Product Reviews from the J&S EMPC

[JohnAndSancho]

Here at the John and Sancho East Mississippi Palm Conservatorium, we have 2 requirements for any products that we use here. 

 

1, is it cheap? And 2, will it catch the house on fire? Everything else is just details. 

 

First off, I actually stumbled across this from a YouTube link from an "influencer" (God do I hate that word...) and I thought he was kind of annoying so I made sure not to buy it from his link. Actually now that I think about it, I really don't need this at all, but it's a really good price. 

iPower GLHTMTCTRLHTMTL 48" x 20"... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IDQDCNY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

$20 with tax for a 48x20 heat mat with a controller? That's not terrible at all. I've been using a 2 pack of 10x20s for a while now, and they have 2 settings - plugged in, and unplugged. This controller has a little suction cup thermometer and seems to be pretty accurate, it determined the temperature in my workspace was 77° at 3am in September which sounds about right. 

I'm branching out into banana seeds, and I need the ability for a heat mat that shuts off. WELL GUESS WHAT? This one only has temperature settings. So if you set it to 85°, it'll shut off for a minute and then go back up to 85°. Other than that, it has 2 settings. Plugged in or unplugged. Unlike some of the other Chinese Amazon crap my mom has bought lately, this one is in Farenheit, so that's nice. Anyway, if you need a massive heat mat with constant temperature control for $20, here you go. Unless I happen to come across a metric crap ton of seeds and another brick of coco coir, I don't think I need it. My birthday is coming up, though, if anyone wants to send me some coir and a crap ton of seeds. 

 

Next up is a product I desperately needed - more lights. If you've seen any of my posts or YouTube videos on here, you know I'm mostly an indoor grower, and the space in my bedroom looks like @Mazat's patio (This is intended as complimentary!). With (hopefully) banana sprouts coming, and (unfortunately) winter coming, what stuff I do have outdoors is gonna have to go SOMEWHERE. While my brother and my haters have suggested places I could overwinter these pots, I think there are better options. It's just dark in this room. 

https://ebay.us/m/PVxHVg

This company has decent reviews, and while I haven't mounted the lights yet, they seem well built and very lightweight. They're bright, they don't get hot, you can daisy chain them together, etc. I think I'll end up having one raised high for taller plants and one down lower for seedlings, since after 5 years of growing palms indoors I've realized that the lights are actually supposed to be a lot closer to the plants then I've had them. "John, are you seriously telling me a grow bulb mounted in the arm of a floor lamp on the other side of the room isn't going to provide my palms with enough light?" Sadly yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you. While these might not be as much of a bargain as my last grow light review, I feel they offer a much better bang for your buck. The on-off switch might be a PITA to get to if you choose to mount them high since it's located on top of the unit, but maybe one of you fancy people have one of those smart outlets dealies. Or, you can run the cables across your ceiling and use one of those E26-110V adapters like your meemaw used to use to run the fan in the bathroom. Or you can use a power strip and leave the lights turned on. Anyway I didn't take tons of pics because it was like 3am and photographing lights isn't really my area of expertise. The Lux "light meter" app kinda went bananas for them though, just like my $$ grow bulbs. If I had the money I'd outfit the Palm Condo with these, and buy another 8 or 10 of them in anticipation of my growth operation and customer base exploding. But alas, I have nothing else sellable at the moment and my lifetime customer count is 2. 

https://ebay.us/m/PVxHVg

 

They come with all the hardware you could want to mount them in any conceivable configuration. 25 bucks for (2) 2 foot 2 tube lights? That ain't bad. 

 

While walking out to plug this stuff in at 3am, I tripped over another box. I guess we have a substitute UPS driver who's part ninja, because I had no idea he'd been out here. But that's what happens when your sleep schedule is crazy from your meds. Anyway, I got a replacement for my grandfather's busted spade shovel. 

https://ebay.us/m/fL8ZrH

This same exact one is sold in big box stores for a higher price, or you can (at least here, anyway) pay the same price plus $12 for shipping (even for ship to store! Ship to store is supposed to be free! That's just basic marketing, you get the customer in the store and they see more of your crap they want to buy! End rant from a Marketing major) - welp, friends - I don't have much commentary on this one other than to tell you that I haven't broken it yet. The handle does unscrew, and after about 5 minutes of diddling around with it and not getting it straight, I remembered that it's 3am and I'm not digging any holes right now anyway. But unlike the $5 scraper shovel I bought, this one does include a handle. And I can confirm that the teeth are sharp. Feels nice and solid, fiberglass handle, probably wouldn't want to get hit in the face with it - all the things you're looking for in a quality shovel. $18? Aight bet. 

https://ebay.us/m/fL8ZrH

[JohnAndSancho]

I wanted to break this thing in earlier but ended up in the ER with Mom again. I mean, it kinda sucks at digging dirt out, but I guess Ol' Snaggletooth the broken spade can still do that.... But man, you stomp on it and whatever is underneath it, it goes right through it. It's beautiful. If I could just find the patience to get the handle threaded on straight I'm golden. 

 

 

[JohnAndSancho]

Ok. 

I pointed out to the seller (ofc it's a drop shipper) that the spade I received is not the spade in the listing. This thing is a beast for tearing through roots but it absolutely sucks for removing dirt from a hole, which...... Is why I wanted the one in the listing. Anyway he ended up giving me back $5 so I got this for $13 and even though I can't get the handle to screw on straight to save my life, it's well worth $13. Just put a little bit of stank on it and it goes right through the grass and _small_ roots. Obviously this thing isn't going to touch anything bigger than your finger, that's what the Sawzall is for. And I'm just not gardening on a level where I anticipate needing a Sawzall..... Yet.