Aspen's Alaskan Purple In Soil - 2022

[AspenCultivator]

Just a quick update. I got my esp32 connected to Home Assistant. It required a little work. I had to install ESPHome. I guess you can't install addons in the Docker version. I re-flashed my device with the wifi info. The config is all YAML. So far so good. Thanks for turning me on to HA!!!!

Actually I got to thinking of a few more essentials.

Studio Code Server - Edit YAML from within HA. Change configuration variables, and most importantly, add custom sensors. Saves automatically, but does require a restart to take affect. Left menu -> Developer Tools -> Check configuration. This makes sure you didn't make a typo or indent error in the code. Then restart is next to that.

NodeRed - HA has come a LONG way when it comes to automations. There's now a GUI that seems pretty snazzy, but I learned NodeRed back when native HA automations were all YAML...and it was a huge pain in the ass. I don't have a single HA automation, everything I automate is done via NodeRed. YMMV...so check them both out and see what ya like.

History Explorer Card - HA has a History tab on the left...but it's still up-and-coming and isn't the most intuitive to use. I've replaced that with this card. I created a new dashboard and this is the only card on the board. In the dashboard settings, you can set it to "Panel Mode" which is good for tablets hanging on a wall, or on your phone.

Lastly, once you get Studio Code server installed I can walk you through (if you're interested) how to add your own custom VPD sensor using your temp and humidity readings. VPD can be calculated using temp and humidity, you just have to copy-paste some code to create a new sensor that makes the calculations. Then you can display the sensor on your dashboard.

 

[AspenCultivator]

Hi everyone! When I originally made this journal I mentioned I'd update it twice a week or once a week. Now apparently I'm updating every day. But there's stuff going on, and I want to document literally every step I take, so here's another update!

The AP needed water, so please don't mind her droop. Do take note of how her nodes are facing the light again even though she was tied down yesterday. In fact I checked my cam about an hour after and she was already turned toward the light. She was last watered 3 days ago, so today was a feed day. She got week 3 on the FF schedule. PH 6.3 with 1080 ppm. Watered just like always 10ml at a time and wait 3-5 mins. She got 80ml of water.

Alaskan Purple Day 57

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 22, 2023

The blueberries seem to be picking up steam, which is awesome to see. The coloring is returning back to normal so I believe feeding from the top was the right answer. Their reservoirs are still at half full. They're working on their fifth node now, and I noticed they both have quite a bit of growth coming from their first node. The plan is to quadline, so I'll be removing the 1st node after I make this post so she doesn't spend time on that growth that's getting removed anyway. Then in a few days remove the second node, and a few days after that she should be tall enough to top above the 4th node.

Blueberry #1 Day 25

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 22, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 25

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 22, 2023

Thanks for coming in!

 

[sjb504]

Looking great.. I am really glad you keep the AP going,. I think she is super cool ..

 

[AspenCultivator]

Looking great.. I am really glad you keep the AP going,. I think she is super cool ..

Thanks SJB! I think she's gotten over whatever it was in the beginning because she seems to be growing just as much as the blueberries now. Ok, maybe not THAT fast...but there's a visible difference every day! I'm glad I kept her as well.

Tent Update

Alright I have another tent 'upgrade' if you'll call it that. This one won't be quite as long, but definitely skip if you want! I bought a bunch of waterproof temperature sensors a few years ago and only used one outside in a garden bed. Now with the SIPs, and their moisture gradients, I'm curious if there's a difference in temperature in the media, and can this be used to determine whether or not the reservoir is full, half, or empty. I'll be honest: I don't think so. But, I'm going to test it out. And it was a fun build that gave me something to do.

First up was locating the DS18B20 waterproof sensors. These particular sensors can be wired together using a 1-wire bus, and a D1 Mini (ESP8266) can support up to 32 of them! Nice, they only need a 4.7k ohm pull-up resistor as well, so there's only 3 connections to the D1 Mini. Groovy.

I bundled up each wire to the temp sensors and connected that to a piece of Cat6 cable.

On the other end I crimped up a male Cat6 connector. I wanted to be able to remove the probes from the hub so I can wash them for future grows.

I connected a female cat6 connector to a small PCB board and soldered the resistor, wired connections, and the header pins for the D1 Mini. Once I got it how I wanted it I measured everything and modeled a small case. 5 hours of printing later, we have this.

The D1 Mini is not installed in this pic, but it just slips into those black headers and the lid gets screwed on. The lid was designed so when it's screwed in nice and tight, it rests on the D1 mini, holding everything secure.

Next up I needed to get the programming right. Using ESPHome, I initialized the board and started watching the logs to determine which probe was which. These probes are addressable, so all you need is the address and you can name it something in the code. Holding each probe in my hand and breathing on it (to raise the temp) I could determine which was which, so I used a label maker and labeled the probes.

I thought about printing some cool stake that holds these in the precise spot I want within the bucket. Then I got really high and found some bbq skewers. I don't even know if the media temperature is going to be useful, so I decided to hot glue them to the skewer and just shove it in the bucket. If this works and is useful down the line I'll make something more permanent.

The bottom probe is about 1/2" from the very bottom of the bucket. The second one is 2/3rd up.

And here we are installed.

The hub hangs for now so it's up off the floor and out of the way. Since this is just an experiment I connected all 4 probes to a single cat6 connector. If I do this again (that is, if this device provides useful information) I'll change it so 2 probes go to a cat6 connector so I can remove just that bucket's probes from the hub if need be. As it is now, if one plant dies, I'll just have to roll up the cables and leave them. I have no way to remove them separate from the other 2. Which is fine, for now.

Not too long this time, yay! As for the plants, they're great. The pale is going away in the blueberries and they're certainly getting bigger every day now. The AP is doing her thing, looking great. I think the tent is finally dialed in and I've got the nutes figured out (so far). Thanks for reading!

 

[AspenCultivator]

Quick update to the soil temp hub. It's been a few hours now for the sensors to stabilize and it appears there's virtually no difference in temp in the media.

Temp 1 and Temp 3 are with blueberry #1, while 2 and 4 are in #2's bucket. Temp 1 is 1/3rd down, and temp 3 is 1/2" from the very bottom. Same for 2 and 4.

I'm going to continue monitoring, especially after filling the reservoirs. For now tho these numbers aren't helpful and there doesn't seem to be any reason to build a device like this!

 

[AspenCultivator]

Hi everyone. I removed the blueberries' second nodes today. Their reservoirs are still at half full, but there's a ton of growth every day so they're definitely drinking water. I'm thinking they'll be topped in the next 2-4 days.

Blueberry #1 Day 27

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 24, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 27

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 24, 2023

Blueberry #1 & #2 Day 27

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 24, 2023

As for the AP it looks like she'll be watered tomorrow, which will be 3 days since she was last fed. Once she gets to 1-2 days between waterings I'll up-pot into her final 1 gal. I readjusted her ties to get the top two nodes as flat as possible, and the bottom two nodes are at a 15* angle to help promote their growth to catch up to the top two.

Alaskan Purple Day 59

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 24, 2023

Alaskan Purple Day 59

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 24, 2023

Thanks for reading

 

[AspenCultivator]

Hi everyone! Nothing super new to report other than the AP got watered yesterday and the blues got topped today. The AP took 100ml of water before runoff, which was interesting because it's almost always been 80ml. She must have been really really thirsty. I'm hoping if I can get her down to 2 days between watering/feeding in the next week then I'll up-pot her.

Alaskan Purple Day 61

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 26, 2023

And as for the blueberries they were both topped today. They're going to be quadlined, so 4 days ago I removed the first node, 2 days ago I removed the second node, and today they were topped.

Blueberry #1 Day 29

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 26, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 29

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 26, 2023

Both reservoirs are still at half full. They definitely seem to be catching up to the AP which is great, and what I wanted. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[AspenCultivator]

The Time Has Come

Hi everyone, and happy Saturday! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Lots and lots of pics are incoming.

Last night the AP was a bit down and I knew we were at just under 2 days from her last watering, so now's the time for the up-can. Finally. After 63 days in a solo cup, she'll be able to stretch her feet out a little bit and hopefully just keep on going.

Originally I was going to layer Fox Farms Ocean Forest in the bottom 2/3rd of the pot, then the top 1/3rd would be Happy Frog. Then I decided...I don't want her taking off in growth due to the OF being hot, so I mixed up 20% perlite and FF Happy Frog and loaded my pot. Just as an aside, I always put down a coffee filter in the bottom of every pot. This way I can pick it up and move it around without media coming through the holes. I do this even with nursery cups, just cut the filter up so it'll fit. I don't fold it, there's only a single layer of filter. This is important for 2 of the pics here shortly.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

The pot was filled last night and placed in the tent overnight to get up to temperature. This morning I sprayed PH 6.3 water inside the hole so the myco will stick, and popped in about 2 tbsp all on the walls and the bottom of the hole.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Next up was to finally take a peek at her roots. Everything looks great. Nice and white, fluffy roots. She wasn't root bound, and you can see the development is extraordinarily small compared to what you'd think a 63 day solo cup would look like.

Remember what I said about the coffee filter? It's completely gone after 63 days. Literally no evidence of it existing what-so-ever. Where the heck does it go? Hah. By this time the roots are obviously holding everything together so the filter isn't needed. I just find it interesting every time I take a plant out of a nursery cup the filter seems to have disappeared.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

After I added more soil to fill up to the top of the rim entirely she needed to be fed and tied back down. I bought an awl used in leather making which made poking holes in the pot effortless. No soldering irons or split plastic here. The awl works perfectly.

She got week 3 on the FF nute schedule, including calmag this time. PH 6.3 and PPM 1540. The media was a bit moist from being out in the shed during our wet winter so she only received 5 cups before run off. It took almost an hour to water her as I'd poor in a cup and wait 10 mins or so for it to soak in before adding more.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

This pic shows how flat the top node is. I want these as flat as possible so I can get the bottom two shoots to catch up.

Alaskan Purple Day 63 Flat Top

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

And then this pic shows the bottom node and how both shoots are angled up a bit to encourage more vigorous growth.

Alaskan Purple Day 63 (15* branches)

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberries Day 31

As for the blueberries they were both topped two days ago and they both have 4 new shoots coming up. I'm just letting both of them go now until their shoots are big enough to tie down, maybe a week from now? We'll see.

Blueberry #1 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberry #1 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

It's really interesting to me to see the difference between the two plants. #1 has thinner fan leaves than #2, so I'm really curious to see if there will be any difference in how they smoke.

Group shot of the tent:

Alaskan Purple & Blueberries

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

The AP is a bit lower than the blueberries in terms of distance from the light, but after a day or two her tops will be turned towards the light and won't have any issues catching up a bit.

If anyone is curious, the two mason jars were painted with black chalkboard spray paint and have 3" net cups. I planted some Flashy Butter Gem lettuce on the 15th (13 days ago) and they're going to be growing using the Kratky method. I'm curious how it's going to turn out, so this is just a mini-project going on as the magic plants veg out these next few weeks.

And last but certainly not least I just had to show my tent defender, Lily. If she's not running around the house (1 yr old maine coon mix) going batshit insane she's sleeping up there. Must be warm!

Heavy update today, thank you for reading and making it to the end! I appreciate everyone's support, and it looks like now we're going to be on auto-pilot for a while. Till next time!

 

[Joe Brewster]

Was wondering what those spotty big leaved plants were. I have grown lettuce the Kratky method before. Got some growing now in a trough with a reservoir.

 

[AspenCultivator]

Was wondering what those spotty big leaved plants were. I have grown lettuce the Kratky method before. Got some growing now in a trough with a reservoir.

Hey Joe! Thanks for coming by. I saw your hydro cucumbers a while ago, what an awesome harvest you had.

In your experience with kratky, do you refill your reservoir before harvest? I'm thinking I'm going to be picking from these as they grow, so I'll probably just top them up if I notice the water is low. I have an Aerogarden as well so I just tossed in some stock nutes from that into each jar. Seems to be working very well now, as I have roots through the cups and into the water.

 

[sjb504]

The Time Has Come

Hi everyone, and happy Saturday! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Lots and lots of pics are incoming.

Last night the AP was a bit down and I knew we were at just under 2 days from her last watering, so now's the time for the up-can. Finally. After 63 days in a solo cup, she'll be able to stretch her feet out a little bit and hopefully just keep on going.

Originally I was going to layer Fox Farms Ocean Forest in the bottom 2/3rd of the pot, then the top 1/3rd would be Happy Frog. Then I decided...I don't want her taking off in growth due to the OF being hot, so I mixed up 20% perlite and FF Happy Frog and loaded my pot. Just as an aside, I always put down a coffee filter in the bottom of every pot. This way I can pick it up and move it around without media coming through the holes. I do this even with nursery cups, just cut the filter up so it'll fit. I don't fold it, there's only a single layer of filter. This is important for 2 of the pics here shortly.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

The pot was filled last night and placed in the tent overnight to get up to temperature. This morning I sprayed PH 6.3 water inside the hole so the myco will stick, and popped in about 2 tbsp all on the walls and the bottom of the hole.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Next up was to finally take a peek at her roots. Everything looks great. Nice and white, fluffy roots. She wasn't root bound, and you can see the development is extraordinarily small compared to what you'd think a 63 day solo cup would look like.

Remember what I said about the coffee filter? It's completely gone after 63 days. Literally no evidence of it existing what-so-ever. Where the heck does it go? Hah. By this time the roots are obviously holding everything together so the filter isn't needed. I just find it interesting every time I take a plant out of a nursery cup the filter seems to have disappeared.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

After I added more soil to fill up to the top of the rim entirely she needed to be fed and tied back down. I bought an awl used in leather making which made poking holes in the pot effortless. No soldering irons or split plastic here. The awl works perfectly.

She got week 3 on the FF nute schedule, including calmag this time. PH 6.3 and PPM 1540. The media was a bit moist from being out in the shed during our wet winter so she only received 5 cups before run off. It took almost an hour to water her as I'd poor in a cup and wait 10 mins or so for it to soak in before adding more.

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

This pic shows how flat the top node is. I want these as flat as possible so I can get the bottom two shoots to catch up.

Alaskan Purple Day 63 Flat Top

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

And then this pic shows the bottom node and how both shoots are angled up a bit to encourage more vigorous growth.

Alaskan Purple Day 63 (15* branches)

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Alaskan Purple Day 63

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberries Day 31

As for the blueberries they were both topped two days ago and they both have 4 new shoots coming up. I'm just letting both of them go now until their shoots are big enough to tie down, maybe a week from now? We'll see.

Blueberry #1 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberry #1 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 31

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

It's really interesting to me to see the difference between the two plants. #1 has thinner fan leaves than #2, so I'm really curious to see if there will be any difference in how they smoke.

Group shot of the tent:

Alaskan Purple & Blueberries

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 28, 2023

The AP is a bit lower than the blueberries in terms of distance from the light, but after a day or two her tops will be turned towards the light and won't have any issues catching up a bit.

If anyone is curious, the two mason jars were painted with black chalkboard spray paint and have 3" net cups. I planted some Flashy Butter Gem lettuce on the 15th (13 days ago) and they're going to be growing using the Kratky method. I'm curious how it's going to turn out, so this is just a mini-project going on as the magic plants veg out these next few weeks.

And last but certainly not least I just had to show my tent defender, Lily. If she's not running around the house (1 yr old maine coon mix) going batshit insane she's sleeping up there. Must be warm!

Heavy update today, thank you for reading and making it to the end! I appreciate everyone's support, and it looks like now we're going to be on auto-pilot for a while. Till next time!

Looking great am excited too see where AP goes now...

 

[Joe Brewster]

Hey Joe! Thanks for coming by. I saw your hydro cucumbers a while ago, what an awesome harvest you had.

In your experience with kratky, do you refill your reservoir before harvest? I'm thinking I'm going to be picking from these as they grow, so I'll probably just top them up if I notice the water is low. I have an Aerogarden as well so I just tossed in some stock nutes from that into each jar. Seems to be working very well now, as I have roots through the cups and into the water.

no expert here I just muddle along & see what works.
I had a setup before where I could lift the top to check the roots.
What I have now I just add water & give nutrients about every 3rd watering or if I see yellowing.
3part 4week veg about half strength of cannabis feed.
You can see it in the background.
Started growing it, because I'd eat grass before paying $5 for a head of lettuce.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

I’ve grown a few of these, you’re going to love it. They’re beautiful plants, super colorful.

 

[AspenCultivator]

Hi Everyone! Not much to update on other than looking at them grow right now. Over the last few days I've been snipping fans off of the AP that are blocking light. I started tucking them first but realized after a day that moisture was building up between the leaves that were touching. I have no problem cutting stuff off, so if I notice a leaf can't be tucked behind another branch it'll come off. I've also been taking the bottom nodes on all 4 branches. By the time these grow to a size to even turn towards the light it'll be too late. No reason to have her waste the energy on those growth sites.

Alaskan Purple Day 66

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 31, 2023

She's already been laid down to the edge of her 1 gallon pot, so now I'm not exactly sure how to keep her laid down as the blueberries catch up. I have the 3 gallon fabric pots that were originally for the AP anyway, before I decided to go 5 gallon sips for the blues. I could up-pot into the 3 and flower out that way once she needs it, or try to guide the branches around the edge of the pot, or both. Not really sure yet. I'll give it some time and see where the blues are at and decide then.

As for the blueberries nothing has been done to them as I'm letting her 4 new shoots grow out. The water levels have dropped maybe a cm or more, which is nice to see. I'd like the res' to get down to between an 1/8 and 1/4 full and then I'll feed them to get back up to the half gallon mark. With them still being small and not drinking a shit ton of water every day I'm nervous to feed through the res and have that solution sit for more than a few days. I don't know what the PH is going to do if the nute solution sits. It might be worth mixing up a batch and letting it sit for a few days and testing the PH, so we'll see.

Blueberry #1 Day 34

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 31, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 34

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 31, 2023

Alaskan Purple & Blueberries

• AspenCultivator
• Jan 31, 2023

I appreciate you stopping in!

 

[AspenCultivator]

Oh and one more thing, I increased the KS2500 from 50% to 75% today. ViparSpectra recommends 18" @ 75% in veg so I should have turned it up a week or 2 ago. I'm not used to having lights that adjust so I honestly forgot about that!

 

[AspenCultivator]

Happy Wednesday to everyone! Short and simple update: the blueberries are looking hungry and I noticed it a few days ago, so this morning it was time to feed. I didn't want to fill the res' to 100% yet so they both got 1/4 gallon of full strength week 3 on the FF nute schedule. PH 6.3 and PPM 1220.

The res' are now just below the 3/4 gallon mark. I'm still a bit worried about the synthetic nutes just sitting in the res because they aren't big enough to be drinking a ton per day. So, we'll see what they look like in a few days.

Alaskan Purple & Blueberries

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 1, 2023

 

[AspenCultivator]

Happy Saturday to everyone! I hope everyone had a great week.

The AP has been cruising and seems to really enjoy her 1 gal pot. Over the last few days I've just been monitoring her ties and re-adjusting where it needs it. Also removing a fan or two if I can't tuck them behind a branch. Pretty smooth sailing so far. I'm still waiting for her to drain the pot, it's been 7 days since she was last fed and the pot is getting lighter for sure. But until I see a droop she won't be watered.

Alaskan Purple Day 70

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 4, 2023

Alright, now, the blueberries. I had a feeling this was coming, and here it is. In my previous post a few days ago you can see they both needed fed, so they got fed. However they aren't big enough to drain the reservoir in any meaningful amount of time so I do believe they're just sitting in this nutrient solution and it's starting to get twisted in the reservoirs. Unfortunately I just don't have the time today to flush both of them out today, so that'll be done first thing tomorrow morning unless someone comes on here and tells me not to for some reason.

Blueberry #1 Day 38

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 4, 2023

Blueberry #1 Day 38 Deficiency

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 4, 2023

I actually don't even have time to look this pattern up until tomorrow, so would anyone happen to know what this is? It's showing up on both blueberries fairly consistently, however it doesn't seem to have affected #2 as much as it has #1 (YET!).

Blueberry #2 Day 38

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 4, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 38 Deficiency

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 4, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 38 Deficiency

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 4, 2023

Blueberry #2 Day 38 Deficiency

• AspenCultivator
• Feb 4, 2023

Gah can't we just get a few more hours each day when we need them??!? I appreciate anyone's thoughts on my next steps. I'm pretty sure flushing the reservoirs are going to be the first thing tomorrow morning, but if that's not the case please tell me why! Both res' are currently at 3/4 full and falling...but falling very slowly. I'm thinking they need to be flushed a metric shit ton to get as much old feed water out as possible then filling them up to 1/4 gallon. This would give them time to drain the res (but not remain dry, very important) and I can assess and go from there. Thanks for coming in!

 

[Melville Hobbes]

Looks like a calcium deficiency to me.
Maybe mag as well.

 

[sjb504]

I had faith A.P would start to take off . Not really sure about the blueberry sorry

 

[AspenCultivator]

Looks like a calcium deficiency to me.
Maybe mag as well.

Thanks Melville! I had a few minutes to check the plant abuse chart and I'm going to agree that you're right. They've only received cal/mag twice in their lives, so now instead of flushing the reservoirs I may target a small top feed of just phed calmag.

@OGpapa you said you used Happy Frog all the way to harvest, right? I'll take a look through your journals, but can you tell me if you use calmag and how often? I actually thought HF was a soil that didn't need it, but I must be wrong.

I had faith A.P would start to take off . Not really sure about the blueberry sorry

Me too SJB! She's really going now, especially after being up-potted. The lower node's tops are now at the same height as her top nodes, so now it's just a matter of keeping everything flat until the blueberries are ready. I may start circling some nodes around the pot and doing some extreme bonsai stuff because the blueberries are going to need a few more weeks before flip.