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 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.

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.

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???)

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.

Grow 2 Is Going Green

And we couldn't be happier.....Even the parsley germinated in Grow 2!  The buttercrunch, romaine, and arugula are now at a point where we will begin to "weed out" the small sprouts and leave one per cube for transfer into the AeroFlo36.  The cherry and roma tomatoes from Grow 1 are getting bigger every day.  We will transplant them into the PowerGrower when we move the Grow 2 seedlings.  We are anticipating the move in another week.  We want to see a few roots exiting the Rockwool cubes before we move the seedlings.



AeroFlo36 Stats:  pH 6.4  ppm 802
Environment:  Temp 76, Hum 31%

Still have not received the Nutramist Fogger!

Grow 2 Seed Germination

Grow 2 continues to show fantastic progress.  The seeds in this grow, from the same seed packages used in Grow 1, were placed in Rockwool plugs soaked overnight in Europonic Rockwool Conditioner. We planted red and yellow sweet peppers, spinach, buttercrunch, romaine, arugula, parsley, leeks and fennel.

A significant difference between Grow 1 and Grow 2 included the use of the "plug tray".  We believe that this tray allows more airflow around the seed plug, as well as within the tray (notice holes between the tray plug rows).  We have not added any water to the tray since inserting the seeds into the Rockwool plugs.  We have not seen any mold, fungus, or algae growth on these plugs as we did with the 98 STG cubes used in Grow 1 that were placed (packed) into germination tray.  Grow 2 seeds were planted about 7 days ago.  Humidity dome was removed for photos.  The plug tray sits on top of a standard flat with approximately 3/4 inch of water in the bottom of the flat.  The plugs in this tray do not touch the water in the flat.  The water is in the flat is there to help keep moisture / humidity under the dome.

Above you can see a close up of our first yellow pepper plant germinating from Grow 2.  Other pepper seeds have started to form primary growth.  Seed packet indicated normal germination rate of 10 to 25 days.  We have seen germination after 7 days.  Exciting!

Our fennel grew about a half an inch between yesterday afternoon and this morning.  We are now seeing the first leaves from the seed appear.  These leaves were not seen yesterday.  An overnight wonder!  The leek seeds in the row directly to the left of the fennel (far right) are also showing progress and we anticipate we will see their first leaves in another day.

Grow 2 was germinated under "dark" conditions until we saw the first signs of leaves (buttercrunch, romaine, and arugula) and then began a 16 on / 8 off light cycle under a T5 florescent lamp.  We are now planning Grow 3 and experiment with Rapid Rooter plugs, Rockwool plugs, and Sure To Grow (STG) cubes all in one modular tray.