Is it still "experimental" for you, or do you feel pretty confident on what you're doing?
next crop
- Thread starter daveb
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pretty confident, I am always experimenting to see affects of light water nutrient heat. And part is fine tuning the lighting period and intensity for the new or different vegetables, that large flat light panel I showed in a post has two circuits. One is blue spectrum plus some UV emitting led the others is more red spectrum plus a few IR emitting led. Each can be adjusted for brightness manually with a knob of the power board, but both are currently connect to the same timer. Will change that to two separate programable timers soon. At present i am designing and building a dimmer controll off a simple usb port to control the light to duplicate sunrise to mid day to sunset changes of the light spectrum and intensity
As example lettuces and leaf crops more of the blue spectrum is needed to produce fuller leaf growth and require in the 12 to 14 Dli ( Daily Light Integral ) where basil same light but a little more light needed 13 to 16 Dli , kale 15 , spinach 17+. where tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers need more red spectrum. Tomato seedlings 6 - 8 DLi and as they mature to induce blossoms can require as high as 22 to 30 Dli . and the same panel if i vary the light specturm i can increase anti oxidants and vitamin content of vegetables.
Dli is just a total how much light intensity per hour and how many hours of light , the total amount can vary seasonally and plant to plant for different vegetables and fruits. this is the reason some shading for some crops is needed full day sun mid summer can literally bake plants
attached a couple maps i couldnt find one of month by month of your DLi there only the annual average
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so finally getting some plants rolling again , i've had terrible luck with a new seed company seeds and went back to some very old seeds i had to restarted. started a huge amount back the first week of month and had almost very tiny amount decide to sprout so sat back, re seeded last week 6th 7th and 8th finally got some going from old seeds are taking off like wildfire.
Tuesday
and today
Tuesday
and today
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left to right 60 grams Epsom Salt 120 Master Blend 4-18-38 fertilizer 120 gram Calcium Nitrate ( 15.5-0-0 )
the epsom salt and master blend are mixed in one jug with water to make 60 Oz of solution , the calcium nitrate is mixed with water in second jug to make 60 oz
and this is my concentrate i use to mix the basic nutrient solution for my reservoirs 1 oz ( 29.6 ml ) each to make 1 gallon volume finished solution for lettuce and herbs, 1.2 oz ( 35.5 ml ) each to make a volume of 1 gallon for tomatoes and peppers. this is a basic general mix that will work for most people growing. although i have in resent lettuce increased the nitrogen and calcium amounts by increasing the calcium nitrate used from 120 gram to 150 gram the lettuces seem to like the high nitrogen and i notice no impact on growth with the increase calcium levels
the epsom salt and master blend are mixed in one jug with water to make 60 Oz of solution , the calcium nitrate is mixed with water in second jug to make 60 oz
and this is my concentrate i use to mix the basic nutrient solution for my reservoirs 1 oz ( 29.6 ml ) each to make 1 gallon volume finished solution for lettuce and herbs, 1.2 oz ( 35.5 ml ) each to make a volume of 1 gallon for tomatoes and peppers. this is a basic general mix that will work for most people growing. although i have in resent lettuce increased the nitrogen and calcium amounts by increasing the calcium nitrate used from 120 gram to 150 gram the lettuces seem to like the high nitrogen and i notice no impact on growth with the increase calcium levels
Too bad that the new company didn't give you good seeds. Glad that the old seeds seem to have germinated very well though!
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Quite the ordeal to get the seeds growing but I'm glad that they seem to be taking off now!
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thanks nick, yes it was a huge hassle and nightmare just got some new seeds in and a bulb to test
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These were taken yesterday afternoon. A little bit of visible growth from Saturday and a few additional new seedlings rolling along now. Plus a tower going to be testing some plants in but have to wait for replacement piece the lower saucer that helps support and hold water came in broken its not huge but would make a nice compact portable grow system that can be moved around. shot an email to the manufacture and got a reply in a matter of minutes from the actual owner of the company that they will send a replacement piece out direct to me , and we both agreed amazon does not handle stuff very well.
The seedlings look healthy! That's so good.
And good on the manufacturer for responding so quickly and finding a solution immediately. Definitely a big step up from the one that sent you bad strawberry seeds.
And good on the manufacturer for responding so quickly and finding a solution immediately. Definitely a big step up from the one that sent you bad strawberry seeds.