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Batch#01 - 27 Dec - Day 18 (FIRST Harvest!)

The Very First Harvest!

 
My very first harvest from the Yashponics system! 18 days old Grand Rapids lettuce. Decided to harvest for our salad brekkie and also to thin them out! Cut out 25 plants about 6 inches tall. Tender, crunchy, and just slightly bittersweet. Nice with a slice of banana cake and Kopi-O! Too excited to plate a slice of banana bread (from Bollywood Veggies), slathered with generous butter, placed on a bed of greens! So just use your imagination!

The Before and After Look


All over the place due to the reduction of comrades. Not sure if the rest are happy about losing their comrades, but at least they are not as packed as sardines!

And so we started out with the morning with this...


Starting from top to bottom:

CR (Cos or Romaine)



Grand Rapids



Red Oaks



Butterheads




Data:

EC1180

- between optimal range for lettuces (800 - 1200)

pH6.3

- once again it has increased. Added another 4 drops of pHD to Tier 4.

WT29

- consistent! ** note to self: to consider cooling down the water with the ice pack.

Yesterday's top-up of 2L has moved the water level up to near the max level.


Questions?

This question popped up. "How can I reduce the water temperature (just that slightly) to perhaps 25C, and to keep it consistently around +/- 1C, without much hassle?" 

And of course, how significantly will this affect the corresponding taste and texture of the lettuce?"


Learning Points:

  1. It can become somewhat cumbersome to take EC and pH readings on a daily basis after the experimentation stage. Removing the pots to take the measurement, can be damaging to the roots too. But at the same time, I do not think a meter/logger is necessary for a home setup. So the trade-off here is probably to leave one pot empty on two tiers, Tiers 2 (somewhere along mid-way) and 4 (nearest to the buffer tank).
  2. Also, the buffer tank is too closed-up to allow for measurements to be done, or adjustments to the nutrient to be made. If a redesign can be incorporated into it, which also allows for flushing of the system, it would be ideal. One idea is to have a flushing point at the bottom of each tank, secured by screwcaps.


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