The configuration changes in our room are complete. The new Stealth Grow LED Veg and Bloom lights have replaced the HIDs and the Monster Ebb n Grow is now the home of a few tomato plants. We are a little behind on posting updates to our blog due to another project we have been working on here at the ranch.
We started Grow 7 about a month ago. Several new tomato plants were started from seed including some of the hybrids tried in a previous grow as well as a few new ones. We are really looking forward to the "ice" tomatoes which are basically white cherry tomatoes. We wanted to start a new grow with the new LED lights so we could assess the full impact on the plants from seed to fruit. The plants did incredible under the Stealth Grow Veg LED and now they are under the Ebb N Grow system (small pots)
We transplanted three of our 9 month old plants from the PowerGrower into the Monster Ebb n Grow system. We had issues with the PowerGrower and large tomato plants with root creep clogging up the plumbing. With the tomatoes all transplanted we are hopeful that the aggressive pruning we did (literally hacked them down to an 8 inch stalk to start new growth) will allow them to continue to produce. So far they are putting on new leaves and looking well.
Showing posts with label Ebb and Gro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ebb and Gro. Show all posts
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
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
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
Sunday, April 10, 2011
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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.
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.
Holy Eggplants Batman
There is another white eggplant in this picture (about 11 o'clock) that is equally as large.
We eat eggplant a lot in Italian recipes we make and are looking forward to seeing how this white variety does. The fruits are round like softballs on steroids versus the elongated pear shaped purple variety.
These plants are in our Ebb and Gro system which we recently expanded due to its success in our grow room.
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.
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.
Cucumber Blast Off
We have about 15 flowers on this plant already and the urge to clone it is killing me but I think I will wait until it gets to the point of producing fruits.
The water and nutrients in the Ebb and Gro system was changed today from an early flowering stage supplement to support an intermediate stage flowering / beginning stage fruiting nutrient base as the Roma tomato plant has also put on a lot of flowers and now has a few budding tomatoes. The peppers in this system have also produced a lot of small bell peppers so the Canna Boost nutrient and PK 13/14 were added.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Clones Potted and in the Rail
We potted up six of the clones - some Cherry and Roma tomatoes - and placed them in the AeroFlo36 today. Each of the clone cuttings had about 12 inches of root mass that had to be curled up in the net cup. I thought about putting them directly into the PowerGrower or Ebb n Gro system, but thought it better to get some more veg and stronger stem base on them first. We'll see how they do and report.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
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 !
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 !
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.
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.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
LED Installed, Ebb and Gro in Production
The SuperNova LED installation was fast and simple. Wish I could say that about the cumbersome reflectors, bulbs and ballasts associated with the HID lights.
Kind of looks like an alien space ship getting ready to land. The LED has separate and controllable hue settings for blue and red light. Nice! We have the LED on the same timer as the HIDs which is controlled by the 240/120v Power Box unit.
The Ebb and Gro system is now in full production. We transferred 12 plants from the AeroFlo36 today. We now have more room for Grow 4. Transfers included Romaine, Basil, Parsley, Roma Tomatoes, Yellow and Red Peppers, and even a few Leeks.
The plants transferred to the Ebb and Gro were from Grow 2 and Grow 3. We have a pretty equal split of plant species between the STG inserts and Hydroton grow media in this new system. I will admit, STG is spot on when it comes to preparation time. Take the insert and put it in the pot, versus, washing Hydroton which took about 20 minutes for 6 pots. Hint - use the top pots from the system to help rinse the dust out with the hose - the holes in the bottom make a great sieve. You can see that the LED puts off a pretty red / pinkish spectrum. Compare that to the more yellowish hue (HPS bulb) in the photos below with the Grow 2 Basil, Parsley, and Yellow Pepper plants that are in the PowerGrower.
An update on our Spinach - all hope is not lost, we now have two sprouts in the Rapid Rooter cubes and one in the Rockwool cubes from Grow 3. We are hoping to get more sprouts, but after two unsuccessful germination attempts, I will take what I have at this point.
Kind of looks like an alien space ship getting ready to land. The LED has separate and controllable hue settings for blue and red light. Nice! We have the LED on the same timer as the HIDs which is controlled by the 240/120v Power Box unit.
The Ebb and Gro system is now in full production. We transferred 12 plants from the AeroFlo36 today. We now have more room for Grow 4. Transfers included Romaine, Basil, Parsley, Roma Tomatoes, Yellow and Red Peppers, and even a few Leeks.
The plants transferred to the Ebb and Gro were from Grow 2 and Grow 3. We have a pretty equal split of plant species between the STG inserts and Hydroton grow media in this new system. I will admit, STG is spot on when it comes to preparation time. Take the insert and put it in the pot, versus, washing Hydroton which took about 20 minutes for 6 pots. Hint - use the top pots from the system to help rinse the dust out with the hose - the holes in the bottom make a great sieve. You can see that the LED puts off a pretty red / pinkish spectrum. Compare that to the more yellowish hue (HPS bulb) in the photos below with the Grow 2 Basil, Parsley, and Yellow Pepper plants that are in the PowerGrower.
An update on our Spinach - all hope is not lost, we now have two sprouts in the Rapid Rooter cubes and one in the Rockwool cubes from Grow 3. We are hoping to get more sprouts, but after two unsuccessful germination attempts, I will take what I have at this point.
LED Has Arrived
The awaited day has come. The SuperNova enhanced LED light arrived last night and we are very excited to get it installed, some plants transferred to our Ebb and Gro system and start monitoring the progress with this new set-up. We will update with some photos later.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Ebb and Gro has arrived
The Ebb and Gro system arrived and we were excited to get it up and running. It is an Ebb and Flow system made by C.A.P. We have 12 modules that we plan on using for our larger plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, etc. The Power Grower is doing great as a drip system but we wanted to expand, and try a new system at the same time - with an LED light.
Although we don't have the SuperNova LED yet, we went ahead and installed the Ebb and Gro yesterday since we had all the electrical work finished. The instructions were easy to understand, the system was easy to install, and our water test was successful - aka - no leaks !
The instructions indicate that the system was designed for Hydroton. We are going to do another experiment. Sure To Grow (STG) designed a product with their medium to work specifically with this Ebb and Gro system so we are going to try it. We really believe in the concept that STG has for their Hydroponic medium even though the seed germination product just isn't working as well as the traditional mediums of Rapid Rooters or Rockwool (at least it isn't for us).
Our strategy is to plant one STG and one Hydroton module of each plant type from the same Grow to see how each medium works in the Ebb and Gro system. More to come on this...
Although we don't have the SuperNova LED yet, we went ahead and installed the Ebb and Gro yesterday since we had all the electrical work finished. The instructions were easy to understand, the system was easy to install, and our water test was successful - aka - no leaks !
The instructions indicate that the system was designed for Hydroton. We are going to do another experiment. Sure To Grow (STG) designed a product with their medium to work specifically with this Ebb and Gro system so we are going to try it. We really believe in the concept that STG has for their Hydroponic medium even though the seed germination product just isn't working as well as the traditional mediums of Rapid Rooters or Rockwool (at least it isn't for us).
Our strategy is to plant one STG and one Hydroton module of each plant type from the same Grow to see how each medium works in the Ebb and Gro system. More to come on this...
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