All of our strawberry plants continue veg production it seems almost daily. We noticed a huge spike in activity every day since planting and now is leveling off a little. Leaves are mainly getting larger on the plants while production of new leaves has slowed down.
The Blackberries took off like a rocket too. We have great veg production on every plant. WOW.
The Blueberries and Raspberries are a little slower out of the gate. We have one Blueberry plant with a few small leaves and tiny buds on a few others. The Raspberries are the slowest with just hints of buds on one plant.
The Blueberry reservoir is keeping us hopping. Trying to keep the pH at about 4.6 is taking a lot of acid additions. The ppm level of the water is going up with all of the acid additions.
We have wrapped the Monster Ebb n Gro nutrient tanks with water heater insulation blankets to help keep the temp down. The black barrels absorb that sunlight and on average were 5 degrees higher than the strawberry tanks. We anticipated this but in our excitement to get into production didn't get it done. It is now done. Temps are much better now.
We have not activated the chiller full time yet as temps have been reasonable. I anticipate another month or so before it is "on" 100% of the time.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries
The Rion Prestige "Berry House" is in production. We have 26 strawberry plants, 6 blueberry plants (3 varieties for better pollination), 5 raspberry and 5 blackberry plants.
When we planted the strawberries on Tuesday there were no leaves on any of the plants, just roots and sticks (old runners). We now have leaves (yes, plural) on every plant. We are very happy to see this. We are using a different nutrient manufacturer (General Hydroponics) than we used in the indoor grow room (Canna) to give something new a try. We still remain pleased with Canna too, a little expensive, but great results.
We know that the rasp, blue, and blackberries may outgrow the space we have them in now but with a second greenhouse under construction, we will have plenty of room to expand. There is very little to no information on growing these plants hydroponically so we are wandering in the dark. We are following basic berry growing principles of each of these types of berries so we will see how we do.
When we planted the strawberries on Tuesday there were no leaves on any of the plants, just roots and sticks (old runners). We now have leaves (yes, plural) on every plant. We are very happy to see this. We are using a different nutrient manufacturer (General Hydroponics) than we used in the indoor grow room (Canna) to give something new a try. We still remain pleased with Canna too, a little expensive, but great results.
We know that the rasp, blue, and blackberries may outgrow the space we have them in now but with a second greenhouse under construction, we will have plenty of room to expand. There is very little to no information on growing these plants hydroponically so we are wandering in the dark. We are following basic berry growing principles of each of these types of berries so we will see how we do.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Rion Greenhouse Officially In Production
It has been a little over a month (not every day), a lot of sweat equity and learning experiences. We are live in the house !
We got the cracked manifold replaced and continued our water test. We had a minor setback on two of manual control wires. Rain Bird wires controlling the same valves were fine, manual switch wires had an open circuit. Had to replace the wires, and we were back in business.
The Merlin Pro R.O. system has been working hard and produced all the R.O. water we needed to fill the production tanks today. We added nutrients, tested pH, EC, and Temp. We were ready to plant.
We got 26 strawberry plants in the ebb and flow (flood and drain) trays, and 6 blueberry plants (3 varieties) planted in one Monster Ebb and Gro system.
Tomorrow, Raspberry and Blackberry plants go in. We will then video the production house for you to see.
We got the cracked manifold replaced and continued our water test. We had a minor setback on two of manual control wires. Rain Bird wires controlling the same valves were fine, manual switch wires had an open circuit. Had to replace the wires, and we were back in business.
The Merlin Pro R.O. system has been working hard and produced all the R.O. water we needed to fill the production tanks today. We added nutrients, tested pH, EC, and Temp. We were ready to plant.
We got 26 strawberry plants in the ebb and flow (flood and drain) trays, and 6 blueberry plants (3 varieties) planted in one Monster Ebb and Gro system.
Tomorrow, Raspberry and Blackberry plants go in. We will then video the production house for you to see.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Testing Setback
We had to delay our water test yesterday due to a problem with shipping of parts we expected to arrive. One of our plumbing manifold (connects solenoid valves to plumbing lines) connections cracked due to a heavy hand during tightening a fitting (my bad). Replacing the manifold is about a 5 minute job, getting one here, about a 3 day job apparently when a particular overnight shipper falls asleep at the switch.
Well the parts are now here but we have to delay testing until Monday due to ranch activities that will pull us away from the effort for a few days. Our initial start of the testing was positive but the "fix" we attempted on the cracked manifold fitting didn't work and the leak was getting to severe to continue. We assume that all will go well with the tests.
The gutters were installed and the all hydroton is now washed. Plants arrived and are in the walk-in-cooler awaiting planting next week. We will bring you final videos of us up in operation next week.
Well the parts are now here but we have to delay testing until Monday due to ranch activities that will pull us away from the effort for a few days. Our initial start of the testing was positive but the "fix" we attempted on the cracked manifold fitting didn't work and the leak was getting to severe to continue. We assume that all will go well with the tests.
The gutters were installed and the all hydroton is now washed. Plants arrived and are in the walk-in-cooler awaiting planting next week. We will bring you final videos of us up in operation next week.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Inches away from the finish line
We made it through the day washing hydroton, finishing the Monster Ebb and Gro system connections, plumbed in the nutrient mixing tank, moved the stacked ebb and flow tables in place and connected the pumps/drain/overflow, and we even ran a little test on the system pump. What a great day.
What is left?
1. Install the greenhouse gutters
2. Complete water test through all grow systems
3. Chiller test
4. Plant !
What is left?
1. Install the greenhouse gutters
2. Complete water test through all grow systems
3. Chiller test
4. Plant !
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Rion greenhouse just about completed
We have our first greenhouse almost ready for production. We have our chiller installed, water tanks and grow systems plumbed and ready to go. The misting system is installed and tested. We still need to connect the grow pots to the Monster Ebb n Gro systems.
The Rain Bird sprinkler controller has been programmed and passed all system checks on valves and wiring. All wiring in the main control panel has been tested. We still have a lot of hydroton to wash and need to move in our ebb and flow (flood and drain) tables.
The only "test" left is.....water. We will be doing the complete water test in the systems Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully it will be a good day.
The Rain Bird sprinkler controller has been programmed and passed all system checks on valves and wiring. All wiring in the main control panel has been tested. We still have a lot of hydroton to wash and need to move in our ebb and flow (flood and drain) tables.
The only "test" left is.....water. We will be doing the complete water test in the systems Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully it will be a good day.
Monster Ebb n Gro
We installed the plumbing lines to the Monster Ebb n Gro system as well as the construction on the flood and drain (Ebb and Flow) tables yesterday. Two more things from the punch list are done!
Today, program the Rain Bird system, connect the R.O. system to the main water storage tank, and install the gutters on the greenhouse.
Today, program the Rain Bird system, connect the R.O. system to the main water storage tank, and install the gutters on the greenhouse.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Chiller and Main Water Storage Installed
We installed the 1 1/2 HP chiller and 300 gallon main water storage tank today. All electrical connections are now finished. We have finished plumbing on the chiller, Main tank, and three ebb and flow tables.
We reduced the size of the tables from 3x6 ft to 2x4 ft, and decided to double stack the ebb and flow tables. We get more growing space in a smaller footprint. We have plenty of height to ensure ample sunlight to the grow tables and the plants are low height (strawberries). The 75 gallon water tank serving each 2 stack table will still be more than sufficient. A few "field engineering" changes to the tables which we had not built yet, and an order for a few more trays and fitting, and done.
We still have a punch list of items to complete:
1. Plumb 3 Monster Ebb n Gro systems into the system
2. Install greenhouse gutter system
3. Build Ebb and Flow Tables for growing trays
4. Program Rain Bird and grow system timers
5. System Test
6. Wash Hydroton
7. Plant !
We reduced the size of the tables from 3x6 ft to 2x4 ft, and decided to double stack the ebb and flow tables. We get more growing space in a smaller footprint. We have plenty of height to ensure ample sunlight to the grow tables and the plants are low height (strawberries). The 75 gallon water tank serving each 2 stack table will still be more than sufficient. A few "field engineering" changes to the tables which we had not built yet, and an order for a few more trays and fitting, and done.
We still have a punch list of items to complete:
1. Plumb 3 Monster Ebb n Gro systems into the system
2. Install greenhouse gutter system
3. Build Ebb and Flow Tables for growing trays
4. Program Rain Bird and grow system timers
5. System Test
6. Wash Hydroton
7. Plant !
Thursday, March 3, 2011
We Have Power and Plumbing
We turned on the electricity in the greenhouse today. First switch I flipped was for the exhaust fans. It has been getting pretty warm working inside there these past few days. We still have to do complete systems tests on all of the circuitry, solenoid valves, Rain Bird, System Pump, etc.
We started our grow system plumbing today as we finished all of the electrical distribution within the house (sans Chiller which arrived late today). We have three Ebb and Flow tanks plumbed for the strawberry grow tables, and tomorrow we will finish the three Monster Ebb n Gro systems for the berry bushes (rasp, black, blue).
We are in the final days on the critical path as I got an Email from Burpee today indicating that our plants will be here on Tuesday next week...still so much to do between now and then. I think we will make it though.
We started our grow system plumbing today as we finished all of the electrical distribution within the house (sans Chiller which arrived late today). We have three Ebb and Flow tanks plumbed for the strawberry grow tables, and tomorrow we will finish the three Monster Ebb n Gro systems for the berry bushes (rasp, black, blue).
We are in the final days on the critical path as I got an Email from Burpee today indicating that our plants will be here on Tuesday next week...still so much to do between now and then. I think we will make it though.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Greenhouse # 2 Ordered
We have ordered the second greenhouse ! We have finished the foundation already as it made sense to do it while building the foundation for the "berry house". We are contemplating dwarf fruits and flowers (roses mainly) for the second house but no final decisions yet.
Water Systems Complete
We have installed the Tall Blue pre-filter and Merlin Garden Pro R.O. systems. Final hookup to the main water supply will occur today. We have also started moving the grow systems into the greenhouse so we can finalize our electrical and plumbing distribution.
Tasks to complete include:
Electrical distribution to grow systems
Plumbing distribution to grow systems
Exhaust fan connections
Chiller installation
Main system pump installation
Main 300 gallon water tank installation
Grow system final placement/connection
Misting system installation
System test
Tasks to complete include:
Electrical distribution to grow systems
Plumbing distribution to grow systems
Exhaust fan connections
Chiller installation
Main system pump installation
Main 300 gallon water tank installation
Grow system final placement/connection
Misting system installation
System test
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