Second Weekend in September

I mowed Front lawn, including north and south sides all the way to neighbor's house (so no Mexican Petunias left standing).

(Didn't do: edging around lawn, filling in sidewalk gaps with caulk.)

Installed rectangular zone spray head on last sprinkler, and tested operation (it succesfully waters Crepe Myrtle tree for the first time).  Also reduced water output on head near Pomegranate tree by 50% or so.  Reduced water output on head near Wild Olive tree by about 30%.  Especially wrt the pomegranate tree, I'm hoping this will slow the spread of leaf fungus.  So I changed one sprinkler head and adjusted two others, and it was a lot of fun doing so even if I had to get wet just like a real sprinkler guy.  I also tested operation of the adjustment screw on a spare head.  Possibly other heads could use output reduction also.

I tried several different positions for the Frontgate tree lights nearest the gate, and came up with an approach that works beautifully without causing glare.  Glare turned out to be a big problem with the lighting setup I had created last week.  The correct approach is to aim the light toward the fence but through the tree.  This lights both tree and fence and keeps the glare-y light from pointing at people.  These low power LED lights may have considerable glare.  All the first 3 lights nearest the gate are now adjusted this way, as well as the re-adjusted light on bamboo along the west fence.

When done this way, the tree lighting is beautiful!

I have temporarily put the rock lights on the patio.  I was hoping they would light the oak tree and/or Lyndhurst.  The light they produce is very diffuse and actually lights up the whole "courtyard" area of the back yard (around the Oak tree).  It's a nice light effect, but when you are actually in the back yard the lights have a lot of glare when you are facing them, and you can't even see what is on the ground.  I will move them somewhere else, with the light facing a wall or building.

I did supplemental watering on the pink Crepe Myrtle and the Palm tree.

I pulled some Mexican Petunias near the gate and lots of ivy along the west fence.

I removed the old musty Organ Chair from Lyndhurst and put it back in the garage, but near to the front of the garage so that any smell (it actually doesn't seem to smell much anymore) will not seep through the bedroom walls but mostly get ventilated by cracks around the garage door.  I also moved two bags of soil out of Lyndhurst.  I'm thinking of the possibility of closing the doors to Lyndhurst if the weather gets rainy or cold, so I wanted to get the smelly bioactive stuff out of there.  The official deadline for closing the doors of Lyndhurst is November 1.  Lyndhurst continues to smell fine, I think that cleaning the bottom of the shelves last week was the biggest win.  I have begun feeling, for the first time, that Lyndhurst is a successful project in it's own right after all.

The new back door light fixture arrived on Monday afternoon.

two more lights

I set up two of the Frontgate solar flood lights today, on the pink Crepe Myrtle and the Holly near the gate.  These lights are obviously much better made than the Smith and Hawken (S&H) lights from Target, at not much higher price.  But will they light for as long and as well?

I also replaced the S&H light on the Pomegranate simply by exchanging the flood light with another one.  This week I purchased some nuts which might be able to repair the broken S&H light later.

As I was setting up to do this, the new S&H flood light broke apart in my hands, apparently having not been assembled completely.  The base, glass lens, and lens retainer came apart.  I was able to get them put back together.

I have been worried about yellow leaves on the Pomegranate.  On Thursday afternoon, I removed a few.  But then I seemed to see even more yellow leaves on Friday afternoon.  The ground below it doesn't give a consistent moisture reading.  That is probably the underlying problem, which may mend with time as the roots get better, or need major soil remediation.  Online research suggests Pomegranates often get a fungus which produces yellow leaves.  It can be treated in the spring with a copper fungicide.

I don't think it's a matter of overwatering or underwatering, though it's more on the overwatering side.  But I've already cut back the Zone 2 cycle to 12 minute watering times.  I don't think I can water much less at this time, or cause underwatering damage to this or other trees.

The new 15x4 Rainbird spray heads I ordered arrived.  I'm hoping to install this weekend to fix the underwatering on the pink crepe myrtle.

Lyndhurst is continuing to smell pretty good now.

The big plan for the weekend is to mow entire front yard, which badly needs it now, and edge by the sidewalk.  I could also install all of my new solar lights.  If I really get going, I could install the self-leveling caulk in the gaps around the front sidewalk to prevent them from turning into mini-lawns like they are now.

New Lights

Above is a picture of the Kitchler 6052 Transitional Floodlights from the Islander Collection.  That is what I ordered, from LightingDirect.com, to replace the old back yard security light which I believe is a bug magnet.   The new lights shipped today.

The old light could only be fitted with one kind of bulb, a 27W bluish-white CFL from Lights of America.  The new light fixture can plain old incandescents and floods as well as LED's and LED floods, so there is a lot of room for experimentation, as I have described.  I can try both soft white and yellow bulbs.  Sylvania makes a number of suitable 2700K soft white bulbs.  Here is an example of a cheap LED buglight (I'd like to find something better, but this looks like at least it wouldn't attract many bugs):




The Miracle LED bug light uses only two watts.  They say it's equivalent to 50W of incandescent, but I doubt that.  The yellow color also means it might not seem as bright as it actually is.

*****

New solar light fixtures arrived on Tuesday evening, including 2 sets of 2 solar flood lamps from Frontgate, and 3 solar floods from Target.

I'd never seen the Frontgate fixtures before.  They are much nicer than the ones from Target's brand Smith and Hawken.  The Frontgate floodlights are much bigger and solid metal.  I've already broken the tightening nut on two of the Target floodlights.  (For the first one, I found a fitting replacement nut in my junk box, for the second one, I bought some 6-32 and 8-32 nuts at Home Depot tonight and hope to fix it soon)

The downside might be that the Frontgate flood lamps have two lamps powered by one solar module which apparently has two lithium phosphate batteries.  The Target lamp also uses two lithium phosphate batteries--but for just one lamp.  That might be why the Frontgate lamp has a two position switch, 6 hour or 10 hour.  To get the 10 hour duration (same specification as the Target lamp) it might cut the light level below that of the Target lamp.  We shall see.

Shelf bottoms cleaned

It doesn't sound like much, I know.  But this is the biggest project I have actually done inside Lyndhurst since June.  I believe it was in June that I cleaned the top surfaces of all shelves, after some friends pointed out that they seemed to be the smelliest thing.  That took two weekends, or perhaps 3 weekends in combination with also cleaning the baseboards and removing the smelly old canopy poles.

Then that was it, until Monday September 3, aka Labor Day, when I finally got around to cleaning the bottom of all shelves.  All except the one shelf on the right side, for which I had the foresight of cleaning the bottom when I was cleaning the top (while noting the difficulty of moving the ladder back there).

Same magic cleaning solution as before, at least as I remembered, two tablespoons of Dawn and two tablespoons of baking soda in a half bucket (probably 1-2 gal).  Each segment was rubbed down with a wet cloth, then dried with a large towel.  When I was suspicious additional cleaning would be a good idea, I did this twice, which was about 50% of the time.  However there was no visible grime, only occasional loose paint chipped off.

Now there was actually some grime on the top of the bottom row of shelves, which I had cleaned previously, possibly related to bugs.  I cleaned that back nearly all the way to the back shelf, but clearly all shelves will need an additional cleaning prior to first use.

I also cleaned around the window opening.  Then I realized the baking soda might not be good for the aluminum frame of the window, so I rinsed with a new cloth dampened only with water.  I did that twice with new cloths, and dried each time with a new cloth, to make sure no sodium residue.

The water which had taken on some darkness got dumped behind the power transformer.  All cloths were immediately washed on the 2:30 hour Sterilize cycle.

*****

Also, FWIW, on Sunday I removed the bottom door seals on the French Doors.  I have long thought it would be preferable to allow ventilation through the bottom door gap than try to block it.  It would be good, in fact, to have a hole about the size of that gap deliberately for ventilation and with a fan powering it.*

It might encourage less air intake under siding also.  My thinking is that air coming from the southeast (prevailing wind) pushes its way under the siding around the southeast corner of Lyndhurst.  If it has an alternative path, under the nearby door, it might not be forced to penetrate the foam insulation in the corner and pick up the insulation smell.

I have also been thinking that the rubber door bottom seals could have themselves picked up a lot of smell, or could even be the source of much of the smell.  But I did previously try to clean them off (I think that was in April or May) and I have not smelled much smell on them, even after I removed them.

They were only stapled on each side of each door.  Underneath, the french door metal has what appears to be an open seam.

(*A fan forcing air inside from the outside would be the right choice, I think.  Forcing air inside would create positive pressure which would prevent air from seeping in through the building insulation where it picks up smells.  Having bottom door seal removed is a cheap way of providing a similar positive pressure short circuit.  It is not as good, but was easy to do.)

*****

The main work on Sunday, however, was all the mowing and weeding of the new back yard garden.  And I installed one new solar lamp, uplighting the pomegranate.  Unfortunately, the lamp screw broke when I tried to reposition the stake.  So right now the lamp is just sitting on some weeds, but pointing in the right direction.  I need to get some new screws to fit the bolt.

Thinking the trees were looking a tad overwatered, I cut the Sunday cycle to 1/2.  But then I moved the Wednesday cycle up to Tuesday, thinking that made much more sense.  The trees get watered Saturday AM, Tuesday AM, and twice (AM and PM) on Thursday.

The pink crepe myrtle continues not to get enough water and got some hand watering on Sunday, along with Palmie and the potted plants.  Palmie got the crabgrass around it cut away, but otherwise there wasn't time or energy to mow the entire front yard this weekend.  It must be done next weekend.

I spend several hours relaxing on the patio over the 3 day weekend after sunset.  The back door light was kept off the entire weekend.  I did not notice any mosquitoes near the patio.  I did have one mosquito land on me inside Lyndhurst.  I think it had been affected by Mosquito Cognito and it didn't bite.

So mosquitoes were not a problem, and I continue to believe (despite protestation from a friend) that the fluorescent light attracts bugs including mosquitoes, and it does so because of higher wavelength emissions.

Lights, lights, bug lights

Still thinking about mosquito traps, could buy some outdoor traps any day now.  One issue is that all the units I am interested in require A/C power.  I have only one fully suitable AC power outlet on the side of Lyndhurst.  I could power one trap in that vicinity easily, but not other traps elsewhere, without adding additional outlets, an additional expense.  Although, right now I keep Lyndhurst doors open for outgassing, I can just run wire out, until I close doors sometime in October, then worry about additional outlet wiring next year.

But in a way the more bewildering decision is how to re-do the security lights, now that it has become clear the old security lights were a big part of the mosquito equation because they attract tons of bugs, including mosquitos.

I've already planned and purchased 12 small solar lights for lighting trees and such around the perimeter of yard.  Current backyard security light didn't even do that very well, but did do a good job of lighting out to 25 feet from house.

The front and back door lights need not even be security lights anymore.  I could have pole light somewhere in yards for that purpose, keep from attracting bugs near door.  But that involves a lot of planning, work, and expense.  I could easily imagine spending $2000 on front and back pole lights, including new electrical installation.

So in the short term, it makes sense to continue using front and back door lights with a continued security function, if not identical performance with existing lights, but using less bug attracting lights.

So soft back lit sconces are probably out.  But a open light taking standard screw in bulbs (which seems to be A21) either as a panoramic light-in-a-box or as quasi-spots would work using bulb bolbs, which are commonly available in A21 incandescent, CFL, and LED.  I had been thinking also of real spot-light type LED bulbs, but I'm having a hard time finding suitable outdoor "wet" lamps to hold them.

Here is a two A21 bulb quasi-spot bulb, very traditional, and traditionally inefficient with incandescent bulb.  Light is only emitted out of the type of the bulb cover, and A21 bulbs emit light all around, so much light energy is wasted.  Still, it could do the job with two bug lights of some kind.  With suitable LED bulbs, it would be quite efficient.

A friend liked my idea of modifying the existing panoramic lights with transparent yellow filters.

*****

Took a look at Lowe's today and they have standard outside dual floodlights in white or black.  Also available in both colors with dusk-to-dawn photosensor intended to work with halogen bulbs.  The non-photosensor variety is also available with short bulb covers or the full sized bulb covers.  The photosensor variety had full sized bulb covers, which I suspect are compatible with PAR38 lights.

I'm thinking the photosensor ought to work with dimmable LED floods.  They had some nice looking 15W floods by Sylvania in 2700K.  They also had GE's and a few others.  It didn't seem hard to find 2700K lights, though typically integrated CFL/sensor lights use 5000K and up fluorescents which I now know are bug magnets.

more mosquito and light links

I spent two hours on my backyard patio on Saturday night with security light turned off, and no mosquitos or other bugs bothered me, though I did notice a couple of disoriented mosquitos which could have been disoriented by Mosquito Cognito.

I turned on the light to watch the sprinklers when I cycled them on for a few minutes to check the tree coverage.  In just a two minutes, I had several mosquitoes after me, and ducked back into the house.

I am thinking this shows that the security light is bad for attracting bugs, including mosquitoes, and is better if it can be replaced somehow.  I set up my first 27 lumen solar powered wide angle spotlight from Target on the back of Lyndhurst as an uplight, and it works great.  I have purchased 11 more similar lights, including 5 more identical 27 lumen units, 4 different wide angle spotlights from Frontgate which might even be better, and 2x 20 lumen rock lights.  One idea is that with good enough perimeter lighting, need for central security light is reduced or eliminated.  And it looks much prettier too.  The big security light makes the fabric security shield around my patio opaque, so it doesn't actually improve visibility from the window, can actually see farther with the light off, though it might give intruders a sense of being watched.

I can see why Mosquito Cognito is not recommended for indoor use.  It's quite smelly.  And it gets much much worse if you turn the unit upside down to install the scent cartridge.  Then any part which has already been liquified will spill right onto the floor.  It was a good thing I did this in the garage, as I had only the hard garage floor to clean up, and I did that with scads of wet and dry paper towels.  The unit is designed so that you can install the cartridge right side up, then no spilling.  It took about two days for the smell to fade away from my garage.  Perhaps I got a bit of extra mosquito protection from that.  As I was cleaning up spilled Mosquito Cognito in the garage, there was clearly a mosquito in there.

The indoor Dynatrap 3 has been successful in catching a few mosquitoes inside my house.  But it failed to catch the one that was bothering me for several days in the master bathroom--a key test.  Finally, I killed that one with the Lentek Koolatron bug zapping wand.  I've decided you always need one of those close to hand.  I gave a couple of them to my friends.

Here's a link describing that you can grow lemongrass, marigold, and even citronella around your home to deter mosquitoes.

Here's the best link I've found arguing that warm white LED's are ignored by bugs, but not true for cool white.

Here is some discussion of natural mosquito and bug repellants.

No Mosquitoes Inside on Wednesday morning

I got home from work on Wednesday morning at 1:00 AM.   I closed the garage door using the remote in my car as soon as I had finished pulling in the car.  Usually I close the door only after I have gotten out of the car and shut off the security system, but why leave the garage door open longer than necessary?  Leaving the garage door open allows bugs, possibly including mosquitoes, to enter.

I then decided not to open the back door of my house (a sliding glass door that exits the kitchen and enters the patio).  I have a very bright 27 watt fluorescent security light above that door which always attracts lots of bugs.  I'm now thinking that when I go out there at night, and then come back into the house, mosquitos in the vicinity follow me back in.  I reprogrammed my Rainbird controller in the garage to water the trees at 3am for 15 minutes, and enjoyed watching through the bedroom and kitchen glass when it ran.  This was the first watering since the rainfall on early Sunday morning; I skipped the Tuesday AM watering.  Since I am now worried about mosquitoes, I appreciated greatly not having to go into the back yard to do the watering by hand.

I also put a towel underneath the front door of my house.  The gasket under the door is in very poor condition, and conceivably a mosquito could fly underneath the door.

But in order to get the mail, I did go out and return through the front door, which has the same kind of bug attracting security light as in back.  I could do better on that by getting the mail before I pull the car into the garage.

It occurs to me now that the security lights front and back are a key issue in allowing bugs and mosquitos to enter house.  It would be good to redesign them somehow so that bugs do not swarm near the doors of the house.  Here are some ideas:

1) Get new lights that don't attract bugs so much.  This much require new fixtures also.  I haven't seen anything yet that I'd like.  What I'd like is an LED light with brightness equivalent to what I get with a 27W fluorescent, with automatic lightsensing switch.  This would run on household AC.

2) Get new lights in a different location(s) so the lights by the doors can normally be turned off.  If a new light is positioned at least 10 feet from the door, I don't think bugs would be as much of a problem.  Then I could also put mosquito traps in between the new lights and the doors.

3) Put the door lights on an X10 switch so they can be turned off a few minutes before using the doors.  Then, at 9 in the morning, my X10 central controller can turn them back on again, ready to provide security the next day.  The problem with an ordinary switch is that I always forget to turn it back on until days or even weeks later.

For the front and back security lights, I do like always-on lighting, which I believe provides better deterrence than motion detector based.  Motion detector lights,  especially the solar powered kind, are great in a pinch, for temporary lighting, but not as good for deterrence I think.