Deep Water Ebb-Flow System

21 days after seeding and experimenting with sponges. Seems like BH is growing a little faster than the GOL.  All are looking healthy and sampling of roots shows healthy crisp looking roots. Pushed up the EC early this morning from 400+ to 640 with 4 ml of AB added with 50ml of water. Added another 4ml AB in the evening to try and push EC to 800 to spur growth. Let's see what happens.

6 days after seeding. 10 pots look OK. A closeup look at one. It even has roots that has grown through the sponge and down into the net pot. 1 lil one seem to have dried out and wilted. Added some water and 3 hours later...magic happens! Water...the source of life! Those in the tray. 11 sprouts. Interestingly, the stem looks thicker than those in the system. Transferring the sprouts from tray to system and rearranging them by tier for easy tracking. All BH on Tiers 1 and 2. Spaced out. All GOL on Tiers 3 and 4, spaced out. Pushed the sponges down into the pot to a depth such that bottom of sponge touches water level, water is topped to max. But not so deep so as to expose the gaps of the net pot thereby allowing pest and light to access the tank.

Green Oak Lettuce wins the System race... to germination. Followed by Butterhead! In first place... First little GOL guy... 3 days that's pretty fast. As for the one soaked in water, these are showing even better signs of germination. From both GOL and BU.

Trialing with hydroponics sponge.  AIM: Eliminate sprout transfer.  Let's see if this works. Will be trialling these 2 processes: Process 1: (1) Seed inside the sponge by placing 2-3 seeds per sponge. At about 2mm depth. (2) Leave the sponge in tray. (3) Allow seeds to germinate and root. (4) Transfer to net pot. Note: ensure that sponge has absorbed water. Process 2: (1) Wet the sponge  (2) Seed inside the sponge by placing 2-3 seeds per sponge. At about 2mm depth. (3) Place sponge in net cups directly. To ensure that its not seed quality issue, will be trailing with 2 lettuces. Butterhead and Green Oak lettuce from BLH. Both are pelleted seeds. Each Process to have half of each lettuce type. BH on the left side.  On the system, BH is on the front line. Will turn on grow lights. Final set up

It's been a while since I last updated. Did Batch 2 seeding at the end of June, and continued on with Batch 3. Got a little lazy and just anyhow-seed-germinate in mini green house without recording lettuce types or when it was transferred to the system.  The approach here to try and see how long the system can sustain continuous lettuce supply without flushing it. And thinking that the lettuce EC range are similar, I did not differentiate them on the tiers too. Could this be an issue? As a result, the system responded with an interesting outcome. Some lettuce types seem to grow well but some dies after transplant, while some were stunted or grew quite poorly. Case in point 👉  This one had been transplanted like almost 3 weeks plus and look at the size and form. Stunted and with yellowing leaves. Some of the poorly developed lettuces, showed signs of browning roots, leading to questions such as is it infected, or just caused by degraded seeds.