New Lettuce Grow

We have run out of room again in all the big systems so we have chosen several different lettuces to grow in the AeroFlow36. We started seeds today for Vivian, Boston Bibb, and Cimmaron. We added a few of the long time favorites, Romain and Arugula so we could enjoy some great summer salads.

Grow 6

Well it has been a while since we did another major grow in the indoor room. We were busy helping all of our friends getting ready for outdoor spring planting by starting their plants for them in our AeroFlo36 not to mention all the Rion Prestige Greenhouse activities which we call the Berry House. Hey, what are friends for right?

We love tomatoes but I have to tell you, growing them indoors with an eight foot ceiling is challenging - especially if you hang grow lights from the ceiling. We have traditionally grown only heirloom and organic seeds but I am trying a hybrid now out of necessity - height limitations.

We have three tomato plants, two indicate that they are bush tomatoes (Bush Steak Hybrid and Bush Early Girl) and we are also planting a Tumbler Hybrid but it is not a bush tomato (just trying it out).

In addition we have planted Romaine since we eat it so fast, organic cucumber (another climbing wonder), Zucchini (we have had great success with these), Jalapeno, Red and Yellow Sweet Peppers.

Another test is for the Ultimate Plant Cage (http://globalgardenfriends.com/the-ultimate-plant-cage/). We have a challenge with our peppers and tomatoes getting top heavy with the fruits and our Ebb n Gro system does not have nice insets for PVC pipe like the PowerGrower does to help support the plants. We have tried netting, but it didn't work as we thought it would to support the plants from the PowerGrower.

So with the new grow, a new product test and some new plant tests...stay tuned. We planted seeds today and will be back to you soon on the results

Geeting Ready For A New Grow

As you can see we have cleaned up the grow room and have pruned all the plants that were crowding everything else in the room. We have a few remaining tomato plants in the AeroFlo36 that we are proving to a friend for his outdoor garden. The PowerGrower has been cleared for new plants as well

We have several varieties of bush tomatoes we are going to plant along with zucchini and more pepper plants. We may even add another cucumber plant.

We will be trying a new device in our grow room and will give you more details on it when it arrives. Hopefully it will help us with an irritating issue we have been having with potted plants.

Zucchini Transplanted

The zucchini plants we placed in the AeroFlo36 have 4-6 big leaves on each plant and a nice healthy root base so we planted two in each of the PowerGrower and Ebb n Gro systems.  pH balanced R.O. water was used to "top off" each of the grow systems.

The zucchini was planted in the systems using Hydroton as a base medium.  We have come to really like this "days gone by" product in lieu of the newer ones based upon our grow room experiments.  We have placed a Hortinet (basically a plastic 4x4 net) over the cucumber and Roma plants on the Ebb n Gro system as they are getting larger and require constant support.

Grow Room Video Update

We posted some photos of the peppers, eggplant, and zucchini today but also wanted to give you the broad view of the grow room.



We are ready to fill out our PowerGrower and the remaining two spots on our Ebb and Gro system with the Jalapeno peppers and Zucchini we just transferred to the AeroFlo36 system.

Changed the water and refreshed the nutrients on both PowerGrower and Ebb n Gro systems today. Taking out the Cherry Tomato plants was bittersweet but we had eaten so many that I felt it was time to move on. We did clone the plants and also started another from seed so it won't be long before we have more.

Grow Room Cleanup

We took out the cherry tomato plants and one Italian Parsley plant today so we could clean the PowerGrower system and make room for the Grow 5 zucchini and jalapeno pepper plants that we transplanted to the AeroFlo36 today.  We now have 5 openings in the PowerGrower and 2 openings in the Ebb and Gro systems.

The nutrients were refreshed in both the Ebb n Gro and PowerGrower systems to support more flowering and fruiting.  The Canna products continue to perform very well for us as you can see by our video and photo updates.

The fennel, mint, leeks, and a cherry tomato plant were transferred from the AeroFlo36 system to the Ebb n Gro system to support their size and expansive growth.

Grow 5 Planted

We have seeded Grow 5 with 4 Jalapeno, 4 Zucchini, and of course more Romaine Lettuce. Germination should occur over 7-10 days and we will bring you more info then. We continue to harvest the Romaine we plant almost every day. We start several new seeds every few days as the germination rate is quick, and once in the AeroFlo36, we get full heads in about 7 days.

Cha Cha Cha Changes......

Many changes to the grow room occurred in the last two weeks.  Thought I would wait and post all at the same time.   With the EZ Clone, we needed more light above the unit.  We installed a new 4 bulb T5 to replace the single bulb unit; installed an expansion kit of 5 pots onto the Ebb n Gro system to handle some of our larger root based plants; installed another LED, this time a 540 Watt "Mother Ship" from SuperNova; lastly a dehumidifier was added to remove excess humidity in the room.  Doing so allowed us to turn the CO2 back on and wow what a difference.



General water changes continue with new nutrient mixes every two and a half weeks with plain water top-offs in between.  We check pH and balance as necessary every few days.  The CANNA nutrients are working so well for us we just can't imagine others would be better.  We are following CANNA recommended doses of base (Aqua Flores or Agua Veg) and additional nutrients (Cannazyme, Rhizotonic, Boost, and PK13/14) according to plant growth stage.

Wish I had doubled the size of the room now !

EZ Clone Up and Running

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.

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.

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.

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.

WE HAVE CHERRY TOMATOES !

The day has finally come, we now have cherry tomatoes, and even a few Roma's, popping out all over the place.  We noticed the first starts early this week and new ones coming out every day.  We did a nutrient change yesterday in the PowerGrower where the cherry tomatoes are growing.  Significant difference - higher concentration of Canna Boost and addition of Canna PK 13/14.  This nutrient shift is required, per Canna instructions, when first fruits start to bloom.  We were low on water in the PowerGrower so the timing was perfect.



The Ebb and Gro system has performed very well since installation.  The Grow 3 seedlings we transplanted from the AeroFlo36 (they had been in there only a few days) are keeping pace with the "like" plants from Grow 3 that stayed in the AeroFlo36.  One difference noted was in the Basil.  The AeroFlo36 seedling growth is beating the Ebb and Gro seedling hands down.

We took lumen measurements under the SuperNova LED this week.  We noticed a significant difference in lumen (from the same distance) between the HID HPS and MH lights compared to the LED.  Given the LED is only 270 watts, per the manufacturer it is supposed to put off as much light as a 1000 watt HID.  Not in lumen - that is for sure.  Not sure what the manufacturer means by their statements but clearly the lumen readings are significantly different.  Regardless, the plants under the SuperNova are doing well, either because of a more beneficial light spectrum (more "usable" light) or some other magic we don't know of yet.

Grow 4 Planted

We finally got to plant a few new seeds this week.  Grow 4 consists of:

     1 Fennel (the others from previous Grows are doing very well)
     2 Red Shard (new plant)
     2 Spinach (new seed pack)
     2 Cucumber (new plant)
     2 White Eggplant (new plant)
     2 Mint (new plant)
     2 Leek
     2 Romaine Lettuce

We will continue to update you as we progress.  Most of these seeds germinate in the 10-14 day range.  Hopefully we will have some room to put these plants by the time they grow out of the AeroFlo36.  Interestingly, this unit has become our defacto standard for post germination planting.  Although the lettuces stay until maturity, the size of our other plants have necessitated transplanting out of this "nursery" system.

Big Harvest

Took 6 lettuce plants out of the AeroFlo36 today.  Salad for dinner tonight (and a few more nights too).  We transplanted many of the Grow 3 plants into the AeroFlo36 today.  I have to tell you that my fears of the Rapid Rooter cubes came true.  Very "crumbly" medium - especially when it comes to transplanting.  Rockwool and STG are no problem to transplant.  I am still using STG hail in my net cups around the transplanted seedling cube.

We took a fairly equal number of Rapid Rooter and Rockwool seedlings into the AeroFlo36 from Grow 3.  Only two STG seedlings were taken due to the slower growth rate, and well, we had enough for a transfer in this grow.  I still have Grow 3 seedlings germinating.  Two Spinach seedlings !  I am going to give them another week or so, then see if we can transplant.  One is in Rockwool, one in Rapid Rooter.

I think I am going to move forward with Rockwool for seed germination on future grows due to the results and observations during Grow 3.

New System Experiment

We will add an Ebb and Flow system (Ebb n Gro) to our grow room in the newly reclaimed space.  We are also going to do an experiment with both Hydroton and STG Deluge which is designed specifically for the Ebb n Gro buckets.   It will be interesting to see which medium does better with our plants. We have an eye on the red and yellow pepper plants currently in the AeroFlo36 as potential transplants to the new system.

As heat is becoming an issue for us (or certainly will in summer), we have also chose an LED lighting system.  We selected the Super Nova Enhanced Spectrum light.  It sports a nice function of custom selecting blue and red spectrum mixes to support the cycle of your plant's growth.  The manufacturer also provides a three year warranty, first year 100%, second and third prorated.  Look for that warranty on LED lights you are considering and be careful of the knock-offs on EBAY.

The Super Nova we selected provides light output for a 3x3 area that is supposedly greater than a 600 watt HID.  It will be interesting to see if that is true.  I am really excited about little to no heat output from the light and 1/8th of the amount of energy usage in the grow room.

Hydroton Test

The Roma that was kicked back to the AeroFlo36 (Grow 1 plant) after suffering near death due to dehydration in the PowerGrower is now in a stand-alone module.  It was starting to shadow the other plants in the AeroFlo36 with its canopy so we thought it a good time to run the Hydroton test.

We used well rinsed Hyrdroton for about three quarters of the module but ran out.  The net cup is sitting nicely on Hydroton with roots dispersed throughout.  We "topped off" the module with some STG Hail we had on hand.

We took nutrient solution from the AeroFlo36 and filled up the module, added the air pump line.  We will leave this plant on continuous drip, watch it closely, and give you some results.  We have not used Hydroton as a growing medium to date.

Nutrient Changes

We drained both the AeroFlo36 and PowerGrower today. The AeroFlo36 went first, no cleaning as it looked fine, and received a new batch of water and increased nutrient levels.  We were running in the high 800s due to the small plants.  Now that they have matured a bit, we increased to full strength at about 1050 ppm (vegetative state) using Canna Aqua Vega, Rhizotonic, and Cannazyme with the pH level at 5.5.

The PowerGrower was drained and now has a cleaning solution running through it and we will leave the pumps on continuous drip to help clear residual salts.  Tomorrow morning we will drain all of the cleaning solution and change the nutrients to the Aqua Flores, Rhizotonic, Cannazyme and Boost mix as stated in the previous post.

We moved the Basil kickback back to the PowerGrower module with the bigger Basil plant.  The root structure looked better and we made sure a the drip ring was right over the root ball.

Tomato News

The Cherry Toms have continued to sprout flowers all over each plant.  Roma Toms continue to baffle me a bit.  Roma in the AeroFlo36 has made a great comeback but still is slower than the Cherry was in the AeroFlo36.  We are suffering from "leaf curl" with the PowerGrower Roma and I need to get the books out tonight to research a solution.  Funny thing is, it actually sported its first flower yesterday.

Roma in PowerGrower - notice "leaf curl"

Cherry Toms in PowerGrower - adding flowers daily

Roma "kickback" adding veg, no flowers, no leaf curl.  Hmmm

I have continued pulling suckers off the Cherry Tom plants and now that the CO2 is back on in the room we have seen more growth than ever before.  After no CO2 for a week, you can really notice the difference in the veg that was added during this week now that it is back on.  Lesson learned - if you want it to grow bigger and faster, add CO2.  We run 1500 ppm.

Grow 1 and 2 Plants Exploding

Our AeroFlo36 and PowerGrower continue prove themselves as very good investments.  Not only have we seen great progress on our Grow 2 plants placed in the AeroFlo36 but also the two plants (Roma Tom and Basil) that we kicked back from the PowerGrower from Grow 1 that we thought would die.  Check out the root mass now on the Grow 1 Basil that is recovering nicely:

The Arugula adds more leaves every day while the Yellow Peppers aren't far behind in veg.  I  must find a home for these peppers in the PowerGrower soon (or maybe an Ebb and Flow system test?  Hmmm).  That little Leek in P1 below next to the yellow peppers is sporting good growth too.

The Buttercrunch lettuce seems to just love the AeroFlo36 as seedlings from Grow 2 are doing wonderfully. Our original Buttercrunch plant from Grow 1 is getting huge in the PowerGrower.  It may be salad time for that one in the next week.  The Buttercrunch from Grow 1 was planted as a seed on Sept. 18.  Wow, seven weeks from seed to table.  Try that in dirt!

We can't leave out the Basil......so hard to get fresh Basil where I live, not to mention Italian Parsley!  I "staked" the Basil plant tonight as it was getting a little top heavy.  Another lesson learned.  STG hail is a great medium until you start using it for tall, heavy plants.  It is light and fluffy....and unless you really pack it in (and I mean really!), it seems as it has a problem supporting these plants.  Haven't tried those little pebbles (Hydroton) yet as it has a lot of pre-use maintenance.  Maybe another test to add in the book...(Ebb & Flow, Hyrdoton, LED???)