AeroGarden Part Two - Featuring TopLED Reflector Series 96x3w

Renegade69

Well-Known Member
Whaaazzzuuuuppppp.....LOL.

What's up 420er's. Just when you thought it was safe to not talk about the AG. It's been 2 years since I posted about growing out of the AG. As you all know I was in the middle of a move and couldn't really get started. Then my teenage son moved in with me and I put it all to rest to be a better father.

Well that work is complete and yes it was successful. So now back to my hobby...LOL.

AeroGarden and Weed...lol. I am glad to see that on other boards and images others have tried and have been very successful with proving that it was possible to do a home grow out of these tiny little units. I've been inspired by my little brother who has a successful outdoor grow in So Cali to re-visit and complete my own successful grow.
 
AeroGarden Part Two!

This is my second AeroGarden Journal. First journal and grow wasn't successful for reason outside of my control. Not going to be the same this time.

Several White Widow seeds left behind from the August 2010 attempt. Also have some Afgan Kush my baby brother sent me from Cali and just ordered some Bubblelicious from Nirvana. All fem's so I may just try and pop all three flavors at the same time and play with that. Still haven't decided.

So we've all heard about it now lets' give it a go. My statement from my first attempt. Since then, I've seen others who have attempted and were very successful in growing from these little toys so this is just my shot at being just as successful.

I will update as often as work and life allows and will include pics when we meet a stepping stone.

Begin this journal with as much information as possible so everyone is on track with me and I hope to get some valuable input.

So let it begin...

A pic to start with....

7640.jpg
 
And so it has begun....

First week and this is just the prelims for what's to come.

AeroGarden Experiment Notes....

Cleared out an old "Sauder" computer hutch cabinet and began building it for AG. Put Mylar on walls of upper and lower shelf. Lower shelf will be used for second AG. Second AG will be used for Clones. Plan is to rotate from bottom to top. Cubby's above top shelf will be used for germination. Limited light but it's above heat source so get's plenty enough heat.

Upper shelf space is approximately 35 X 24 = 5sqft

Lower shelf space is approximately 24 X 19 = 3sqft

Since it's been said that CO2 is important I purchased "The Green Pad". Based on the area I am working with I will cut the pad in half which will give me 10 weeks of CO2. I will change out the pad same time I flush and add new nute's. First pad goes in the beginning of week 2.

First week or two notes will be more scientific till I balance out temp, humidity, PH, CO2 and PPM (as soon as I figure out what PPM is...LOL)

Unless otherwise stated these notes are for upper shelf area only. Till I begin the cloning phase.

Equipment and notes:

1. Computer hutch. Other equipment for hutch is heat pads, heat lamp, fans, fish tank air pump w/air stone

2. AG Pro100, (2) 50 watt CFL bulbs. So only getting 100 watts out of unit. And before all you SME's out there start laughing and saying there's no way....remember many have been successful with this unit as is. Yes Ideally hydro wants to be at or near 1000 watts but this unit works with what it's got. Hood at its highest setting is 12". Lowest setting is 6". Will begin pruning when plant reaches 3-6" and train when it reaches 8". Hope to create SOG at 8". Will be making my own trellis for this. Reservoir is approximately 1 gallon.

3. First round of germination I used the AG itself. Seeds went from freezer to pods to AG. Nute's introduced at this time using GH's FloraSeries Performance Pack recalculating schedule. Will try floating technique for germination the next time. More successful then just planting/inserting. Can see seeds pop.

4. (2) White Widow seeds this time. Seeds have been stored in freezer since 2010. Regardless of outcome of this test will use Afgan Kush, Bubblishous and White Widow seeds at the same time. 2 each. All fem's

5. Distilled water of course. Will flush with tap water but using distilled for nute's.

6. Will be monitoring PH levels. Initial reading was at or above 7.0. Need to get PH Up & Down to help maintain PH. Ideal levels should be between 5.5-6.5.

7. Will be sexing as soon as I have at least 4 internodes. Even though fem seeds were purchased need practice sexing anyway.

8. Will be "Pruning" "Training" to control height

9. If all is successful will be cloning to begin next grown or abandon this grow and go with number #4 above

10. If all goes well will begin flowering and blooming in 8 to 12 weeks

Suggestions and input welcomed....

Renegade69

PUFF, PUFF PASSED OUT....LOL.
 
29 Jan 14, Wednesday

Week 1, Day 1. Started AG.

Lost fucking notes about heat issues the first week but by Friday (3rd day) 1 of the 2 seeds pop'd. Nice little COTYLEDONS (first set) flower in the right side pod. Nothing out of left side yet. Left side has 10 days to pop otherwise it's not going to happen. Checked PH and it was at or above 8.0 after nute's were added. Not good but will monitor to see what happens. Need to purchase PH Up and Down to help maintain PH. However was having some serious problems getting heat up to MY ideal range of at +- 85. Heat started out at 78. Put first heat pad in to help.

30 Jan 14, Thursday

Week 1, Day 2. Put second heating pad in and wrapped both around AG on the back side. Front side still open to view. Closed off the holes behind fans to help keep heat in. Temp played around low 80's

31 Jan 14, Friday

Week 1, Day 3. By Friday temp was finally regular at 81-83. Settling in at 82. Lights are still out.

01 Feb 14, Saturday

Week 1, Day 4. Sometime during Friday night Saturday morning the first of the 2 seeds pop'd and by early Saturday morning the first set of leaves could be seen.

The method of germination was using the AG as my germinator. Pulled seeds directly from the freezer to the pod. Added the first weeks of nutrients based on GH's first week schedule. Seed pop'd on the 3rd day. Took dome off and left lights on permanent now. Turned off heating pads.

Temp holding steady around 84 but humidity was only 27%. My ideal temp range.

The COTYLEDONS look healthy. By the afternoon the second set of leaves could be seen. And by late night the tap root was already in reservoir. Great start.

Water temp is at 32.3 degrees Celsius=90.14 Fahrenheit. PPM is at 460. Humidity is at 26%. Humidity is way too low for temp. At 2013, put a small dish of warm water in cabinet. Will monitor for humidity changes. PH is at or above 7.0. Need PH UP and DOWN to help maintain PH.

Pulled covers off of holes behind fans now that lights are on.

Temp @2200 was at 84 and humidity was at 27%.

Temp @Midnight was at 86. Cabinet doors are closed but left the closet doors open for the night to see if temp goes down over night. Still haven't turned fans on.

02 Feb 14, Sunday

Temp @0900 was at 80 and humidity is holding at 27%. Although temp is within range of 70-85 I still turned the heating pad on high setting. Want to get hold temp closer to 85. Left cabinet open for awhile to allow fresh air to get in and temp dropped to 77 but humidity raised to 33%. Sprout still looks good.

Since sprout has 2 sets of leaves, lowered hood to lowest setting (6"). When I did this temp went up to 79 and humidity dropped to 32%.

Turned on 1 fan (I have 2 "Salient" computer fans installed) temp went up to 81 within 15 minutes and humidity holding at 31. These two readings are satisfactory if they hold. Since fan is on I closed cabinet and stepping away to let everything settle. Time now is 1130.

By 1700, temp settled in at 82 and humidity holding at 32%. No heating pad, 1 fan running, hood at lowest level. Sprout looking healthy with first set of leaves getting fuller and second set about half the size of first. Still nothing out of second seed but holding on to hope.

This is day 5 of the first week and by all accounts have been pretty successful. If you disagree please provide some insight.... Don't just see the negative speak on the positive so positive movement forward can be accomplished. (Yea, mine...coined and noted)

Walking away to watch the big game. Being a Dol-Fan you know who I'm cheering for....Go Seahawks!!!

Renegade69

Pass it this way Smokie....LOL.
 
02 Feb 14, Sunday

Week 1 Day 5. Temp @ 0900 was at 80 and humidity is holding at 27%. Although temp is within range of 70-85 I still turned the heating pad on high setting. Want to get hold temp closer to 85. Left cabinet open for awhile to allow fresh air to get in and temp dropped to 77 but humidity raised to 33%. Sprout still looks good.

Since sprout has 2 sets of leaves, lowered hood to lowest setting (6"). When I did this temp went up to 79 and humidity dropped to 32%. Turned on 1 fan (I have 2 "Salient" computer fans installed) temp went up to 81 within 15 minutes and humidity holding at 31. These two readings are satisfactory if they hold. Since fans are on I closed cabinet and stepped away to let everything settle. Time now is 1130.

By 1700, temp settled in at 82 and humidity holding at 32%. No heating pad, 1 fan running, hood at lowest level. Sprout looking healthy with first set of leaves getting fuller and second set about half the size of first. Still nothing out of second seed but holding on to hope.

Walking away to watch the big game. Being a Dol-Fan you know who I'm cheering for....Go Seahawks!!!

Last check of the evening. At 2300, temp holding at 84 and humidity is at 30%.

Nite, nite sweet princess...lol.

03 Feb 14, Monday

Week 1, Day 6. Temp at 0600 was 84 and humidity was at 30%. Sprout looks good.

Temp @ 1800 was 86 and humidity at 34%. Opened cabinet doors to allow for circulation and turned on 2nd fan.

Within 30 mins of turning 2nd fan on and opening doors temp dropped to 84 and humidity went up to 41%

Tap root is more root like. Primary root and many lateral roots. Primary root a slight off white color and lateral roots a very white color. Each lateral root has tiny little root hairs growing off them.

Sprout looks great with second set of leaves as big as the first. Pic's to follow.

Ordered GH's PH Up/Down to help maintain PH. Overnight it so it will be here in time to flush and add week 2's nutes. Put a digital PH meter (HM's Digital pH/Temperature Meter since I already have HM's TDS-4/TDS-4TM) in my cart and will order it in the next couple weeks till then I'm using GH's pH Test Indicator that came with the FloraSeries Performance Pack.

All this name calling....LOL. Hey guys you should be sending me some free supplies....LOL. HMU...

Lesson learned in how important the fans are in not just circulating the air but also in bringing up humidity. Strange in a laymen's world how does it do it...who cares it does...LOL.

By late evening temp bounces between 82-84 and humidity holding steady at 41% with no fluctuation.

IMG_0638_800x598_.jpg


IMG_0642_598x800_.jpg
 
Last update for the evening....

Water temp on 01 Feb 14, @ 32.3 degrees Celsius = 90.14 Fahrenheit. PPM @ 460. Humidity is at 26%.
PH seems to be holding at or above 7.0.

Water temp on 03 Feb 14 at 2200 was @ 30.5 degrees Celsius = 86.90 Fahrenheit. PPM @ 434. Humidity is at 40%. PH seems to be holding at or above 7.0.

Closed cabinet at 2230 and temp was 82 with 40% humidity.

My little gurl looks good...
 
04 Feb 14, Tuesday

Week 1, Day 7. Temp @ 0600 was 84 and humidity was 36%. Humidity drops at night when the doors are closed?

Temp @ 1800 was 82 and humidity was 35%. Opened doors for the evening. Turned heating pad on high since outside (outdoors) temp's are in the 40's. Rental house in poorly insulated and drafts very easy.

And my Little, little, little is looking soooo good....LOL. Proud Poppa Bear. I call her Little Baby Gurl. Third set of leaves can be seen poking their little heads out. Pic to follow. Morning should be very noticeable.

Temp @ 2230 was at 81 and humidity was at 40. Closed doors for the night.

Milestones this week:

Set up grow cabinet, Success!
Get seed to germinate straight from AG, Success! Seed pop’d 2-3 day with sprout noticeable by 3rd day. By end of the week 3rd set of leaves can be seen
Regulate heat and humidity, Success!
Begin using ALL materials purchased for cabinet, Success! Mylar, heat pads, heat lamp, fans, air stone, thermometer, mini flash light, tweezers, PPM meter, nutrients, CO2 pads, Rockwool cubes and PH meter. Except for the last three....Success!

Special note: Trellis will be approximately 7 1/2" by 16" and square's will be no more than 2-3"

Looking to get some "Mighty Wash" to protect from mites and bugs

Read up on "Super Cropping" versus "Training"
 
05 Feb 14, Wednesday

Week 2, Day 1....

Temp @ 0600 was at 82 with humidity of 35?

Temp @ 1830 was at 88 with humidity of 37%. Heating bad was left on during the day. Turned heating pad off and left doors opened.

So pre drain, flush and new nutrient readings: Cabinet temp @ 84, humidity 39%, reservoir water temp 31.4 = 88.5, PPM 430, pulled 5ml of res water and added 5 drops of PH test indicator (standard for all measurements), PH at or BELOW 7.0...slight drop from first day. Will adjust new nute's to within 5.5-6.5. Tap water temp brought to within 88-90 degrees, PPM 115, PH at 7.0. Fresh distilled water before nute's: temp 25.4=77.72, PPM 000...(wow, really? Had to retest tap water to make sure TDS-4 was working. Yep...within 120), PH at or below 7.0.

Early evening, mixed nute's, checked PH, adjusted PH, Flushed reservoir, added nute's per GH's week 2 schedule, introduce CO2 pads. Per "The Green Pad", suggestions, since pad is activated by 35% or above humidity (currently holding at 40%) will not be misting...maybe. Suggestions also warn against cutting, tearing, saturating or allow to drip (which means too much misting). Based on this warning (since we don't know what will happen if I cut as planned) pads will be changed out every two weeks instead of every week.

After nutrients were added to distilled water the PPM at or above 999, PH at or below 4.0. Brought PH up to 6.0 as best I could. Very difficult with PH Test Indicator kit that came with GH. Need digital PH tester. After PH was stable PPM was well above 999 (x 10 indicator was seen on the TDS-4)

Flushed reservoir 3 times with tap water.

Added fresh nutrients and hung CO2 pad. Sprayed pad very lightly. Will spray lightly daily. Don't want any drip in cabinet.

At 2200 temp and humidity after everything added and settled in was at 82 with humidity at 41%

Baby gurl has full 3rd set of leaves. See pics below...

IMG_0655_800x598_.jpg

IMG_0654_598x800_.jpg

IMG_0653_800x598_.jpg


Next week I will begin working on trellis.
 
06 Feb 14, Thursday

Temp @ 0600 was 81, humidity was 34%

Temp @ 1800 was 81, humidity was 32%

Couldn't wait for next week to begin working on trellis so I purchased the materials for the trellis today. 1 stick of 1/2 water PVC and 1 stick of 1/2 PVC Sch40, couplings, 3 way couplings. Height of trellis frame was 10 1/2". I think I will cut legs at various lengths so that I can adjust height as Baby Gurl grows. Trellis netting will arrive this weekend and I will complete my trellis then.

Lights at their highest setting from shelf is 18 1/2". Height from shelf to AG deck is 6", Height from AG deck to lights lowest setting is 6".

To the highest setting is 12". From AG deck to trellis max height is 10 1/2". Which gives me 10 1/2" growth on plants.

Lights go up 6 clicks from 6", 7", 8 1/2", 9 1/2", 11', 12 1/2".

I want to/must maintain a distance of 2-4" from top of plants to lights since lights are only giving me 100watts.

During the evening while cabinet was open, temp stayed around 79 and 80, with humidity at 27-29%. With heating pad on and wrapped around back side of AG temp raised to 85-88.

Temp @ 2300 was 81, humidity was 34% with heating pad on.

IMG_0668_800x598_.jpg


IMG_0670_800x598_.jpg
 
07 Feb 14, Friday

Temp @ 0600 was 82, humidity was 28%, with heating pad on all night. Left heating pad on all day.

Temp @ 1800 was 84, humidity was 27%. Opened the doors for the evening. Heat stayed in the low 80's.

Trellis material arrived and I was very disappointed. Side note: If you're not buying your supplies from Amazon your just missing out. I emailed them to set up a return and they promptly issued a refund and told me to keep the material. No use to me. It came with 7" squares and I was looking for 2-3 or even 4" squares for my AG.

With that said I decided to make my own. Framing material was already purchased so i just put them all together and then taking a suggestion from one of the SME's here I drilled holes in the sides and ran my nylon rope until the finished product. See the pics...

I also took pics of Baby Gurl. Looking very nice. Now that the 3rd set of leaves have grown out the rest of the plant is coming along nicely. Growing very fast in my opinion but could be the norm.

Still all in all, I'm very satisfied with the start of this project/hobby.

IMG_0678_598x800_.jpg

IMG_0679_598x800_.jpg

IMG_0680_800x598_.jpg

IMG_0686_800x598_.jpg

IMG_0681_800x598_.jpg

IMG_0684_800x598_.jpg

IMG_0687_800x598_.jpg
 
Temp @ 0030 was 79, humidity was 35%.

08 Feb 14, Saturday

Temp at 0900 was 82, humidity was 29%.

Temp dropped to 79. Had to wrap heating pad around AG to bring temp up and then left heating pad in the upper shelf along the side wall. Temp is holding at 82.

PH 3 days after nute's were added is in the range of 6.0. Nice....

Got some pointer’s from 420 on how to bring up my humidity. Hung a wet papertowel in front of fans and it brought humidity up to 33% from 29%. Interesting. Will get a humidifier tomorrow.

Temp at 2300 was 82 and humidity was 33%. Reset thermostats for the night.
 
09 Feb 14, Sunday

Temp at 0700 was 82 and humidity was 22. High and lows for the night were 81-84 and 80-85 (2 thermometers) Humidity was 22-34%.

Put another wet paper towel inside along with an 8”X8” glass dish of water and within 10 minutes humidity already up to 27%. But temp dropped to 79, probably because of the water being introduced. Not concerned about the temp, I'm still within range. Just need to figure out the humidity thing early. Glass dish was placed in cubby above AG and small glass dish was placed against heating pad that is on the same shelf as AG but off to one side. Humidity is slowly rising, up to 30% now.

Been gone all day (which is good cause I would have been looking in on her all day…side note, she better be a “She”….lol). So temp when

I got back was 82 and humidity was at 32. Highs’ for the day was 85 and 35% humidity. Prior to rise in temp and humidity she was looking limp at best. Leaves drooping and sagging. Now she is full and leaves are no longer drooping and touching base of AG, a lesson in how important humidity is pics to follow.

IMG_0697_800x598_.jpg

IMG_0696_800x598_.jpg

IMG_0695_800x598_.jpg


So I replaced the small dish next to the heating pad with the 8X8 dish, more volume. This makes sense since the water heating up will produce humidity. Temp and humidity holding steady at 82 and 32. Reset thermostats for the night.

If this works it will be another mile stone met germination, nutrients, lights, heat, PPM, PH and humidity, and the importance of the last 3, actually the importance of all of them…lol.
 
11 Feb 14, Tuesday

Temp at 0600 was 82, humidity was 32%

Temp at 2000 was 82, humidity was 32%. PPM finally dropped below 1000 and is currently at 997 and water temp is at 28.2C. Tomorrow she gets flushed and fresh nutrients added.

Reservoir low added fresh distilled water. This is the widest leaved plant that I have ever seen. And growth at 2 weeks seems big...again it may be normal but what do I know...LOL. Not sure if it's the Stipules, Calyx, Pistils or what they are but they are growing out of where the Petioles or leaves come out of the stalk. Dam don't I sound smart...LOL. But I can read...LOL.

Her first and second set of broad leaves span 7 1/2". Is this normal?? Her overall height is only 2".

This is supposed to be "White Willow" anyone else have experience with this strain? It's old. I bought the seeds a few years back and have been storing them in the freezer next to the hamburger...LOL.

I just never seen leaves this wide is all....

Whatcha think?

IMG_0701_800x598_.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom