I love it when folks like you who know what they’re doin tear stuff down for fun and share the knowledge. Super cool 
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Thanks @Not-Notjosh!
It’s a good time to ask if I’m doing the nute mixing properly. I think so, but no harm asking for confirmation.
Mixing nutes to soak my rockwool. Calculated mass of each part for the volume of water (RO 2.2L) in my soak bucket, 0.923 grams A, B. Weigh it out.
Mix sequentially until dissolved. Check pH
pH down to 5.5 for rockwool (my understanding is that rootzone pH quickly rises towards 5.8-6 in the media)
Check EC and call it done?
Is that about it? Just want to validate my basic procedure before shit gets serious. To me anyway. This is a pretty small little operation 
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Good morning 
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I really like reading your updates, they are detailed and well written. I tried keeping a grow log but it was more like “week 3 here’s a pic, peace!” 
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Just in case you haven’t seen them, there are a some decent videos of ppl comparing Photone to other actual par meters. Maybe one will convince you enough to not rent an apogee, but maybe not 
That looks good 
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I actually watched that video.
What I wanted before I bought a meter, and still want [and intend to provide] for the community as a whole, is a tabulated list of various readings with all the factors “controlled” for. I hate reading speculation or basing decisions on it.
My intent is to do this:
Measure vertical diffuser offsets of each sensor, make matching foam blocks so each reference plane is same vertical location. Veg and flower lights use the same approach, something like this.
- Adjust intensity to 100 umol/m2/s based on Apogee “golden” sensor. Center of sensor same position each time.
- Tabulate readings for all other approaches.
- Repeat 1-2 increment up 100 umol/m2/s
Until I get to my limit, probably just over 1K which will be because I’m maxed on my lights. Then, folks like me who were seriously on-the-fence about Apogee vs Photobio have a real reference. And phone folks also have a good idea. Detailed teardowns of each and analysis of approach and pros/cons. I can’t teardown the Apogee, unfortunately, because it’s potted. If it wasn’t I’d buy one just to tear apart. I expect it is very similar to the Photobio unit.
Thanks for the confirmation on my mixing. Also appreciate the feedback and glad you enjoy the updates 
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I had a feeling you had something more detailed in mind. I’m looking forward to it
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If you want another rabbit hole, the folks over at BLF are…pretty into light testing:
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Runtz x Sour Bubble in their new shoes
I assume the bit of algae on the one isn’t a terrible concern?
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No, not really. They make covers. Or, you make covers (eg: pand film squares, with a hole with slit cut into middle). Or out of this stuff so water can get through:
Dollar store.
Edit: Look forward to the par meter comparison.
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They’re starting to really get moving it’s super exciting
Temps are looking good with the heatmats around 20%. I didn’t buy the controlled temp ones they are just the variable heat models.
Veg-side air temp:
That’s looking pretty good to me, low 70s at night and low 80s during the day. I’m not going to worry about humidity yet maybe next major grow cycle I’ll add a humidifier and start optimizing VPD. It’s been between 20-30% the whole time. A few of these are going to go outside and they aren’t going to get environmentally babied. It’s a desert, I’m looking for tough bitches.
Also getting nutrients to the plants sooner is better. While that’s obvious when I write it, there was a reluctance to add things. May be the organics history and certainly starting in non-inert media changes things. Hydro is really cool for the control. I know what I add… and if I fuck up I can flush them and try again. That’s a powerful thing and certainly not the case with organics/living soil. I’m also glad I did that deep-dive before starting this. Doing serious organic gardening first really forces a lot of understanding whereas hydroponics seems to be quite a bit simpler. The analogy that pops into my head is learning long division in grade school before they teach you how to use a calculator.
Here’s the frailest of 907 x Shiska, I don’t know how long I’m going to entertain it. I figure it’s good practice learning to nurture a runt.
The Runtz x Gorilla Bubbles are already shooting out new leaves
Party is starting on the ground floor
Hope you all have a great weekend, thanks for watching and providing input. If you see anything wrong I’d love to hear it. Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement. I’m having a lot of fun with this and am extraordinarily thankful to have found this hobby around the same time I found such a supportive and engaged community.
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not wrong per se, but i have a question on the plugs. i always used rockwool cubes for clones and seedlings but since following this grow planned on using the plugs instead this time. i was very confused when you put the plugs into the rockwool cubes. i planned on putting plugs directly into the net pots with clay pellets to hold them in. is there a reason you used both mediums rather than just the one? the reason i ask now is that i am about to clone some this weekend. they are looking very nice by the way.
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Well, that’s a great question.
The main reason was to try something different (that wouldn’t disintegrate) for both seed starting and for my first attempts at cloning knowing I’m going to be running hydro. I have been using coco or peat expanding pucks for the last few years which was fine for soil growing. So on the surface, it’s almost like an “intermediate” option. Little familar, little new. Compared to rockwool at least.
As I looked at specifically the decision between using small rockwool starter cubes and these the general consensus is that folks that start using these plugs, even coming from rockwool, and don’t look back. They seem like the best thing going, so that’s where I went.
I’m using the rockwool grow cubes as an experiment. Always wanted to try them and I’m understanding why folks like them as well. It’s all compatible and literally plug-n-play so I’m enjoying the combo.
In summary, the plugs seemed like the best option for both starting my seeds and taking clones, and are compatible with whatever hydro media I chose later. The rockwool was selected to expose myself to something new in conjunction with several very attractive features: cleanliness, square low-profile geometry to facilitate my goal of SOG’ing for selection, and a hole that I just plug my starter plugs into. All the steps are simple enough for my 2 remaining brain cells to comprehend before I do it.
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the rockwool cubes i used had small eighth inch holes in them, nowhere near big enough for the plugs. based on that i think i’ll skip the rockwool and use plugs straight into the pots. i was hoping it was something like that since they are cheaper. do they stand on their own or will i need to support them? my cloner had them sitting in rockwool cubes on a piece of fencing over an airstone for moisture. if i need to i’ll tie them down but it would be better to sit them and leave them.
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I bought rockwool cubes with the big holes in them explicitly.
The plugs are tapered and won’t stand up on their own, may be a deal-breaker for you but I’m having trouble visualizing your setup. I used a propagation tray with the little pockets.
Here’s a pic of one.
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Nice little setup. I think you would need trays like this.
Here’s dimensions and my tray
Here’s what my rockwool looks like
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yeah, no. i’ll make something for them to sit inside of. i have to keep the cost as close to zero as possible and this is one way i can help with that. they look like they’ll fit nicely into the rectangles of the fencing. man, looking through that backup for these pics i found some stuff i kept from the old og back in '04. gonna post a thread with it.
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Before I had a tray for mine I stuck toothpicks in the bottom of the plugs and they acted as legs to keep them from tipping over. I run a budget grow and had plenty of em so I gave it a try. Worked well but my wife got a deal on the trays at Lowe’s and I’ve been using those now.
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We do that too. Thought the A-OKs were too small, so we take 4" cubes and cut them in to eight 2" blocks. Really liking it for cuts and seedlings.
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Updates on the micro-size “Tent of Dreams.”
The lower veg section is starting to take off. Temps are now 70-72F “nighttime” and 82-84F “daytime” which I believe is pretty close to optimal. We’re getting new sets of leaves each morning I peek now. Had to rearrange them this morning to keep all the 907 crosses from tangling with each other.
Watering all the same schedule and amount. Basically have been watering the blocks until I see a small amount of runoff.
When should I be taking apical cuts for clones to flower out SOG-ish style? The distance between nodes is pretty short. Give it another week and raise my light a bit?
The weakling 907 Blue Genes x Shiskaberry maintains it’s weakling status.
It is an experiment of its own now. I can fit the clone tray next to it no problem so it’s got a free ride as long as it gets the default veg juice and doesn’t have any special tastes.
Somehow I’ve created a 200 post thread containing 2-3 week old seed plants in a miniature tent. Here’s another one 
On another note. I’ve had an Aerogarden for the last 3 years that I completely tore down and scrubbed out earlier this weekend. It was full of water scale and fertilizer scum (had been using the supplied Miracle Gro liquid nutes and tap water for years). Now that I have RO and proper hydroponics apparatus (pH/EC/nutes) I started some heirloom genovese basil seeds in generic starter pods. It’s on the same mix of MegaCrop 2-part (2g A, 2g B, 1 gallon RO) but with pH 6.2 instead of 5.5.
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Happy Monday! 
Another day another seedling picture…. . Jk of course, they are looking great and we all love the whole process; seed 2 smoke.
I’ve only tried SOG once (9 plants in a 3x3, maybe not dense enough for true soggers), I topped everything at the 4-5th node and it was a nightmare, way too bushy. Started with 9 ended with 5 to make space. If I did it again I’d leave them untopped and strip growth from below for clones once they spread out a little bit in flower.
That just my sole experience with sog, probably best taken with salt 
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An aerogarden in the wild! That will be an aero cloner within 3 months….
Do you plan of flowering them out in the 4x4 cubes?
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