New Grower New, first grow

[LaoWhoo]

Seeds are already sprouting 36 hours in from bein dropped into 12-hour pre-soak. Glad for that as I kinda messed up the Ronin germ method wh/ doesn't pre-soak but soaks the plug first 12 hours. The heat f/ the router really seems to have helped.

Seedling res is set up. All black and well aerated. Only 5 gal w/ 5 stones @ 5 watts pump. Tossed the drip ring and just directed water to bottom of Rooter plug. Timer's set for 15 on 15 off but might change it for 15 on 45 off. Just doesn't take much to keep plugs moist. Also wonderin whether I didn't spawn slime last time by havin these sit in same water for a week w/ the typical saucer method waitin for first leaves. What's that, 5 ways I probly grew root rot? Low O2 water, lights cookin water thru clear drip rings, no Hydroguard til 3d week, clear air hoses, stagnant water after germination/1st week as seedlings...At least 5 things that coulda done it, and I'm probly missin sumthin. Yes, the small res tub I thought was opaque to light actually wasn't.

Got nute solut at 225 PPM with cal-mag, HG, nutes, all over 60 PPM filtered water (only 165 nutes--kinda low but they don't even have their 1st leafs yet). Girls are poppin white just below plug surface but you can see them. Probly move them in tomorrow morn soon as they show their heads. Also made a cover for the cages in case there's light gettin thru the hydroton. Thanks to whomever suggested the christmas tree blanket. Also raised the hydroton base so the plug sits level w/ the deck. Also reset timer for 15 mins on/45 mins off wh/ is more than enuf to keep plugs moist.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Girls are in the incubator/seedling res after 52 hours in a tupperware on the wifi router. They're almost 2 days ahead of last time so the method seems good even tho I did a 12-hour pre-soak, or maybe b/c of it? Taking steps to try to prevent damping off in case that's what happened last time. There were simply too many factors (6 at least) contributing to root rot to know what happened but they've all been corrected. Nute solut is 215 PPM, water temp 69 F. Dunno whether this is even considered a transplant since it's so early. Blue/veg lights are 24" overhead. Plug base nute solut feed is 15 min on, 45 min off. The system ran overnight in prep to aerate water and all the hydroton were well wetted so the drip rings won't be missed.

Changed water timer to 15 mins on, 2 hours off. The plugs just got too soaked, and that only from a bottom tube feed whereas last time it was 15 on/15 off from a top ring, and that seemed to stay drier maybe cuz of the 1" distance f/ plugs. Also mixing up a batch of Recharge, 1/8 teaspoon to 1.5 gal brewing 24 hours w/ an airstone. That's less than 1/4 dose, very conservative but still beneficial.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Not sure why or how but temps are at 68.5 F w/o chillin all day. Partly due maybe to only blue lights @ 24" and no doubt the black paint job helped, but figured the 5W air pump/4 stones woulda raised them. Had put summa the 1/4 Recharge around the plugs (20 drops each) chased w/ sum res water, and a cup of the 1/4 Recharge into the rez, after aerating the bennie solut 6 hours. The 1/8 tsp in 1.5 gal water wasn't enuf to foam, there or in the res. I added another 1/8 tsp to the tea just now and will let it boil overnight for another small app tomorrow around the plugs only. Nute solut is 220 PPM--unchanged--and dunno whether any of the bennies will survive it altho these are selected for their resistance to synthetics. Will check solut temps (and PH) b4 bedtime in case it needs sum chillin--another factor that may inhibit bennie efficacy/growth--but I'm stickin to the book/good practices and just usin Recharge for good root health, not as a pythium prophylactic, tho it's there as a backstop for that too. Ronin says leave seedlings under light 24 hours til 1st leafs, so...I'll know tonite whether I'll do that.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Girls are sprouting in a tie, at 3/4" now. Temps climbed overnight to 72 F so chillin w/ ice bottle. Nute solut steady at 215 PPM. Did some more micro-dosing w/ Recharge, this time at 1/2 strength, only around the germ plugs. One of the seedlings was pretty severely breached but gave me a look at the root tap--unreal to see this snowy white root w/ the finest hairs--not sure I noticed these the 1st time. Wound up slicing the plugs so I could release the heads of both. May just do this first next time cuz it seems that when I pushed the seeds in they turned--so next time I'll slice the plugs and be sure to place the point down half inch in. They were pretty kinked last night but have straightened. Leavin lights on 24 hours til 1st leaf sets. Plugs are moist but not wet so the 15 mins on/2 hours off is working well enuf.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Cotyledon unfurled on 1 today and showing tiny 1st leaves unusual to me, kinda brown and spotty. Other still tryin to unfold these. Inspired by Frenjamin's messy res/dirty water grows to look into organics, and talkin w/ my wife always helps me consolidate what's swimmin in my head. Bottom line for us in our tiny grow area is that DWC is the only way to grow two 5 gallon pots. So with that we're not gonna even get the full benefit of the microbes we're amending with unless we try a line of organics in liquid form or make our own. Even then we're gonna have to really know the plants b/c the PPM won't be available for accuracy, and to know all the various ingredients for different stages of growth and what makes them work. That's where I'd like to get. (Also tryin to sort what's a nute and what's a fertilizer.) Deep stuff. I'll start w/ learnin the plant deficiencies/toxicities by appearance, and what they need when nute-wise (micro-, macro-, etc.), and how these two go together. Makin teas for our sons garden and trees too. Tomorrow, after 2d girl unfolds, we'll go to the 20/4 schedule.

 

[LaoWhoo]

The shells had 2 parts this time, a hard casing and a skin. That's what was keepin the cotyledon f/ unfolding and it just pulled off. Wonder if soaking had anything to do w/ it. The other leafs are greening. Temps 71.5 F and nutes 215 PPM. So this 5 gal seedling res needs cooling 2x/day. Might give them 1 more 24 hour day of blue light. Oh, and these stalks are noticeably thicker/stouter than those of last grow (wh/ eventually thickened). B/c I began feeding immediately? Early placement in the bin w/ breeze and oxygenated water? The LED lights?

Woke up thinking that last time, when there was a burst of vibrancy and the PPM had dropped 100, the plant had fed for the 1st time (3 hours behind the cal-mag). Meaning that all the time the PPMs were unchanged there was lockout. Dunno why, unless it was that the lack of O2 due to under-aeration was causing it, cuz PH was always around six. Now I understand why people talk to their plants--part of tryin to understand what's goin.

Ordered 4 more air stones. Just put the latest 4 in the seedling res. so now we have 11 W and 8 stones in 5 gallons and the water finally looks like Frenjamin's water. The big res of 10 gal will have 16 W. Pretty sure this deficiency was causing both lockout and slime growth. Wow.

 

[Frenjamin Banklin]

Fingers crossed. Be careful with to much air early on. Those new roots can get ripped apart in the turbulent water. If you see root pieces breaking and floating then you have a problem.

 

[LaoWhoo]

Thanks. Will do. Made sure to get stones that produce the tiniest bubbles so there's minimal turbulence. Cheers.