I thought it outstanding news as well lol. I thought I mentioned previously it didnt have an odd smell, and just smelled like bleach. I might have forgot to add that bit to it. I just thought it odd that I saw no particle evidence in the res of new growth. I don't have any small particle filters in the res, just the large filters to prevent damage to the pumps. The res is thankfully nice and clear.
I now have the chlorine and PH balanced out where I want it. The PH is set around 6.6 because as the chlorine disipates into the air the acidity rises. That is just a theory I am working on to keep it from getting to acidic. (bleach is rating way too basic for any of my drops to measure) The bleach is atleast 8.6 on the PH scale if not much higher. After about 5 minutes a test vial goes from 6.6 to 6.0 exposed to air and light.
I am thinking about trying a carbon filter using some of the poly fill I got to use as the small particle filters.. It won't catch everything, but it will work.
On a side note. The poly fill is not very wicking in comparison to the finer fiber poly batting for quilts. I will be using the poly fill for the tomatoes as I am going to try them as a drip return system. My main concern with the poly fill is that I have to ensure I don't fill the nets completely with it, because it is hydrophobic and will collect a little water on the top before it lets the water drain through.
I took a ton of pics today to give some updates.
I will start with a spacial test I did just to see if it will work lol
It is oregano and cilantro in a simple plastic planter box. This one cost me about 4 dollars and has perfect sized holes to push a 1/2" pvc conduit bulkhead through and seals up perfectly.. It holds about 2" of water on the bottom that has not circulated in about a week and is still nice and clean. I am not sure why nothing has settled into it yet, but I am just going to count myself lucky. I am going to add some mutrients circulating through it later, but I have just been letting it do it's own thing and I am impressed with the results.
1st pic is the MANY oregano
seeds that will most likely croud themselves out over time. They have about 90%+ sprout rate just sitting there in whatever moisture happened upon them. This was a VERY lazy germination on this system and I will try to keep it as lazy as I can to see how long the plants in it live with minimal help lol..
2 and 3 are some of the cilantro seeds that if you look close you can see some roots.
4 is of the planter just sitting there
5 is of the drain line sitting under the oregano side of the batting.
6 is the other side of the drain line that runs to the res.
7 is just a pic of the thermometer I use. The res stays about there now that I closed the window next to the system
8 is a pic of the inside of the res. It shows the UV filter. nice clear water. The white probe wire for the thermometer, the air stones (turned down for the pic) sitting on the bottom of the rest, and you might be able to see the
pump in the back that runs the system.
9 Is a pic of the tomato plants for an update. They are pushing new leaves and getting ready for real growth. The blank one is a learning experience that I will have to make sure I take cuttings from the believe it or not if I like the tomatoes it makes. The seeds take forever to germinate, if I can even get them to. I had 2 seeds fail to germinate so far of that variety. After I get that plant going perhaps I will offer to send some rooted cuttings to some people here as a thank you lol.
10 is a pic of the "special" amish paste I mentioned before.
I guess I will have to post another of the Living Basil. I am surprised on how well it seems to be trying to bounce back. The only signs of damage it shows is that the seedling leaves are mostly burned away, but the non burnt portions of them are actually looking strong and the new leaves are growing larger.