Maryland (BARC) Cover crops 2024/2025

MD_2024-10-15

• Came back out a couple minutes ago to find it had started failing the past couple rows. The camera was still flashing and taking photos, but I guess the computer wasn’t receiving them, because it was popping up with a “Missing JPEG” error (although not RAW). I just unplugged the USB-A camera connection and replied ir in and it seems to have fixed it. I sent BBot back to the fourth row and it has resumed imaging.

• Just turned off BBot. It made it to the end of the third species without any software errors, but it looks like the flash battery died at some point and I forgot to switch it out so I’m guessing most of that third species was too dim

MD_2024-10-16

• Seeds were planted last week and some have germinated already. So far, there is growth in white clover, turnip, alfalfa, and camelina. I have not seen any visible germination yet in the buckwheat yet, but I think I remember hearing that one takes a bit longer. The horseweed also has not had any new germination, but we saved the horseweed plants growing in summer and implanted those pots into its section so there are "larger" plants there.

• Due to supply reasons we had to use a different soil from what we have used in the past (I believe the it has less mulch and more moss content if I remember correctly). It looks the same as the previous stuff we used, so shouldn't cause a problem with the images but I guess keep me posted if there is an issue.

• After dumping all the old pots, we swept all of the fabric to get rid of all the old soil spills and other miscellaneous build-up, so the fabric should be a little bit cleaner in the images. Additionally, since that was pretty easy and made it look a lot better, I might just start incorporating sweeping into BBot area maintenance and get more on top of keeping the fabric cleaner aside from picking up the colorful leaves and plant materials that wind up on the fabric.

• We have redone the QR codes so hopefully they are more robust and won't be scattered across the area after storms or wind. The problem we were originally having was finding a way to adhere anything to our rebar caps. Not only were the rebar caps a different plastic than we were using for other components, it was also spray painted black so the adherence would be to the paint, not the cap. We circumnavigated this by using hardware for the base connection. Our new system utilizes two acrylic squares, in which one is connected to the rebar cap using hardware (two screws and a tee-nuts), while the other has a matte weatherproof sticker pasted on top of it. We then used 3M doubles-sided acrylic tape to conjoin the two pieces of acrylic (So in essence: rebar cap is attached to acrylic, which is attached to tape, which is attached to a second piece of acrylic, which is attached to the QR code sticker). We couldn't just put the sticker on the hardware-acrylic since the screws made it a not flat surface and we wanted to ensure the vinyl won't fall off.

• Let me know how the QR codes look in the photos. From what I can see on the BBot the stickers are bright but the QR code is still visible and not impeded, so hopefully those work.

• Redid the spraypaint on the rebar caps before constructing them, so hopefully most of the orange has been covered in the photos.

MD_2024-10-17

• Started the BBot run today at 10:26, so it has been working for over half an hour at this point successfully. Upon turning on, I did have the "Missing JPG" error again, but it was fixed when I unplugged and replugged the USB-C cable from the camera.Also, today the QR codes have water on them since I turned the sprinklers back on yesterday, so curious to see how they are in the photos with water droplets.

• Some point during lunch, the reflective cover we have for the camera fell off (we've been having stronger winds than usual), so that is probably in some photos covering a pot (end of the 4th species, next to QR code 53). Hopefully it wasn't hanging there blocking the camera for a while before falling, which I have come out to find before. @Matt K if you're available, can you check the photos and see if there were any large regions where the camera might have been blocked that I should go back and image? If it is just the one pot, then probably not worth it to go back but I just don't know if it immediately feel or hung there for a while.Also, I'm just going to stop using the reflective camera cover unless there are chances of rain now since it is colder I don't think the camera is at risk of overheating at this point.