The dry run has been great. No big issues except for water temperature. It was too low to support decent root growth. I’ll be installing separate submersible heaters with thermostats into each bucket to bring it up to my optimal water temp of 76f / 24c.
I did not add the nutrients to this dry run, because I wanted to make sure the water would maintain ph level with the low ppm. Any problem would come up if ph fluctuated since the water is pure and susceptible to any outside influence.
Pre-Operation Statistics:
Air Temp Day: 74f / 23c
Air Temp Night: 64f / 18c
Humidity Day: 55% – 60%
Humidity Night: 50% – 55%
Water Temp Day: 45f / 7c
Water Temp Night: 41f / 5c
Water Type: Distilled
Water PH: 5.5ph (adjusted)
Water PPM: 10ppm
The Hydroton clay pellets remain moist within the net pots until 1 inch (2.5cm) from the top. Also within the bucket the aeration system is doing a fantastic job at providing tiny bubbles and splashing that water up to the clay pellets.
All in all, the system is functioning great; air temps are great, humidity is perfect, and water is maintaining ph level, with the excepting of the water temp. We will fix the water temp before the seedling are transplanted.
Now onto the seeds. I’m bias on these and I’m sure there are better strains I could have picked from. However the reason I pick these ones, is because I have grown these strains before and know what to expect from them. It was 15 years ago but I’m going to go with what works for me.
Gypsy Nirvana:
Northern Lights (New)
White Widow (New)
Bubblegum (15 years old)
Now I’m not sure if the bubblegum seeds are going to sprout but we will give them time to do their thing.
I used the ol’ paper towel, plate, and ziplock style of germination. It took 2 days before I seen taproots for the new seeds. But nothing yet for the older seeds. I transferred each seed to its own rockwool cube soaked in 5.5ph distilled water. Each are labled and set in the dome with a small heating pad underneath the tray.
Again not sure if the older seeds will sprout or not but I am hoping they do.
Please keep in mind I’m 15 years out of date. So if you see something that I could be doing better then let me know. Thanks in advanced