Grow 2 continues to show fantastic progress. The seeds in this grow, from the same seed packages used in Grow 1, were placed in Rockwool plugs soaked overnight in Europonic Rockwool Conditioner. We planted red and yellow sweet peppers, spinach, buttercrunch, romaine, arugula, parsley, leeks and fennel.
A significant difference between Grow 1 and Grow 2 included the use of the "plug tray". We believe that this tray allows more airflow around the seed plug, as well as within the tray (notice holes between the tray plug rows). We have not added any water to the tray since inserting the seeds into the Rockwool plugs. We have not seen any mold, fungus, or algae growth on these plugs as we did with the 98 STG cubes used in Grow 1 that were placed (packed) into germination tray. Grow 2 seeds were planted about 7 days ago. Humidity dome was removed for photos. The plug tray sits on top of a standard flat with approximately 3/4 inch of water in the bottom of the flat. The plugs in this tray do not touch the water in the flat. The water is in the flat is there to help keep moisture / humidity under the dome.
Above you can see a close up of our first yellow pepper plant germinating from Grow 2. Other pepper seeds have started to form primary growth. Seed packet indicated normal germination rate of 10 to 25 days. We have seen germination after 7 days. Exciting!
Our fennel grew about a half an inch between yesterday afternoon and this morning. We are now seeing the first leaves from the seed appear. These leaves were not seen yesterday. An overnight wonder! The leek seeds in the row directly to the left of the fennel (far right) are also showing progress and we anticipate we will see their first leaves in another day.
Grow 2 was germinated under "dark" conditions until we saw the first signs of leaves (buttercrunch, romaine, and arugula) and then began a 16 on / 8 off light cycle under a T5 florescent lamp. We are now planning Grow 3 and experiment with Rapid Rooter plugs, Rockwool plugs, and Sure To Grow (STG) cubes all in one modular tray.
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