Deep Water Ebb-Flow System

Winding Down Batch 1 Have been harvesting pretty regularly. Enjoying the produce thus far.  Seems like the fungal or mildew or nutrient lock issue is spreading from Tiers 1 and 2 to Tier 4. So perhaps it's time to wind down this batch and to clean the system. Target system clean is 18 Mar, during the Mar hols. Will experiment with new batch of lettuce, with dedicated equipments (scissors) and portable fan for top up tiers and to apply crop rotation.  Hypothesis here is that with crop rotation, each batch of water nutrient mix can be further prolonged.  Will harvest the Red Oaks and Lollas till then.  Also have to start thinking of a plan to transfer the Basil too.  Thanks to a fellow YH enthusiasts, improved the water level indicator with this mosquito prevention net. DATA EC1020 pH6.56 Temp 29C Water Level: @MIN Topped up with 4L water, moderated by 20Down

VDay Good morning!  Harvested a batch of Red Oaks for dinner to accompany the Prosperity burger from Macs.  Harvested some sweet basil for Thai styled basil minced pork.  Observed some issue with a few Cos and Lolla leaves. Not sure what caused it. No insects underneath that can be seen. Placed an ask in the Yash group chat for help.  DATA EC1262 pH6.33 WT29 Water level: at Min level. Top up 4L 20 down

Day 2 of CNY Double Harvest Harvested a colanderful of Red Oaks for brekkie.  Red Oaks tasted very earthy, hinting at end of life. Although no signs of bolting yet, perhaps at 60 plus days, these batch is almost at senior citizen phase. And lollas for lunch. Tasted a little earthy but young and tender. At 24 days young.  Balance of Red Oaks after harvest.  Lollas are definitely ready for harvest. Just waiting for the right meal opportunity to come along.  Feeling guilty (slightly) for missing 2 days of data in a row! 😅 So here's the lay of the land for today. Data shows OK EC but pH creeping up. Water level is at Min level. So some topping up in order.  Harvested  DATA EC1262 pH6.35 WT29 Water level: at Min level. So top up 4L of water, 10mL AB from BLH, moderated by 20 down

Top Up Time On the way to a new year with abundant growth 🤞🏻😁 Lollas looking good.  DATA EC1316 pH6.14 WT30 Water level: at Min level. Top up 4L of water with 20mL AB, moderated by 10 down. 

All Growing Well Just 3 more days to the Niu Year.  Let's see if the little Lollas can grow big enough to be harvested.  The dependable Red Oaks just keeps going!  DATA EC1316 pH5.89 WT30 Water level: near Min level. Added 1L of water. 

Time to add CaNO3 and MgSO4 EC reading strangely dropped to 700 plus before slowly rising to 1200. This is unusual. The reading is usually quite immediate.  Still some signs of yellowing and burn tips. So time to top up CaNO3 and MgSO4.  Added 1L water with 1/2 teaspoon each of CaNO3 and MgSO4 (Epsom salt).  EC1210 pH5.87 WT30 Water level: just below mid level.

Still signs of yellowing and burn tips Reached out to FB hydroponics group and some suggested to increase the nitrate.  Data looks strange too. EC is still above 1200. Pen problem or EC of the whole system affected by earlier addition of CaNO3 and Epsom salt.  Recalled that I have been adding mainly AB lately. Inbalance caused by lack of C. However many mentioned that A and B is enough. 🤔 EC1488 pH5.90 WT29 Water level: just below mid level. Added 1L of water with 10mL AB, 20mL C

GR Microgreens - Unveiled Unveiled the GR microgreens in the morning, to promote real leaves growth. They seem to be ok. Will leave it for a few more days to see how tall these will grow before harvesting. The weekend seems like a good time to have some GR microgreens for breakfast. Placed the wasabi mustard (WM) into a kitchen cabinet that is hardly open. Complete darkness for just one night and this is the result! The WM looks a little dry, so added a little water.  A close-up of the WM. Looks like tauge, but thinner versions. The Lollas looks healthier. Will thin it in a day or two. Cos are growing well too, 9 days into seeding. No signs from the three pots yet, 3 days after seeding. A close-up of the Lolla leaves. DATA EC1370 pH6.29 WT29 Water level: near bottom level. - topped with 2L of water and 5Down.

Time for some Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) What triggered that? The lollas actually. Seems like the cotyledons are yellowing and some are showing tip burn like signs. Not too sure why, or if this is even normal, but no similar observation on the real leaves. The lolla leaves though look a little yellow compared to the Cos or even Butterheads. Did a bit of reading and was reminded of this picture. Added 1/4 teaspoons of Epsom into 1L of water. On top of that added, 5ml of ABC into another 1L of water, moderated by 10 Downs. A side story. The GR microgreens. These little babies! Another side story. The Genovese Sweet Basil has recovered! DATA   (before top up & Epsom) EC1466 pH5.90 WT29 Water level: at mid level. Water level rose to max after addition of 2L of water.

Start of Next Seeding Cycle Effectively started the next seeding cycle. Placed one pelleted Cos in Tier 1. The lollas are growing well and in a few days, some thinning is necessary to ensure good health. The balance to be consumed as microgreens. Some learning points. After harvest, it seems that this is to be expected. Remains of roots trapped at the outlet, thanks to the mesh. Just need to check and clear with tweezers, to ensure that water flow is uninterrupted. DATA: (after 4L water top-up) EC1488 pH5.55 WT28 Water level: near Max level. - Topped up 4L of water with 10Down, in the early morning, resulting in water level near to Max. Moderated by 10 drops.

A Busy Day - Harvesting, Clearing, Reseeding Cos and Transplanting some Basil  Started off by harvesting fully 8 Cos lettuces for brekkie and tomorrow's night dinner! The long roots of the cos, still crisp to the touch. A good sign. Left 4 more for a few more leaves harvest over the next few days. Removed a couple of Grand Rapids and Butterheads each from the bottom tier too. After some further RO and BH leafs harvest, the total weight is 183.6g. Sustainable Crop Cycle The idea here is to stagger the crop cycle in order to have a sustainable supply of lettuce. Another aim is to see how long this Batch 1 of nutrients last before the need to flush and clean the systems becomes a must. Cleaning Cleaning is actually very easy. The process I took: Remove the roots by hand. Pour out the leca and remove the stem and remaining roots. (of course there are left-over roots and some debris) Thankful for the sink filter. Keeps the leca together, and prevent the larger left over roots from getti...

Lolla Lettuces are Sprouting! Seems like the Lolla seeds did not drown after all. Or rather this little one managed to survive the flooding after all! Instead of going through the usual series of pictures to compare the growth and form of the lettuces over the course of 30+ days, it's time to just focus on learning points. For today, it seems that the tip burn on the Cos is getting worse. In fact, I suspect that for a few leaves, it's not just only tip burn, but some nitrate or calcium deficiencies. Asked for advise on FB Hydroponics group, seems to confirm that indeed these signs are likely caused by: lack of regular air flow to promote evapotranspiration (which leads to better nutrient uptake); or lack of nutrients such as calcium and nitrate.    Since I have not had the time to source for and install a portable fan, decided to order some 200g calcium nitrate powder from Shopee. Data EC960 - a little below the average.  pH6.25 WT28 Water level: at max level.  - Sin...

Harvested Grand Rapids fully and Seeded Lolla Lettuce (from BLH) Before and... After! Gone are the "messy" GR from the whole tier. Yield is approximately 100g.  Decided to harvest all the GR. These are 31 days old. Stems and leaves are fine and soft, not as crisp as I would have liked. Same observation for the Romaines. Suspect that it could be due to lack of macronutrients such as nitrogen and possibly calcium. Ordered calcium nitrate pills from Shopee to address this. COS/ROMAINE: More tip burns observed. Two likely factors - calcium deficiency and lack of regular airflow to increase evapotranspiration. LOLLA LETTUCE: Bought this from BLH. Cleaned all the pots, and got rids of protruding roots, and cleared the remaining stems from the pots. No signs of algae on the leca balls. Roots that were removed were crisp to the touch and not slimy. A good sign. Placed about 4 to 5 seeds per pot. RED OAK: Little tip burn observed on the RO. Could be due to the better and regular airfl...