Deep Water Ebb-Flow System

Batch 2 - Day 17 All the lettuces are growing fast and well. Can't help but admire the growth rate everyday, especially the morning after, where the growth can be quite significant. So it seems like the cleaning of the system seem to have gotten the balance back. Complemented by the pool noodle, and USB fans and not forgetting the method of seeding. Which I suspect is a key contribution since I don't have to thin out excess sprouts, which may caused broken roots within the leca, thereby messing up the nutrient solution due to the decay and inevitable introduction of bacteria and fungus. EC=1120, pH=6.75 Another observation is that with the pool noodle, there seem to be less evaporation. Hence water level does not seem to drop as rapidly compared to the past. The wet leca balls and capillary actions that leads to the perennial wet surfaces would have contributed to higher water loss due to evaporation.

10 Days after Seeding Majority of the sprouts survived the Transplanting... Although a few did succumb, in particular the Red Oaks, which seem to grow more slowly compared to the rest.  This little guy on the left is so not going to make it. The one on the right is incidentally Lettuce 211. The roots are shorter. I could have left the sprouts to grow a few more days. So next time, for RO, instead of 5 days, perhaps a full week, before Transplanting. Lettuce 211 seem to be growing very well. First time growing this. Wonder if it could be the freshness of the seeds. EC780, pH6.7 Good values. Will add a little more AB tomorrow to up the EC. Another observation, plants do really grow bigger after a good dark night "sleep". Comparing morning and evening, the growth is not markedly different, but just a 8 hours of darkness, really spurred the growth. So just like people, a good night rest is essential for healthy growth! Oh, I moved s...

Batch 2 - Full Transplanting Finally done! 6 days after seeding. Perhaps could have waited a little more for the roots of the sprouts to get longer.. But impatience got the better of me! While moving the sprouts to the noodle, I realized that I can push the pool noodle deeper into the pots, therefore ensuring that the roots can at least reach the water level. Water level is at max level. Also added a total of 40ml A and B, from BLH. EC shows 380. Will up that tomorrow to 800. pH 7.06, neutral.  It's actually quite easy to transplant the sprout into the pool noodle. Just a little time consuming due to the fragility of the babes. Single sprout per pot are those I deemed most likely to survive the transplant based on the length of the roots and healthiness of sprouts. Those with 2 sprouts are those where one is likely not to survive due to short roots. Order of the lettuces from top to bottom, T1 to T4 are: T1: Grand Rapids T2: Red Oaks T3: Butterheads T4: Lett...

1st Cleaning Experience I started at 4pm. Began by placing all the pots into a tub (which was used for my first Kratky method). The roots were breaking away and feels slightly slimy to touch. Dead is my guess, since I have cut of the stems like 5 days ago, and poured in 40ml of H2O2 to clean the system from any potential algae.  Poured out the leca and pulled out the roots. The dead roots were easy to remove, and tried to save as many leca as possible, by shaking them out of the roots.  All pots cleared and onto to washing the leca bucket with water spray in the bathroom. NOT EASY! Big number of leca floats and that makes it hard to remove the dead detritus. And pouring out water from the bucket almost always rested in floating leca being poured out as well. 

Transplanted L21 for experience Added 20ml of A B into T2 and 4. Initial EC shows 340. Switched on air pump and increased the flow rate. Will check EC tmrw.  Decided to learn by experience how to transplant the little sprouts into the pool noodle. Not easy admittedly and also there is this lack of confidence that the roots are long enough to reach the water level sufficiently. Pressed the noodle until its almost flushed to the base in order to let the roots reach the water surface.  Seems like 8 days after seeding will produce roots averaging 3-4cm long.   Let's see what happens tomorrow. Recover well from the trauma of being moved lil ones. 

Seeding Attempt 2 This is a picture from 3 days ago. Why not take a current picture? Well I took the above before my Pfizer jab 2, and today, feeling fine thus far except for an aching left knee, (likely brought about by the jab), has rendered me somewhat immobile.  So it seems that the upcycled mini green house has worked well. The seeds started germinating one day into seeding (Sunday) and after almost a week, signs of true leaves has appeared. 2 days after seeding. A close up showing the root hairs. Now in just waiting for the sprouts to produce at least a couple of true leaves and long enough to transfer them to the pool noodle.

10 days into seeding and with little to show. Initially suspected that the seeds quality have dropped due to prolonged storage or caused by the washed leca, that may have absorbed residues of bleach. Another possible reason is the increased evaporation. A closer inspection showed that those which managed to germinate, the cotyledons broke off from the root. Hint of rotting... So suggesting that the leca was not cleaned well.  Decided to reseed another batch of seeds in an upcycled greenhouse, made from a Butterhead salad packaging. Used fresh leca, and seeded 2 days ago. The result... And close up... All the hair roots can be seen clearly.  What a difference! All 4 types of seeds (BH, RO, GR, L21) germinated well. So it's likely a more optimum environment due to the new clean leca and the greenhouse condition which reduced evaporation and kept the seeds moist enough to germinate.  Key takeaway #1, leca or grow mediums needs to be clean...