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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Battle of the Nute's

Red Zebra Tomatoes

2 week old Red Zebra Tomatoes

Half in Rapid Rooters and half in A-OK 1.5" Starter Cubes.

GH Flora Series Simple Path Soul Sythetics

Each line will have a chance to show their stuff in straight Coco and Grodan Grow Cubes. I will feed each of them the same EC levels of each fertilizer.

Keep in mind the Soul Synthetics line does have organics in it so it will not be a true apples to apples comparison. Soul will have an advantage as long as Im basing this on even EC levels.

Blue Jade Corn

Did you ever think that you could grow corn hydroponically?!

While this will be my first go at corn in soilless mixes I am interested to see the outcome of the different mediums used.

Half of my seeds were started in Rapid Rooters while the other half are started in Grodan's A-OK 1.5" starter cubes on 2/15

This is the corn at 2 weeks from germination.

Corn #1 is in started in an A-OK starter cube and in a 4x4 block

Corn#2 is in a coco and rice hulls mix

Corn#3 is in a half and half mix of grodan croutons and coco rice

Happy Valentines Day Hydro Lovers!!!

Check out this cool "I love You" Bean I found

It is started and growing in a 4x4 Grodan Cube

Don't get caught being Stale: Ventilation

Ventilation and air flow is one of the most important elements of harvesting a successful crop. Not only do you want to make sure that your grow room is receiving ample amount of fresh, cool air, but also that you get out the stale, warm air that hangs out in the upper level of your room. Everyone knows that plants need carbon dioxide and oxygen for Photosynthesis. I'm not sure how well you would do if you couldn't eat. In a not so ideal environment your plants stomata can become clogged and make it very difficult to do its job and keep itself healthy. Fresh Air is the easiest element to come by, and its free! So no excuses.

The warm, humid air hanging around can cause your plants growth to become stagnant and make a great environment for disease to arise. Ideally your intake and exhaust fans would be on opposite sides of the room so the air is pulled across your plants.So yes, my drawing in slightly off but you get the point. My exhaust fan is placed high in order to catch the hot, stale air right where it likes to gather. Both of my fans would be on a thermostat so that they will automatically kick on when the room reaches, lets say 75 Degrees which gives me a nice even balance of temperature.

Ventilation fans are measured in CFM, Cubic Feet per minute. Ideally your fan should replace the volume of your room in less then five minutes. You can figure out the cubic feet of your room by multiplying the rooms Length x Width x Height

It is also necessary to to have an oscillating fan to move around and mix up the air. Without this, you will create a stagnant area of stale air the is most likely right at plant level in between your intake and exhaust. It is important that the oxygen and Co2 around your plants is replaced and circulated regularly. The oscillating fan also helps harden up your plants, making them move around helps your stems get nice and strong.

You can also take advantage of the flanges on your hood that allow you to cool directly from the heat source. This will eliminate a lot of hot air going into the room from the start, making it easier to cool.

If you are wanting to exhaust through a Carbon filter you can easily figure out the proper size by calculating your CFM with the formula above. Each filter supplies you with two CFM ratings. One being for ventilation purposes and the other for scrubbing.

If you are Scrubbing your room, you are simply setting the fan on the filter and letting it recirculate through out the room. If you are exhausting you are pushing it directly outside the room. Remember when you have air pushing out you will need a comparable fan putting air back in the room or you create a negative pressure. Those of you with tents or home made boxes made of poly will find this rather annoying when your walls suck in and you loose a foot of space on each side.

Sage stick Project

This was a fun little project to do with our sage plants here.

I took my cuttings off of a mature healthy plants in need of some trimming.

Take as many cuttings as you want. Don't go too crazy if you plan on letting your sage re-grow. You will need a pair of scissors and some string to tie them up. Embroidery thread works best but you can use anything your little heart desires.

Start by tying a bundle of sage at the end.

Start wrapping the sage guiding the leaves to wrap around each other with your other hand

Once you get to the top wrap in a criss cross back down to where you started. Tie them off and you have your freshly made smudge sticks.

Last step is to dry them out. I have mine on drying rack, in a tent

Starting seeds in Rockwool

Step 1: Pick your seeds

I am filling an AeroFlo 60 with Red Choi, Green Oakleaf lettuce, Cherokee lettuce, Tat Soi, and Red Choi.

Step 2. Choose your starter cubes

I am using Grodan's A-OK 1.5" Starter plugs

Step 3. Adjust PH/fertilize

Some growers don't add any nutrients to their seedling. I personally like to give them a diluted mixture of 100-200 PPM.

For Rockwool I will set my PH at a 5.5

Step 4. Soak

I like to put the whole sheet into a tray with holes sitting inside one without any. That way I can pour my premixed, pre adjusted water right on top and lift it out to drain. I will let these soak for about 15 minutes.

Step 5. Drain

Do not squeeze the water out of the rockwool.

I will then transfer these cubes into a Grodan Gro-Smart tray. These are awesome and keep your plant from sitting in any stale water that can lead to multiple issues and increases the airflow around the plants.

Step 6. Insert our seeds in your plugs

I usually find something like this eye glass size flat head screw driver as a seed setter. The seeds stick well to the flat surface and make it easy for me to get them into their new home.

Once your seeds are all planted and marked you can pinch the holes closed to keep the light out of the plugs while the seeds are germinating.

I will cover my tray with another nursery flat to keep in humidity and put it in a nice warm spot, preferably on a heat mat.

Once these little guys sprout I will get them under the light immediately to avoid any streching

Fort Lauderdale Beach - Plastic Bottle Artwork

Huge Fish on A1A at Fort Lauderdale Beach. Completely made from recycled water bottles. Although a very neat idea, it looks a bit like the fishies are snuggling. Amazing.