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.
Showing posts with label Grow 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grow 3. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Grow 4 Planning
Now that we have Grow 3 coming to an end, harvesting lettuces, basil, and parsley (wish I could say tomatoes) from Grow 2, it is now time to start planning Grow 4.
We have chosen Rockwool cubes (based on tests in Grow 3) for all future germinations. We have decided to plant the following:
2 Cucumbers (new plant for us)
2 Red Shard (new plant for us)
2 White Eggplant (new plant for us)
1 Spinach (from a new seed packet)
2 Leeks
2 Romaine Lettuce
2 Fennel
2 Mint (new plant for us)
We trust our lettuce consumption will keep pace and that we will have a supply of basil from Grow 2 and Grow 3. As we continue to understand germination, vegetative and generative stage durations for these plants in our various systems we will hopefully have "complete" salads, vegetables, and herbs for our family needs.
We have chosen Rockwool cubes (based on tests in Grow 3) for all future germinations. We have decided to plant the following:
2 Cucumbers (new plant for us)
2 Red Shard (new plant for us)
2 White Eggplant (new plant for us)
1 Spinach (from a new seed packet)
2 Leeks
2 Romaine Lettuce
2 Fennel
2 Mint (new plant for us)
We trust our lettuce consumption will keep pace and that we will have a supply of basil from Grow 2 and Grow 3. As we continue to understand germination, vegetative and generative stage durations for these plants in our various systems we will hopefully have "complete" salads, vegetables, and herbs for our family needs.
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.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Grow 3, Grow Room Update, AND HARVEST !
Significant changes were made to the grow room in the last few days. We added a 30 amp circuit to provide 240 volt power to a new Power Box; we split some existing electrical circuits, added some outlets, and eliminated all but one extension cord; we changed the routing and support system for the exhaust fan which kicks on when the room is too hot (due to HID heat output); and we installed a new Ebb and Flow system from C.A.P. called Ebb and Gro.
The Basil plant has been picked several times for recipes over the weekend, not to mention the great salad we made with Buttercrunch and Arugula. Nice to finally have some rewards for all the hard work. Grow 3 continues, and it is a toss-up between Rapid Rooters and Rockwool. STG has been a dud. I think we may continue with Rockwool due to its ability to hold moisture better than Rapid Rooters even though Rapid Rooters had a faster germination rate. In the end, Rockwool caught up - and didn't dry out.
The Basil plant has been picked several times for recipes over the weekend, not to mention the great salad we made with Buttercrunch and Arugula. Nice to finally have some rewards for all the hard work. Grow 3 continues, and it is a toss-up between Rapid Rooters and Rockwool. STG has been a dud. I think we may continue with Rockwool due to its ability to hold moisture better than Rapid Rooters even though Rapid Rooters had a faster germination rate. In the end, Rockwool caught up - and didn't dry out.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Grow 3 - Cube Test Results Day 4
The results are in, and it appears that the Rapid Rooters are leading the pack. They were the first to show signs of germination (Romaine Lettuce) after 3 days. The seed packet indicated a 5-10 day germination cycle on these seeds. Wow.
The Romaine is in the far left column. Four out of five seeds germinated so far. Second column (from left) has Basil in the top three cubes (going down) and the last two are Roma tomatoes, the far right column - my dreaded spinach.
The STG cubes are getting smoked so far with only two Romaine seeds germinating in the bottom two cubes of the first column.
We can see the beginning of other seeds germinating (as of today) but nothing confirmed as of this posting. As of now, STG is dead last in this three horse race.
The Rockwool cubes are running in second after four days. We have progress on the Romaine as we did in the Rapid Rooters, however, the activity didn't show until late yesterday and early this morning.
As you can see, we have fewer seeds that germinated (only bottom three in first column) and no signs in any of the other Rockwool cubes. The tray with all the cubes shows the three in comparison. All seeds are planted in the same order as to number of cubes per type of plant and layout in the tray.
Grow 3 is comprised of:
Basil - 9 Plants (3 Rapid Rooter, 3 STG, 3 Rockwool)
Romaine Lettuce - 15 Plants (5 Rapid Rooter, 5 STG, 5 Rockwool)
Roma Tomatoes - 6 Plants (2 Rapid Rooter, 2 STG, 2 Rockwool)
Spinach - 12 Plants (4 Rapid Rooter, 4 STG, 4 Rockwool)
The Romaine is in the far left column. Four out of five seeds germinated so far. Second column (from left) has Basil in the top three cubes (going down) and the last two are Roma tomatoes, the far right column - my dreaded spinach.
The STG cubes are getting smoked so far with only two Romaine seeds germinating in the bottom two cubes of the first column.
We can see the beginning of other seeds germinating (as of today) but nothing confirmed as of this posting. As of now, STG is dead last in this three horse race.
The Rockwool cubes are running in second after four days. We have progress on the Romaine as we did in the Rapid Rooters, however, the activity didn't show until late yesterday and early this morning.
As you can see, we have fewer seeds that germinated (only bottom three in first column) and no signs in any of the other Rockwool cubes. The tray with all the cubes shows the three in comparison. All seeds are planted in the same order as to number of cubes per type of plant and layout in the tray.
Grow 3 is comprised of:
Basil - 9 Plants (3 Rapid Rooter, 3 STG, 3 Rockwool)
Romaine Lettuce - 15 Plants (5 Rapid Rooter, 5 STG, 5 Rockwool)
Roma Tomatoes - 6 Plants (2 Rapid Rooter, 2 STG, 2 Rockwool)
Spinach - 12 Plants (4 Rapid Rooter, 4 STG, 4 Rockwool)
Monday, November 1, 2010
Grow 3 Launch and Grow Room Update
We have planted all the seeds for Grow 3. We used 14 cubes of Rapid Rooter, STG, and Rockwool. We used the Rockwool conditioner on all three mediums for control purposes except that the Rockwool cubes were soaked overnight.
Our Cherry Tomatoes have put on an amazing amount of veg since transplanting from the AeroFlo36 to the PowerGrower. We now have our first flowers !! The Basil is getting taller and adding new leaves daily. All other Grow 2 transplants are showing great progress in the Aeroflo36. We lost three Leek plants we placed in the PowerGrower yet the ones in the Aeroflo36 are doing fine. We placed the Leek Rockwool cubes right under the dripper of the PowerGrower so either too much moisture or something else whacked the little Leeks. RIP.
The Roma Tomatoes are growing much slower than the Cherry. Not sure why. All were from the same Grow. We actually had to move one of the Roma plants back to the AeroFlo36 due to its immature root structure. Lesson learned - make sure you have significant roots to spread out in the PowerGrower module if using STG hail. It just doesn't wick and a small root circumference will lead to plant dehydration.
Our Cherry Tomatoes have put on an amazing amount of veg since transplanting from the AeroFlo36 to the PowerGrower. We now have our first flowers !! The Basil is getting taller and adding new leaves daily. All other Grow 2 transplants are showing great progress in the Aeroflo36. We lost three Leek plants we placed in the PowerGrower yet the ones in the Aeroflo36 are doing fine. We placed the Leek Rockwool cubes right under the dripper of the PowerGrower so either too much moisture or something else whacked the little Leeks. RIP.
The Roma Tomatoes are growing much slower than the Cherry. Not sure why. All were from the same Grow. We actually had to move one of the Roma plants back to the AeroFlo36 due to its immature root structure. Lesson learned - make sure you have significant roots to spread out in the PowerGrower module if using STG hail. It just doesn't wick and a small root circumference will lead to plant dehydration.
Grow 3 Experiment - Planting Strategy
Grow 3 will be an experiment with three cube mediums. In our first planting, Grow 1, we used Sure to Grow (STG) cubes and had pretty abysmal results. We thought our methodology may have been flawed and determined we would try STG again to be fair. In our second grow, Grow 2, we used Rockwool cubes using a Rockwool conditioning solution and a different planting/germination methodology and had very good results. We had some Rapid Rooter cubes on hand and determined an experiment with all three was warranted.
Grow 3 will use Rapid Rooter, STG, and Rockwool cubes using the same germination methodology as we employed in Grow 2. We will plant Romaine, Roma Tomatoes, Basil, and the dreaded Spinach. We have yet had spinach germinate (maybe bad seeds?). We will plant each medium with a series of the same seeds and document the results. The medium that produces the best will be the medium we use for all future Grows (until Santa Clause brings me a cloning machine).
Grow 3 will use Rapid Rooter, STG, and Rockwool cubes using the same germination methodology as we employed in Grow 2. We will plant Romaine, Roma Tomatoes, Basil, and the dreaded Spinach. We have yet had spinach germinate (maybe bad seeds?). We will plant each medium with a series of the same seeds and document the results. The medium that produces the best will be the medium we use for all future Grows (until Santa Clause brings me a cloning machine).
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