Growing With Mr.Sparkle : 2023

I will be hiding in the back row.
I am always here watching. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I’m in your bushes peeping through a window. The call is coming from inside the house.

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That is a very dangerous spot to be around these parts.
:joy:

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Day 5 and almost day 0 on the others, still haven’t started more seeds but i may just do a restock and up pot on what grows and then decide on whats next.

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Day 10.5

Missed my Wednesday update which i took pictures for just never got around to uploading them.

Anyways older ones are growing and now hooked up to the autowaters with a 1.5ec feed decided to use some of my plant prod stuff till it gets used up bloom/calkick at .6g/.6g a liter and .4g epsom this will change though.

The younger five there are a couple mutants in them which is expected for the seeds i used, though four of those pots are mixed with some time release nutrients just to play with, the fifth is just regular coco but it has a bad mutant atm so it will likely be pulled and the other bad mutant i may replace with one of the new seeds.

Also just planted 6 seeds this morning which i was trying a new germination method to me, essentially a sterilized bed method in similar vein like JohnnyPotseed does with his EWC bed just no EWC and using a piece of cellulose dish cloth in a small container, some play sand may be another option.

Just was finding that my seeds would throw little tails and slow up with a soak/plant method which is fine in a sterilized media but at the small stage they would kinda stall at they were more susceptible to pathogens from say recycled media where as if they have decent tap roots going by the time you plant them they are less susceptible and im not going back to the paper towel method just hassle wise in comparison that use to be my norms years ago, saying that the new method holds promise i just have to play more with it.

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Sorry to bother @Mr.Sparkle , I use Coco too,but,in what does your system consist?How does It work?Is It easier than what I have to do with reservoir and drip to waste/catching runoff everytime…?
How does the system work?
Can you teach me?
Do you have to check water pH/Ec in Those totes many times at day?
Doesn’t they get Slime?
I get White bio film in my rez if I don’t use H2O2
Are those pumps recirculating the water?
I read recirculating Is hard with Coco.

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My reservoirs are recirculating in that any runoff forced through the pot returns back into the reservoirs till the get low and then the remnants are dumped which is very little and given a quick scrub before being put back in action.

I check EC and PH going in and usually only ec on the way out I do PH if I’m curious which is if say the EC has had a drastic change from what it was, and they last depending on fill from 4-7 days normal but 10+ when running in “away” mode with reduced light levels and such.

I add a little sterilizing agent to keep that aforementioned slime away just using bleach for the last while but the amount is very little, some nutrients remain pretty clear even without while others with say more organics or sugars causes slime to flourish if your not on it.

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Wonderful,so canna Coco can be used if I do Little runoff and keep recirculating.I checked my runoff sometimes and It has pH High as 6,8/6,4 and a very lower EC,this keep me away from your approach,do you have any advice/thought about that?
Also,I use leds and have to keep the temp High to help transpiration: doesn’t this cause root rot in the reservoirs?What Is your take on reservoir water temps?
Sorry for the many questions and THANK YOU :heart:

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It depends as whats for starting pH and how big of an EC drop also some nutrients say ones with pure nitrate sources as their only source of N or where alot of the components they use have a negative change will cause the runoff to increase over time as the plant releases positive charges in order to bring in those nutrients, where as blends that say have a bit of ammonical N and the likes where postive charges are present remain more stable as that give take of positive and negative charged particles in more even…

Typically your run off should be lower than whats going in just cause that typically means the plants are actively consuming but also depends on feed rates. Mine typically increase in EC as water gets low jsut due to my feed rates so i’ll start in a 1.4-1.5 ec range and the leftovers could be in the 1.8 ec range or higher on refill.

Also PH spikes and low ec can also be contributed if say one has an algae issue as it may not just solely be the plant that is consuming those nutrients

The bleach or calcium hyprochlorite helps with the root rot and elevated temperatures i also run otherwise issue do come up eventually especially when your using recycled coco.

As for reservoir temps ideally running cooler to a point is better but for my size and application it doesn’t warrant the extra time effort cost and complexity to do so i just let them be, but say in situations where one can externally locate their reservoir for a reduction to average indoor temps or they are dealing with larger volumes where chillers come into play efficacy wise i would say their is a benefit in doing so.

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This Is poetry.
Thank you,I have Lots of White super healthy roots shooting through 1 liter air pots,I could put this pot directly in a reservoir like you do and let It become a recirculating system by running pump and lettini recirculating the water to and external rez to keep temps low(right now Winter time Is as low as 15-12C° in my room)

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I should clarify the way these pots are in my reservoir they are suspended above the water not in it or at most they are only bottom wicking with water only coming up a cm or so of the bottom of the pot or at least to where i fill them, the thought vs say just ontop of a res lid like my old setup is adventurous roots have the ability to drive toward said water and can feed themselves that way along side the standard autowatering which ranges from watering events every 6-12hrs, also it allows me to “overfill” the reservoirs if say i take off for extended periods of time and it lowers the pots to make a bit more use of my limited height.

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Wonderful clearly put,yes I meant to cut circles the diameter of the pots in the tote lid and suspend the pot,not putting directly the pot in water,so the roots go touching the reservoir water right?
@Mr.Sparkle

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They do if i allow them, my pots dont have so many holes but the first adventurous routs can and do go after the water but usually if i nip them off outside the pot once or twice then stay within it. Really its jsut what i want them to do, allow it or limit it.

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Day 12.7.0
Should turn the light up on the older plants in the next couple of days, will likely pull two plants from the mid aged time released fed pots, and the new seedlings are all up and healthy for starts that new bed style starting method i think contributing to that, also need to pick up a couple more lids if im gonna be running more of these small pots for now only have two made up that are already in use.

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Hey @Mr.Sparkle ,
If a guy had, say, ~ $150 to put toward building a light, could you guide him in the purchasing of whatever parts he would need?
My brother has offered to build what I want. He works for an office supply company as a repairman so he has the skills and tools to build it.
How much light can I get for that amount of cash?
I’m looking for something that can cover a 5x5 space.
I’d appreciate whatever help you might offer.
Thanks.

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(On this track I would like to know what type are good led strips ready to use to pack Them together and help me reach 50 watt more + my 200watt led)

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Bang for the buck right now and for somewhat decent light levels for a 5x5 factor in your gonna be closer to $200 + taxes/shipping plus whatever you make your frame out of plus wire and such but the later two can be from salvage power cords and some wood used for framing with whats kicking around.

What that will get you is a 480w light or there abouts which is more suited imo for say a 4x4 but depending on what your running currently in that space of yours it could work i just forget what your running, when @JohnnyPotseed asked i suggested about double what he initially went with but the thought was more what he could build up from there , forget what drivers hes running, just need to go back in my message to find that .

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Depends on your current setup as may or may not be needed where other factors could be where things are limited, should get a consistent grow journal going :wink: ,

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Are you looking for leds? I have a couple tips…@Mr.Sparkle you mind if I butt in?

:four_leaf_clover::four_leaf_clover::four_leaf_clover:

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Out of likes as usual.
I’m running a Spider Farmer 4,000 which covers a 4x4 area in an 8x10 growing space. I was hoping to hang this one next to the SF along that 10’ wall. I know it won’t cover the entire span but it’ll come close.

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