We received an EZ Clone 60 from Santa this year so I put it into immediate service with some cuttings from our huge Cherry Tomato plant and our healthiest Roma, Pepper, Basil, and Spinach plants. I used Olivia's Cloning Gel and Solution to get the cuttings off to a great start.
We will start using the AeroFlo36 exclusively as our starter system for our large plants while dedicating it to lettuces and herbs. The PowerGrower and Ebb n Gro systems have proven themselves with Hydroton as a growing medium. We have 2 empty modules on each, waiting for the cucumber and white eggplants to be transferred from the AeroFlo36 once matured.
Grow 5 seedlings are doing very well. Nothing exciting in this grow, just more romaine lettuce to keep the family fed.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Santa Brought Me a Cloning Machine
I must have been a good dude at least part of the time as Santa brought me an EZ Clone 60 unit for the grow room. I set it up the other day and started the first test-batch of cuttings. We used Olivia's Cloning Gel on the cuttings and Olivia's Cloning Solution in the tank.
We took some Cherry, Roma, Basil and Spinach cuttings to try out the unit. I was a bit concerned that I would go back in the grow room the next day and the two leaves on each cutting would be drooping, wilted, dried up or just plain dead. Nope, still look healthy after three days now.
We took some Cherry, Roma, Basil and Spinach cuttings to try out the unit. I was a bit concerned that I would go back in the grow room the next day and the two leaves on each cutting would be drooping, wilted, dried up or just plain dead. Nope, still look healthy after three days now.
Cherry Toms Harvested
Talk about sweet and abundant. We picked about 50-60 of these beautiful red wonders this past week and boy were they sweet and delicious. We are still loaded with them in various stages of ripening and will shoot some vids for y'all.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Grow Room Update - Grow 4 Transplanted
Finally...red cherry tomatoes. Can't wait to taste these beautiful little wonders. What a busy few weeks. After a good cleaning and water changes on all the systems, it was time to have a little feast. We made a lot of pesto from the large basil plant, whipped up a very nice fennel recipe to accompany a dinner, and are already looking forward to the next culinary extravaganza from our garden.
We have transplanted all Grow 4 plants with the exception of the leeks and spinach. Grow 5 will be mostly lettuces since we seem to be eating a lot of salads now. I am reserving space in the PowerGrower as well as the Ebb and Gro systems for the upcoming Cucumbers and White Eggplant that was seeded in Grow 4.
The peppers are all doing very well - even the one with a SuperNova "tattoo". Loads of flowers that soon will become nice little peppers. Our sickly Roma plant in the PowerGrower just won't give up and has several tomatoes (green) growing and getting larger. The new Roma plants look better than ever. I think our strategy of leaving them in the AeroFlo36 longer has really worked.
We have transplanted all Grow 4 plants with the exception of the leeks and spinach. Grow 5 will be mostly lettuces since we seem to be eating a lot of salads now. I am reserving space in the PowerGrower as well as the Ebb and Gro systems for the upcoming Cucumbers and White Eggplant that was seeded in Grow 4.
The peppers are all doing very well - even the one with a SuperNova "tattoo". Loads of flowers that soon will become nice little peppers. Our sickly Roma plant in the PowerGrower just won't give up and has several tomatoes (green) growing and getting larger. The new Roma plants look better than ever. I think our strategy of leaving them in the AeroFlo36 longer has really worked.
Hydroton Test Results
Those of you that have experience know that it is dirty and has to be rinsed before use. Yes, it takes time. We all want to save time, but as we found out, some time is just well spent. STG has some great products and we love their hail product for our AeroFlo36 system. For the PowerGrower and Ebb and Gro systems, Hydroton rocks! (no pun intended).
The test we conducted on the STG inserts for the Ebb and Gro system proved that Hydroton (the suggested medium for the system) was the better medium. Plants in the STG inserts didn't grow as fast or as strongly as the ones in the Hydroton.
We will be using Hydroton in the Ebb and Gro and PowerGrower for all future transplants.
The test we conducted on the STG inserts for the Ebb and Gro system proved that Hydroton (the suggested medium for the system) was the better medium. Plants in the STG inserts didn't grow as fast or as strongly as the ones in the Hydroton.
We will be using Hydroton in the Ebb and Gro and PowerGrower for all future transplants.
Grow Room Work Day
We had a little work day in the grow room last weekend. We harvested all of the fennel and basil from the PowerGrower. Made some great pesto and a fennel au gratin that was out of this world. Thanks Epicurious.com ! Great recipe site for those inclined to exercise their culinary skills.
Cleaning and grow room work included: Complete wash down of the PowerGrower water tank and three PowerGrower Modules and AeroFlo36 rails; disposal of old STG growing medium; trimming all excess veg from the cherry tomato plants (a weekly process); transplanting Roma Tomatoes from the AeroFlow36 to the Ebb and Gro system - update in video to follow; water changes on all grow systems (glad I have the primary and secondary water barrels) with nutrient changes; Hydroton preparation for new basil plant transplants; transplanting Grow 4 seedlings to the AeroFlo36; Grow 5 Rockwool cube prep.
Seems like a lot of work, but it only took about 4 hours. Not bad. The design of the grow room and the water barrel strategy really helped. Remember that the R.O. system filters water into a "primary" 55 gallon barrel. From there, I transfer water to a "secondary" barrel where I adjust pH and mix nutrients to the correct ppm. From the secondary, I pump the solution to the grow system. While I work with the "secondary" water, the primary fills back up with R.O. water through the Merlin R.O. system. With this many systems, having a continuous output R.O. system is a must.
Cleaning and grow room work included: Complete wash down of the PowerGrower water tank and three PowerGrower Modules and AeroFlo36 rails; disposal of old STG growing medium; trimming all excess veg from the cherry tomato plants (a weekly process); transplanting Roma Tomatoes from the AeroFlow36 to the Ebb and Gro system - update in video to follow; water changes on all grow systems (glad I have the primary and secondary water barrels) with nutrient changes; Hydroton preparation for new basil plant transplants; transplanting Grow 4 seedlings to the AeroFlo36; Grow 5 Rockwool cube prep.
Seems like a lot of work, but it only took about 4 hours. Not bad. The design of the grow room and the water barrel strategy really helped. Remember that the R.O. system filters water into a "primary" 55 gallon barrel. From there, I transfer water to a "secondary" barrel where I adjust pH and mix nutrients to the correct ppm. From the secondary, I pump the solution to the grow system. While I work with the "secondary" water, the primary fills back up with R.O. water through the Merlin R.O. system. With this many systems, having a continuous output R.O. system is a must.
LED Survives Fall
Hats off to the SuperNova LED folks, the light survived a crash after the hook holding it to the suspended ceiling grid decided to break. Lesson learned - not all hooks that look alike are created equal. Certainly if this had been one of our HID lights, well, lets just say broken glass and dead plants would have been the outcome. Only one pepper plant suffered a few leaf burns were the SuperNova had been sitting on it for a few hours - yes the light stayed on even after the fall. Pepper plant is alive and well, only minor tattoos from its experience.
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