Cooling off
10 May 2021 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeAfter an emergency call to the central heating engineer, I finally managed to get the radiators off (having resorted to turning the boiler down to minimum in order to avoid being broiled overnight, which of course meant only lukewarm water for washing-up). The issue, as I'd managed to diagnose by a process of elimination and Internet investigation, was that the electronic receiver for the too-clever-for-its-own-good wireless automatic thermostat system was broken, the result of which was that the radiators were stuck on maximum heat non-stop all the time with no control on them at all whatever commands were being issued, whether automatically or by manual override. I had to pay for a new thermostat (plus VAT, plus call-out, plus labour charges, all of which adds up to a couple of months' worth of food), since they don't sell the receiver units separately -- but it was an issue that was definitely beyond my competence to safely fix.
It's just as well I wasn't relying on those newly-planted tomato seeds to produce plants, since the unfortunate egg-carton was sitting right on top of the radiator when I discovered the problem. (In fact, it was because I was checking rather optimistically to see whether anything had germinated that I actually discovered that the radiator was blazing hot in the first place.)
The 'towel seeds' now seem to be germinating en masse after that first one; presumably the soil temperature has finally reached the right level to trigger their instincts, despite having been planted out during a mini-heatwave back at the end of March. I think it probably *is* the old seed and not the new ones I tucked into the pot at the same time as I sowed my six in the new egg-box, but of course I shan't be able to tell now :-p
But there were no signs of egg-box germination before the great baking, and I'd have expected those to raise their heads earlier than the ones that were being chilled overnight outside. And three days is a pretty short germination time for most seed. I hope it is the old seed, since that's a proven good variety... assuming it breeds true, of course, though I believe it was a 'heritage' tomato. Which the freebies certainly aren't.
I'm afraid outdoor-germinated tomato seedlings in May aren't very likely to ripen much, if any, fruit, but I did *try* to start them off early!
It's interesting to compare the vigorous chilli seedlings that I've been bringing in overnight with the 'surplus' ones that I tucked into one of the outside pots, which have been just about clinging on to life during the cold nights but have barely put on any growth, if at all. The first lot are turning into quite convincing little plants and will need thinning, since I simply don't have either sufficient large pots, compost, or space for all those chillies -- even if I am a bit doubtful about how many individual fruits I'm likely to get off each.
I'm very nearly out of dried chillies from the bumper harvest we had a few years back, when we decided we didn't need to grow them again for some time..!
It's just as well I wasn't relying on those newly-planted tomato seeds to produce plants, since the unfortunate egg-carton was sitting right on top of the radiator when I discovered the problem. (In fact, it was because I was checking rather optimistically to see whether anything had germinated that I actually discovered that the radiator was blazing hot in the first place.)
The 'towel seeds' now seem to be germinating en masse after that first one; presumably the soil temperature has finally reached the right level to trigger their instincts, despite having been planted out during a mini-heatwave back at the end of March. I think it probably *is* the old seed and not the new ones I tucked into the pot at the same time as I sowed my six in the new egg-box, but of course I shan't be able to tell now :-p
But there were no signs of egg-box germination before the great baking, and I'd have expected those to raise their heads earlier than the ones that were being chilled overnight outside. And three days is a pretty short germination time for most seed. I hope it is the old seed, since that's a proven good variety... assuming it breeds true, of course, though I believe it was a 'heritage' tomato. Which the freebies certainly aren't.
I'm afraid outdoor-germinated tomato seedlings in May aren't very likely to ripen much, if any, fruit, but I did *try* to start them off early!
It's interesting to compare the vigorous chilli seedlings that I've been bringing in overnight with the 'surplus' ones that I tucked into one of the outside pots, which have been just about clinging on to life during the cold nights but have barely put on any growth, if at all. The first lot are turning into quite convincing little plants and will need thinning, since I simply don't have either sufficient large pots, compost, or space for all those chillies -- even if I am a bit doubtful about how many individual fruits I'm likely to get off each.
I'm very nearly out of dried chillies from the bumper harvest we had a few years back, when we decided we didn't need to grow them again for some time..!
no subject
Date: 2021-05-10 04:45 pm (UTC)I Hope our wireless thermostats don't pull the same stunt...
no subject
Date: 2021-05-10 06:04 pm (UTC)Apparently -- according to the Internet -- that particular brand of wireless controller, the Drayton Digistat, has a weak point in a certain capacitor which is known to fail. It's just that when that capacitor goes, the heating typically refuses to come on at all, rather than coming on spontaneously and being impossible to switch off! Frankly, I should have been a lot less worried by radiators that were stuck cold than by scalding hot ones...
When it fails to switch on, the fault is technically fixable for a small cost if you can source the necessary spare part, solder a circuit board and -- more importantly -- are qualified/competent to work with both mains gas and electricity. I didn't have that error, and wouldn't have been able to handle it myself if I had.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-11 10:25 am (UTC)I wonder if we'll get decent 'right to repair' legislation...