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:

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).
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.

Comments

YESH! My Yashponics Kit has arrived

The Eagle has Landed! And so here it is. Not exactly an eagle, but the Yashponic 4-tier black kit. After a short 4 days wait after placing the order for pre-existing stock, the box arrived yesterday, late evening. Time to be Bob the Builder Decided to start on the hardware set up today, since I am unsure how long it will take me. As shared in the videos put up by helpful Yashponics owners, it takes around 2.5 hours. The assembly videos are helpful. They gave me a good idea of how to start and the overall concept of the built. The whole process made all that easier, thanks to the numbered parts. And yes the whole kit is up and ready. Easy to set up? My Verdict... With the videos provided by Yash, the numbered parts, it's totally a breeze to get the whole kit up. Took my time to unbox the parts, lay them out (in other words, you need some space for all these), and put them together. Only boo-boo along the way is that I forgot to rinse all the parts as ...

Batch 2 - Cycle 2 (30 days)

Batch 2 - Cycle 2 (30 days) Report And so, 30 days in (After seeding, germination, and transplant) and the lettuces are growing well. No adverse signs of infection, or burnt tips (yet?). Fingers crossed, they stay healthy and strong! Generally, EC is kept to about 600. pH measurement is about neutral. Honestly, not measuring pH regularly right now. EC is measured about once every 2 days. The challenge now is which lettuce is which? This is the result of transplanting any healthy-looking sprouts to the net pots. An alternative view, from the side. So time to make a little educated and experienced guess. Starting from the top and left, the label is 01, and moving to the right, it's 02, and so on. The bottom left is therefore 07, and followed through to 12. My guess is: 1 - Lettuce 211; 2 to 5: Butterhead; 6 - Lettuce 211; 7, 8 - Grand Rapids, 9 to 12: Lettuce 211;

Batch#01 - 21 Jan - Day 43 (GR microgreens!)

It's all about the GR microgreens today! And that is just 2 days after seeding. The kitchen towel method seems to be working till now. Let's see what happens in 8 days. For the time being, will keep the cup to cover the mini sprouts. Now the lollas. A close-up of the tip burn like of the cotyledons. Interesting to see that the lolla young leaves are relatively tender and thin compared to Cos. DATA EC1532 pH5.83 WT29 Water level: at mid level.

Deep Water Ebb-Flow System

Search This Blog