We planted several varieties of bush tomatoes about a month ago. They have since spent about 3 weeks in the AeroFlo36 to strengthen their roots and vegetation before placing them in the PowerGrower and Ebb n Gro systems. We have high hopes that "bush" tomato plants will produce the full size tomatoes that we all want. We switched to these hybrids out of necessity. We like to grow many different plants in the grow room and when plants get so large (like the normal tomato plants) it limits our ability to grow many things at once.
We have finally dialed in success on the Roma plants. Increasing the pH to 6.9 and decreasing the nutrient levels (between 1/2 and 3/4) we have eliminated all of the leaf curl, dry-out, and otherwise sickly looking aspects of this variety. We are now picking ripe luscious Roma tomatoes almost every day.
We have to get our lettuce production going again now that we have finished growing starter plants for our friends, got new bush tomatoes transplanted, and have no room left for anything in the PowerGrower or Ebb n Grow system. That leaves my favorite plants - lettuces and small herbs for the AeroFlow. MMMMMM. Summer Salads here we come.
Showing posts with label Nutrients. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nutrients. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Berry House Nutrients
If you are interested in growing hydroponic blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries in a greenhouse there really isn't a whole lot of reference materials that I have found on commercial hydroponic nutrient applications. We took a "we'll try these" approach and so far so good:
Blackberries / Strawberries / Raspberries
Flora Micro / Flora Grow during vegitative state at 10ml/gallon
Flora Micro / Flora Bloom during transition and flowering state at 10ml/gallon
Diamond Nectar at 10ml/gallon
Liquid Karma at 10ml/gallon
Sweet (Berry) at 15ml/gallon
Cal-Mag at 8ml/gallon
Flora Kleen at 5ml/gallon
pH at 6.6-6.8
Blueberries - same as above except pH at 4.9-5.1
If you have other ideas or formulas that work, please let us know. We started the plants we received from Burpee at one half of these formulations just to get them started. We changed to full strength after three weeks.
Blackberries / Strawberries / Raspberries
Flora Micro / Flora Grow during vegitative state at 10ml/gallon
Flora Micro / Flora Bloom during transition and flowering state at 10ml/gallon
Diamond Nectar at 10ml/gallon
Liquid Karma at 10ml/gallon
Sweet (Berry) at 15ml/gallon
Cal-Mag at 8ml/gallon
Flora Kleen at 5ml/gallon
pH at 6.6-6.8
Blueberries - same as above except pH at 4.9-5.1
If you have other ideas or formulas that work, please let us know. We started the plants we received from Burpee at one half of these formulations just to get them started. We changed to full strength after three weeks.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
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.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Grow Room Changes
We finished the nutrient swap today by draining the FloraKleen solution that ran last night in the PowerGrower and then adding the Aqua Flores, Rhizotonic, Cannazyme, and Boost solution. The Metal Halide bulb was changed to High Pressure Sodium yesterday, and as you can see in the video it definitely has a different color spectrum.
The grow room went through a major reconfiguration today. We removed a large workbench to make room for our next system. A new station was set up with a narrower work surface (not as deep as the workbench) to give us a small working area as well as seed germination and cloning space.
The grow room went through a major reconfiguration today. We removed a large workbench to make room for our next system. A new station was set up with a narrower work surface (not as deep as the workbench) to give us a small working area as well as seed germination and cloning space.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Equipment and Nutrient Change Tomorrow
Nutrients
We have seen the Generative (aka flowering) stage begin on our Cherry and Roma Tomatoes in the PowerGrower. Our nutrient solution in the PowerGrower is Canna Aqua Vega, Rhizotonic, and Cannazyme delivered at Canna's published rates. We will now switch to Canna's Aqua Flores, reduce the Rhizotonic concentration, keep the Cannazyme about the same, and add Boost. All of these products are available in different size containers (1 liter, 5 liter, etc). We will continue to follow dosing rates per Canna's literature.
Lesson learned - if you have two big systems like I do, and run successive grows back to back - get the big jugs of nutrients. You will also need one of those big syringes to get the nutrient out of the big jug (unless you like funnels and big measuring cups).
I have not experimented with other nutrient manufacturers' products, nor am I endorsing any product for any type of financial gain or consideration. All I can say is that this Canna stuff works extremely well for me while following their recommended dosing and while also using their nutrient additives (like Rhizotonic, Cannazyme, Boost, etc) to the base products of Aqua Vega or Aqua Flores.
Lighting
We will change the HID light bulb above the PowerGrower from Metal Halide (MH) to High Pressure Sodium (HPS). A metal halide bulb has a high concentration of blue light spectrum and is primarily used during the Vegetative stage. A high pressure sodium bulb has a high concentration of red light spectrum and is primarily used during the Generative stage. Either bulb will provide results for you. If you want the best results, use them during the identified stages, if you can, to improve your results. The MH bulb in the HID above the AeroFlo36 will remain since those Grow 2 plants remain in the Vegetative stage.
We have seen the Generative (aka flowering) stage begin on our Cherry and Roma Tomatoes in the PowerGrower. Our nutrient solution in the PowerGrower is Canna Aqua Vega, Rhizotonic, and Cannazyme delivered at Canna's published rates. We will now switch to Canna's Aqua Flores, reduce the Rhizotonic concentration, keep the Cannazyme about the same, and add Boost. All of these products are available in different size containers (1 liter, 5 liter, etc). We will continue to follow dosing rates per Canna's literature.
Lesson learned - if you have two big systems like I do, and run successive grows back to back - get the big jugs of nutrients. You will also need one of those big syringes to get the nutrient out of the big jug (unless you like funnels and big measuring cups).
I have not experimented with other nutrient manufacturers' products, nor am I endorsing any product for any type of financial gain or consideration. All I can say is that this Canna stuff works extremely well for me while following their recommended dosing and while also using their nutrient additives (like Rhizotonic, Cannazyme, Boost, etc) to the base products of Aqua Vega or Aqua Flores.
Lighting
We will change the HID light bulb above the PowerGrower from Metal Halide (MH) to High Pressure Sodium (HPS). A metal halide bulb has a high concentration of blue light spectrum and is primarily used during the Vegetative stage. A high pressure sodium bulb has a high concentration of red light spectrum and is primarily used during the Generative stage. Either bulb will provide results for you. If you want the best results, use them during the identified stages, if you can, to improve your results. The MH bulb in the HID above the AeroFlo36 will remain since those Grow 2 plants remain in the Vegetative stage.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Lumen, Nutrients, and pH Measurements
Received the light meter yesterday. Measured a little over 2500 lumen at top of plants on the Aeroflo36 and the seed germination tray. Was happy to see this as I had to guess on distance when placing the lights above the plants for this initial veg stage. I had read that 2500 was a good rate for this stage, slowly increasing to 8 to 10k lumen during flowering stage - provided that you don't torch the plants. Got to love those little light yo-yos
Running Aeroflo36 at 770 ppm of nutrients (yes, I think it should be higher, maybe around 1000 ppm - using Canna Aqua Vega, Cannazym, and Rhizotonic). I have been bringing the pH down from 6.7ish to about 5.8ish over the last 24 to 36 hours as ideal pH level, according to Canna literature, should be 5.2 to 6.2. I will continue to drop it more tomorrow to get within the ideal range. I think the air stone addition to the Aeroflo36 reservoir increased the pH a few points as it was lower when the water/nutrients were first put into the system.
Water temp holding with room temp at 75-76 degrees F
Running Aeroflo36 at 770 ppm of nutrients (yes, I think it should be higher, maybe around 1000 ppm - using Canna Aqua Vega, Cannazym, and Rhizotonic). I have been bringing the pH down from 6.7ish to about 5.8ish over the last 24 to 36 hours as ideal pH level, according to Canna literature, should be 5.2 to 6.2. I will continue to drop it more tomorrow to get within the ideal range. I think the air stone addition to the Aeroflo36 reservoir increased the pH a few points as it was lower when the water/nutrients were first put into the system.
Water temp holding with room temp at 75-76 degrees F
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Hydroponic Systems and Components
Systems and Components - Logic
Several systems and components have been installed in our grow room to provide our veggies and herbs an environment in which to provide the highest yields possible. Your comments in areas where we can improve (or question our logic) are always welcome. Many of these systems are generally thought of after the enthusiastic grower has plants and figures out how to manage the expansion of their growing environment. I put in all of these systems and controls so I could focus purely on the plants in the future without having to crawl all over the room to make things fit and work.
Hydroponic Systems
The grow room started with a General Hydroponics Aeroflo36, and eventually grew to include a General Hydroponics PowerGrower Water Farm to handle larger (taller, bushier, vine based) plants. The AeroFlo is a combination of aeroponic and hydroponic technologies combined. The PowerGrower is a drip based system with a master reservoir with reservoirs in each power grower module. Growco (4hydroponics.com) has complete manufacturer installation instructions for these systems in PDF format. This is one of the few web sites I found that does that - and it is great information for those that want to know more about the systems and how they are put together. Hats off to Growco ! We will add a cloning system when we get to mature plants to help increase our re-planting rates.
Lighting & Ballasts
I chose 1000 watt light bulbs due to the actual footprint of the systems they would cover with light. Each digital ballast can manage high pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) light bulbs at watt ratings from 400-1000 watts. I used SolarMax bulbs at the recommendation of my local grow shop, Texas Hydroponics (texashydroponics.com) due to their reliability and warranty as well as for the types of plants I would be growing. They are currently using 120v / 20 amp circuits but I may be changing it to 240v / 20 amp circuits for lower power consumption. At the time I purchased these lighting systems, I did not have knowledge of the new LED lighting systems now in the market. I plan on an experiment with eggplant with a single PowerGrower module with a LED grow light (can't wait till Christmas comes).
Water Purification
We live in a rural area but have "county" water. The water out of the tap has approx 400 ppm of "stuff" in it, not to mention a slightly chlorinated taste. With a combined requirement of the hydroponic systems being about 75 gallons per nutrient water change, a "kitchen sink" R.O. system just wasn't going to do the job. In steps the Hydro Logic Merlin Garden Pro. It produces about 750 gallons a day (you need to get some barrels - check out www.globalindustrial) and the water is pre-filtered with a Hydro Logic Tall Blue de-chlorinator filter. Using the pre-filter removes the chlorine that would damage or reduce the life of the R.O. system filters.
For unattended functionality of the R.O. system, I installed two shut-off valves in the primary water barrel. The control water flow is managed by a Merlin Electronic Shut Off Kit which uses a solenoid valve, the second is a Merlin manual float valve. Water moves from a "T" connection in the main plumbing (you also can connect so a sink faucet) to the Tall Blue, then to the input side of the Merlin Garden Pro. When the water level in the primary barrel reaches its shut-off float point, the solenoid shuts the valve, and the water flow stops. If the electronic valve fails, the manual float kit cuts off the water flow (talk about belts and suspenders, but hey, better than a flood).
I installed a second barrel that I pump water into from the primary. I use the second barrel is to do final pH adjustments and mix nutrients solutions for the plants in the two systems. After I begin pumping the water into the second barrel, the float in the primary barrel drops, allowing more water to be processed through the R.O. system into the primary barrel. After pH and nutrients are mixed into the second barrel of water, I pump it into the AeroFlo36 and PowerGrower separately using a small utility pump. I use about 35 gallons to fill the AeroFlo36 and about the same for the PowerGrower. It is much easier to mix, then pump it into the systems vs pumping R.O. water and mixing nutrients in the grow systems.
CO2 / Temperature / Humidity Controllers
I had a small CO2 tank on hand so I chose to use it and a C.A.P. dual tank CO2 Regulator/Emitter. The C.A.P. CO2 PPM monitor controls the release of CO2 based on my set points entered into the PPM monitor. The CO2 is activated (on/off) by the CO2 side of the C.A.P. CO2-4e controller. The 4-e automatically turns off all exhaust fans/AC (our HVAC is controlled separately so we use the outlet for an additional circulation fan) to the room while CO2 is discharged. The exhaust systems are managed via temperature and humidity set points on the 4-e as well. When the exhaust systems activates due to high temperature (caused by lighting systems mainly) in the room, it deactivates any CO2 discharge that was taking place and delivers power to the in-line Cap Fan. Humidity control is managed by activating a plug for a DEHUMIDIFIER. I don't have an issue with to much humidity as it is managed through the HVAC system previously installed in the room (Daiken spit system). My issue is maintaining enough humidity. Enter the Nutramist fog machine and C.A.P. HUM-1 humidity controller. Will post more when they arrive this week and are installed.
All of this technology is a bit costly, but worthwhile for the person that has to work for a living and can't spend 3 hours a day in the grow room. Besides, our mission was to provide the best possible environment to produce the highest possible yields.
Since we moved the seedlings to the AeroFlo36 and activated the CO2, we are seeing almost 50% increase in growth every day on our seedlings. WOW !
Nutrients
Talk about a confusing selection of seemingly great products. We totally punted the decision on this one to the experts at the grow shop and selected the full Canna line of nutrients. So far we don't have much practical experience with these products but we are seeing fantastic results in the plants transferred to the AeroFlo36. More updates on this as we progress through the veg stage and into flowering.
pH / EC / TDS Monitoring
I selected the "all-in-one" Hana pH/EC/TDS (HI3M) meter as it was durable, extremely accurate, and did all tests with a single device. So far it has worked fabulously.
Several systems and components have been installed in our grow room to provide our veggies and herbs an environment in which to provide the highest yields possible. Your comments in areas where we can improve (or question our logic) are always welcome. Many of these systems are generally thought of after the enthusiastic grower has plants and figures out how to manage the expansion of their growing environment. I put in all of these systems and controls so I could focus purely on the plants in the future without having to crawl all over the room to make things fit and work.
Hydroponic Systems
The grow room started with a General Hydroponics Aeroflo36, and eventually grew to include a General Hydroponics PowerGrower Water Farm to handle larger (taller, bushier, vine based) plants. The AeroFlo is a combination of aeroponic and hydroponic technologies combined. The PowerGrower is a drip based system with a master reservoir with reservoirs in each power grower module. Growco (4hydroponics.com) has complete manufacturer installation instructions for these systems in PDF format. This is one of the few web sites I found that does that - and it is great information for those that want to know more about the systems and how they are put together. Hats off to Growco ! We will add a cloning system when we get to mature plants to help increase our re-planting rates.
Lighting & Ballasts
I chose 1000 watt light bulbs due to the actual footprint of the systems they would cover with light. Each digital ballast can manage high pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) light bulbs at watt ratings from 400-1000 watts. I used SolarMax bulbs at the recommendation of my local grow shop, Texas Hydroponics (texashydroponics.com) due to their reliability and warranty as well as for the types of plants I would be growing. They are currently using 120v / 20 amp circuits but I may be changing it to 240v / 20 amp circuits for lower power consumption. At the time I purchased these lighting systems, I did not have knowledge of the new LED lighting systems now in the market. I plan on an experiment with eggplant with a single PowerGrower module with a LED grow light (can't wait till Christmas comes).
Water Purification
We live in a rural area but have "county" water. The water out of the tap has approx 400 ppm of "stuff" in it, not to mention a slightly chlorinated taste. With a combined requirement of the hydroponic systems being about 75 gallons per nutrient water change, a "kitchen sink" R.O. system just wasn't going to do the job. In steps the Hydro Logic Merlin Garden Pro. It produces about 750 gallons a day (you need to get some barrels - check out www.globalindustrial) and the water is pre-filtered with a Hydro Logic Tall Blue de-chlorinator filter. Using the pre-filter removes the chlorine that would damage or reduce the life of the R.O. system filters.
For unattended functionality of the R.O. system, I installed two shut-off valves in the primary water barrel. The control water flow is managed by a Merlin Electronic Shut Off Kit which uses a solenoid valve, the second is a Merlin manual float valve. Water moves from a "T" connection in the main plumbing (you also can connect so a sink faucet) to the Tall Blue, then to the input side of the Merlin Garden Pro. When the water level in the primary barrel reaches its shut-off float point, the solenoid shuts the valve, and the water flow stops. If the electronic valve fails, the manual float kit cuts off the water flow (talk about belts and suspenders, but hey, better than a flood).
I installed a second barrel that I pump water into from the primary. I use the second barrel is to do final pH adjustments and mix nutrients solutions for the plants in the two systems. After I begin pumping the water into the second barrel, the float in the primary barrel drops, allowing more water to be processed through the R.O. system into the primary barrel. After pH and nutrients are mixed into the second barrel of water, I pump it into the AeroFlo36 and PowerGrower separately using a small utility pump. I use about 35 gallons to fill the AeroFlo36 and about the same for the PowerGrower. It is much easier to mix, then pump it into the systems vs pumping R.O. water and mixing nutrients in the grow systems.
CO2 / Temperature / Humidity Controllers
I had a small CO2 tank on hand so I chose to use it and a C.A.P. dual tank CO2 Regulator/Emitter. The C.A.P. CO2 PPM monitor controls the release of CO2 based on my set points entered into the PPM monitor. The CO2 is activated (on/off) by the CO2 side of the C.A.P. CO2-4e controller. The 4-e automatically turns off all exhaust fans/AC (our HVAC is controlled separately so we use the outlet for an additional circulation fan) to the room while CO2 is discharged. The exhaust systems are managed via temperature and humidity set points on the 4-e as well. When the exhaust systems activates due to high temperature (caused by lighting systems mainly) in the room, it deactivates any CO2 discharge that was taking place and delivers power to the in-line Cap Fan. Humidity control is managed by activating a plug for a DEHUMIDIFIER. I don't have an issue with to much humidity as it is managed through the HVAC system previously installed in the room (Daiken spit system). My issue is maintaining enough humidity. Enter the Nutramist fog machine and C.A.P. HUM-1 humidity controller. Will post more when they arrive this week and are installed.
All of this technology is a bit costly, but worthwhile for the person that has to work for a living and can't spend 3 hours a day in the grow room. Besides, our mission was to provide the best possible environment to produce the highest possible yields.
Since we moved the seedlings to the AeroFlo36 and activated the CO2, we are seeing almost 50% increase in growth every day on our seedlings. WOW !
Nutrients
Talk about a confusing selection of seemingly great products. We totally punted the decision on this one to the experts at the grow shop and selected the full Canna line of nutrients. So far we don't have much practical experience with these products but we are seeing fantastic results in the plants transferred to the AeroFlo36. More updates on this as we progress through the veg stage and into flowering.
pH / EC / TDS Monitoring
I selected the "all-in-one" Hana pH/EC/TDS (HI3M) meter as it was durable, extremely accurate, and did all tests with a single device. So far it has worked fabulously.
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