will be able to find it at www.biodieselnow.com

Feel free also to go there and check out the forums, there is a lot of talk about algae, solar, wind, geothermal and almost every other type of alternative energy out there.

Spring is in the air!

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:31:01 GMT

and the new crop is coming along slowly. Not planting with any speed this season as I still have no land to work on. So, just doing it at a slow pace. I've got a few up and growing now. planted 19, same process as before, water every day until they sprout, then 2 - 3 times per week afterwards.

Next group i'll try out the little sample of terra preta i have and see if they catch and pass the ones i have growing now. should be an interesting experiment.

Restarting

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:16:14 GMT

Well, due to domestic issues, I've lost the 400 plants I started off with in 2008.

So, starting anew, Picking up 100 planters and a few bags of topsoil today to plant 100 seeds.

I think I'll buy just 100 planters and soil per 2 weeks to get back where I was before in preparation for obtaining some land and transferring the seedlings there.

Still very exciting to start again. I'll keep up the blog at least as well as I did before and perhaps a bit better, especially if I come across some land.

Here's hoping.

latest news

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:47:24 GMT

Im still very enthused about JC. Plus, I keep getting approached by people that wish me to grow it for them. I've had to learn a bit about business since becoming interested, I no longer post every development, but suffice to say, I'm still involved, still growing JC and still making headway in germination, propagation, cloning, grafting, aeroponics, hydroponics and a bit more.

Research and Development pays off. BIG!

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:48:21 GMT

I set out 200 new seeds in 5 inch planters, in ONE day, 60 seeds sprouted and are 4 inches tall. I cant wait to get home after work today and see further results.

My trials and research are exceeding anything any University or commercial operation is doing. At this rate I hope I can plant a seed and expect fruit in 6 or 7 months from a fully grown tree.

75% germination

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:06:54 GMT

30 of the 40 I planted have germinated, Im hoping for a few more still. thats 75% so far for this batch.

none of the 100 i planted last sunday has germinated, a few more days might start showing some results.

I picked up another 150 or so 5 inch planters and will be planting all of them today.

for those of you serious about growing jatropha here in south texas. I've found something I think you'll be interested in. I've had this corroborated by Dr. Miller at Texas A&M University as well.

These jatropha curcas plants will grow to height quite a bit faster if you plant them in partial shade, they will strive to get up higher to reach full sunlight. after they are a couple of feet tall, you can move them to full sunlight for the rest of their lives.

but germinating them in partial shade helps them propagate faster. I've picked up some shade cloth and will be installing it today as well.

I've read of some companies starting projects here in Texas. such as a denver firm, (cant recall the name at the moment) and Green Gold Ray Energies Inc.

I've tried contacting them, neither has responded, Im still looking for a partner with some small to medium amount of acreage to grow JC.

after today's planting i will have enough seedlings, saplings and small trees to cover half an acre. I plan on purchasing about 100 or more 5 inch pots every 2 weeks and getting the plants started so there is a shorter wait between finding the land, planting the jc, and first harvest. I'd love to have a full 2 acres ready (the number of seeds i have on hand right now.

The biggest hassle right now is finding the land. no one seems interested. But I'll keep looking.

Hope your projects are going as well or better than mine. so far Im just having a lot of fun and trying not to be discouraged after every failed attempt at obtaining land.

2 acres is all i need to start.

that would be a good sized project just to prove its feasibility.

open to suggestions, if you have any, leave a comment or email me

clcheek@yahoo.com

clint

WOW

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:12:13 GMT

for the first time, i got my seeds to generate MUCH later than the usual 3-6 or 7 days. I planted 80, in a topsoil/sand (half and half) mixture, after 9 days, there was still 0 of 80 (i had to recount all i had planted). then, the day before yesterday, so August 27th, boom! theres 49, I looked yesterday and had 58, I just got home from work today and there are a total of 72.

So Im still cooking at 90% for this batch. And some more may still come up. I'll give the un-germinated seeds maybe 3 more days. Im happy with 90%. I've still another 50 or so planters to fill, just ran out of soil and sand. (may have another bag of each in the garage, I'll have to check).

this puts me at about 240 seedlings/saplings up and growing now, and a fricken hurricane bearing down on La. I just hope it stays away from Texas.

Putting in my app for the VA loan to get the 25 acres I first mentioned. Hope it goes through, Im very seriously running out of room in my yard. Maybe I should start building a green house in the back yard? Just so I can keep planting all during Fall and Winter. Besides, I'd have a place to put my aeroponic systems then too.

Man this is such a blast.

Aeropnonics

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:59:54 GMT

I am purchasing enough equipment to raise 48 plants aeroponically.

I've planted another batch of seeds and will get some more done today as well.

Im going to transfer 48 of the seedlings I have growing now into my aeroponic systems, 12 per system.

i'll keep you updated on how much faster they are growing with aeroponics.

August update

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:28:59 GMT

Not much happening, the 50 acres seems to have fallen through. I found 35 acres in Aransas Pass with pretty much the same deal. They provide the land, and mentioned they also had a tractor, tiller, mower, ponds and a few small buildings as well for germination and/or hydroponics.

Havent heard much lately, So I've stopped planting more seeds. I've about 130 or so seedlings/saplings, and really cant plant anymore seeds due to the fact I've run out of space to put them.

My other shipment of seeds has arrived as well, so I have 2200 seeds on hand, I'm hoping they last through fall and the winter (highly doubtful) so i can plant next spring if I find some land.

I keep checking different real estate sites, craigslist, the local papers, and the prices just keep going up. I found a 1/2 acre lot for $75,000 in Holiday Beach of all places, (I am aware there are much cheaper sites for sale, just illustrating how much some land is going for).

Between skyrocketing prices for acreage, and contracts that stipulate I have to put up a $250,000 bond just to do some sharecropping, I am beginning to think i'll probably never find any land to grow on.

I'll keep looking for now though. Hope springs eternal. LOL