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.
Showing posts with label Hydroton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hydroton. Show all posts
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, December 16, 2010
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.
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.
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...
Sunday, November 7, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
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.
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.
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