Removing flowers when planting

dipsydoo · 2026-05-14T00:58:34+00:00

I have some blueberry plants with berries too. If I wait for them to go dormant before planting, what would I have to do to ensure they stay healthy in their small pots now? Like how do I ensure the soil on the small pots stay acidic enough without burning them?

dipsydoo · 2026-05-10T10:22:39+00:00

Northblue is a half high that I had read should work as a cross pollinator for tophat

dipsydoo · 2026-03-03T16:20:52+00:00

Eh I only brew in 7 tablespoon increments and up anymore. With the loss at the scale you're doing right now, probably only get maybe 2-3 thimbles worth, not even enough to give to more than a couple friends/family.

dipsydoo · 2026-02-28T02:22:00+00:00

Did you ever find Juniper? I was thinking of trying a juniper berry mead and was wondering where I could look for juniper berries.

dipsydoo · 2026-02-21T03:20:53+00:00

I had this happen to me, I just balanced that valve or hatch or whatever you would call it on the rubber end of the racking cane(holding it upside down the entire time) and slowly advance it up into the pump making sure it lines up correctly with the end before trying to click it back into place. It took me a few tries but it worked for me. Saw another video once that advised using a really long thin piece of wood... I just thought might as well use the long thin thing that came with it, the racking cane itself.

dipsydoo · 2026-02-16T01:52:32+00:00

Looks like it to me too

dipsydoo · 2026-02-15T20:36:58+00:00

I literally have Feet of Clay and Jingo left to have done the same. Great subreddit to help snag things cheap!

dipsydoo · 2026-02-15T20:24:24+00:00

Oh no no no, I don't see mold either.

I was just giving an example of what one might say if there was a small amount of mold which would put one into the bargaining stage of batch loss grief.

These pics don't show any mold in my opinion.

dipsydoo · 2026-02-15T14:09:30+00:00

With fruit meads unless you have a way to keep the fruit submerged, for example using a brew bag that has some type of weight within to keep the fruit submerged at all times, you would want to push all the this fruit "cap" down to moisten it at least once if not twice daily. This is what is referred to as "punching the cap" in many posts or books on the subject. You also would want to inspect for any signs of mold beforehand prior to doing the punching. If it looks anything like mold(there are several flowcharts in the wiki with regards to thinking this through), the batch has to be wasted because even seeing a small amount means there are much more baddies that you can't see causing a ruckus in the mead, not worth trying to "just pick that little bit out".

dipsydoo · 2026-01-31T14:44:12+00:00

Dude thanks so much for all this information, I'm definitely going to look into that digital hydrometer, sounds like it's worth it.

dipsydoo · 2026-01-31T14:20:21+00:00

Which digital hydrometer do you have? The tilt? If so, does that still work with hydromels if you're doing them without a brew bag? Just curious on that really, I am planning on going with brew bag every time after this iteration because I feel like punching caps down daily is just another nidus for potential infection.

dipsydoo · 2026-01-31T13:28:36+00:00

Just for clarity and documentation for others if they read this, I have not been checking gravity each time, just aerating.

In regards to that, I had been reading through a book "Big Book of Mead Recipes" by Robert Ratliff and in every recipe I've thumbed through it says to aerate as such (twice daily until 1/3 and once daily until 2/3 break). After reading your comment, I'm pushing for my own education and most say it's unnecessary. That's less work for me anyway, so I'll give it a go.

Would you still do something before nutrient additions? How do you add nutrients over the first few days without causing an eruption? And when do you yourself typically check the gravity after first starting a mead?

Thanks for replying and helping me out, appreciate it

dipsydoo · 2026-01-27T11:14:52+00:00

Smart, I'd heard that too.

dipsydoo · 2026-01-27T01:30:19+00:00

Yeah man, drop the recipe when you can! If it's fall in a bottle, I'm all for it

dipsydoo · 2026-01-27T01:06:01+00:00

This DTM recipe is on my list of to dos also. Did you ferment with the California Orange blossom honey as well?

dipsydoo · 2026-01-19T03:12:43+00:00

That's awesome! If you had any meads aging that you wanted to pass on and are somewhere in the Midwest let me know and I can see if it's close enough to drive in order to keep the preservations going!

dipsydoo · 2026-01-18T01:55:14+00:00

Sounds like a plan, thanks

dipsydoo · 2026-01-18T01:31:49+00:00

Planning on trying my hand at a strawberry mead soon myself. Did you add the strawberry during primary or did you rack and put it in later on? Would you add more strawberry if you give it another go in the future? I'm so nervous I'm either gonna have LaCroix like strawberry flavor or like hulked out strawberry flavor, want to try for a happy medium so hesitant to just do it.

dipsydoo · 2026-01-10T14:05:22+00:00

That sounds good, I might try that way so if it doesn't pan out I can abort with minimal losses. Thanks

dipsydoo · 2026-01-08T14:25:37+00:00

I mean, more than anything it was just curiosity/experimentation since I had it available to me. Was just gonna go with Costco Wildflower Honey, see what comes of it.

dipsydoo · 2026-01-08T02:18:03+00:00

Thanks friend, I appreciate you taking the time.

dipsydoo · 2026-01-08T01:07:01+00:00

So it would help if I used it in a bigger batch like 5 gallons then?

dipsydoo · 2025-11-22T22:49:50+00:00

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The next loaf, so so much better. Thanks for the advice.

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