My seeds are sowed!
 

So I finally did it, yesterday purchased what I needed to get started! It was so much fun picking out the seeds. I even made little row tags to remember what I planted. I used an old heating pad (dosen't auto shut off like the new ones) under the seed tray and it kept a constant temp overnight so this morning I planted 72 seeds. My system will have 60 holes so I hope 72 is enough. Somebody should have warned me how small those seeds are! I know it is late to start the seeds, but it has been unusually cold here in the pacific northwest and I haven't even started on my greenhouse yet. Besides I plan to have a year round greenhouse so I guess it dosen't really matter when I start as long as I start. Hoping today to breakground by renting a sod cutter to remove the grass in the area where the greenhouse is planned and move it to an area where the grass needs to be replaced in my backyard. I hope to take picts to document the progress. It is raining again, I think we have doubled our yearly rain fall and it is only June.

Congrats on getting them started! Planting seeds is what finally made me move from "analysis paralysis" to actually building something to put them in.

And I hear you about our weather in the NW this year. We recently had those few days of sun, and I swear I could almost see things growing. The nights are warming up a little, but it's still pretty cloudy and cool each day.

Here's hoping to at least two months of sun this summer!

So a small change in plans.... Last night my daughter, girlfriend and her kids came over for dinner and they brought me their school projects as it was the last day of school. They brought me a small pumpkin and squash plant that they stated from seeds in their classroom. Since the greenhouse hasn't been started yet, I bought the parts for a DWC system and will be setting it up later tonight so the kids can help me. I also bought some cantalope plants that are only a little smaller to go in the bubbler with them. I will post pict later, I am really excited to show the next generation all about hydroponics!!!

So the DWC is all done! With the help of a 7 yo and 2 6 yo's it took me a lot longer to build then I thought it would. Boy sure do see what people are saying about rinsing out the clay pellets, it took forever for the water to run clear. The Ph is still a little on the high side, but I'm gonna recheck it in the am. So I planted 4 cantalope and some sort of pumpkin and some sort of squash. The system is outside for now, really don't have anyplace to put it indoors that has enough light and vacation is over today. Next week hoping to get started on the greenhouse (fingers crossed).

Look what I found this morning!
 

So excited, woke up and went to check the temp and look what I found!!! I did not expect them so soon, I only planted them on the evening of the 8th.:p

What are you using as growing medium for your seeds?

The rapid rooter? cubes (100 for $24.99 at our 1 and only local store)

And it was actually AM not PM they were planted, but still on the 8th.

************************* edit ***************************

So I'm an idiot........ Cleaning up this am I actually looked at the bag and the cubes are actually called root riot. Sorry if I confused some of you out there, you really should have called me on it so I checked it out sooner.

Woke up this am and now there are 20 seedlings, mostly lettuce and tomato's. Sooooo excited!!! :p Tomorrow is my day off and I'm gonna have to get them some more light than is just coming thru the window as they are starting to reach for it. The outside plants are doing well also, one was wilted when I came home last night and then I remembered I need to water them for a few days till their roots reach the water. It came back and was fine this am, they all look really strong.

This am woke up and found 27 seedlings that included 2 snow peas and 2 mini carrots.

If you didn't see my edit above, I was wrong and the cubes are called root riot. Sorry for the missinformation, I will try to be more accurate in the future (spelling not included :D)

So are they starting to look leggy or are they suppose to look like this? I am getting a light on them today. Was given 4 T-8 lights from my mom's kitchen remodel that I have to rewire to be plugged in. From what I have read, they should be ok for the seedling and grow stage.

The outside plants in the DWC are doing really well. Had my husband water them while I was at work yesterday and they look really strong; never really saw them go into any kind of shock even though 3 kids helped me "plant" them and wash off all the dirt. Today is suppose to be really windy 40+ mph and I'm kind of worried about them since they can't have a very stong grip on the clay pellets yet. When I go into town today, I am going to pick up some more air stones as I have 4 outlets and the more air the better right?

Have a happy Monday to all of you headed to work, it is my Saturday :D

Hello fintuckyfarms,
Thanks for clarifying the info about the starter cubes. I hadn't seen the edit. I also had no reason to question it ether. I haven't used the rapid rooters, or the root riot, but I would guess they are both pretty close to the same thing. I know the rapid rooters are supposed to be made from organic material as well, and the price for both is just about identical. It looks like the root riot cubes are working well for you so far. Though at about a quarter for each cube, a bit too expensive for me to really consider using on a large scale.

The seedlings get leggy if they don't get enough light. The 4 T8's should do the job, just keep them as close to the plants as you can. But if your not able to get the lights wired today, you may try putting the seedlings outside in the sunlight until you can get the lights running (unless it's too cold or hot outside). They tend to dry out faster outside, but the clear dome lid should keep the humidity in, and the cubes moist.

Hopefully your plants wont blow away in the wind. We get heavy winds from time to time also, and it can sometimes cause a real problem. I tend to use rocks, sometimes in a pillowcase to weigh things down, or anchor wind breaks to block as much of the wind as I can. Yes, the more air to the roots the better, so making use of the 3 extra air outlet ports is a very good idea. My only concerns with that system are that I cant tell if it's light proof, and if not you will likely get algae growth. Also cantaloupe, pumpkin, and squash are all large vines. Even if you trellis them (and the heavy fruit), the size of the plants will likely make maintenance difficult.

Thank you so much for your information!
Yes the container is light proof, it is a very thick green rubbermaid and no light shows thru it. I picked it out especially keeping in mind all that I learned from this forum. As for the size of the plants, I havent really decided if that will be their permanent home or just their "right now" home till I figure something else out. Kind of been floating around an idea of using an old stocktank I have and making it an ebb and flow system with a 8 foot length of ridgid hog fence on one side for them to crawl up. I already have all this except the pump so it would mostly just be labor on my part.

I did manage to finish the light last night. It was harder then I thought it was going to be and I learned lots for "next time". I basically followed a design I found on the web (youtube I think) and made it out of mostly recycled parts I had laying arround. My mom gave me the light fixtures from her kitchen remodel, I did buy the concrete form for less then $10, used some scrap wood, some spray adhesive, a rescue blanket (97 cents). I did have to buy the new cord so I could plug it in; less then $10 and used some screws I had. TADA it's done with some help from my son. Now I just have to figure out how to hang it up :eek: My only concern is that the reflective part is wrinkled and I hope that does not adversely affect the eficiency of it. Next time i will overlap 3 strips of it so I have better control of it.

So here is the finished product. Again not a permanet home, just trying to get the little guys some light as the HVAC guy comes today to replace my heatpump and I wont have much time to fiddle with it. Eventually it will hang over a bench in the greenhouse but until then I will have to find a better place in the home that is out of the way and not on my new wood floors. I know it is not "ideal" and the light is probably too far way, but it is the best I can do today. I am surprised at how much light it puts out. Way more than what is coming in from both the south and the west windows.

So after only about 20 minutes most of the little guys were standing straight up, but I still think that the light is too far away, so I removed the hood and put the light much closer. There are about 30 of the 72 seeds sprouted so far but I do see more green in the holes. I find it interesting that the plants on the premiter came up first, maybe the heat is too high even on low or maybe the ones in the middle just have a longer germination time. I think the tomato's got pretty leggy, but I hope that getting the light on them will help. I did read somewhere that a fan on them will help make thick strong stalks; might try that also.

So here is one for the strange and bazar.... I removed the seedling try to see the level of water in the reservoir and look what I found!!
I think it is a carrot seedling. I just grabbed a toothpick and made a very large hole and gently put the root part down into the root riot. Look how the stem is corkscrewed.. Don't know that it will make it, but I gave it a try.

Anybody have any idea what kind of plant this is? It is suppose to be a squash or a pumpkin. The outside system is doing really well, the PH is still pretty high and I'm going to go into town and get some PH down. Don't know why I didn't grab it the last time I was there. I did find out that my inside filtered system is 6.0 but it takes all day to get 8 or 9 gallons out of it for a nute change. The inside guys are doing well also, had some more sprout up but then I removed the heating pad as none of the ones in the center have sprouted. The temp is still btwn 68 and 70 without the heating pad so we will see what happens.

Hello fintuckyfarms,
Pumpkin is a squash, and as far as I can tell all squash plants look basically the same until they fruit. But it looks like they have a whole bunch of flowers on them. The pH of your household water supply can change daily, so even though it's 6.0 today, dosen't mean it will be tomorrow or next week etc.. It is possible to cook your seeds with a heating pad if your unable to control temp. I used heating pad to sprout seeds set on low, with a timer set for 30 on, and 30 off. But even so the temp could get into the upper 90's if I wasn't careful.


P.S.
If you don't already have some, you will want some pH up as well. Even if your water pH is never low, there will be times you use too much pH down, and need to get it back up again. Especially in the beginning when your just learning how much pH adjuster to use to get your pH in the right range.

Thanks again for the words of wisdom :)
I have well water that goes thru a softner in the pumphouse then indoors it again goes thru another filter system. It seems to stay at 6.0 for PH everytime I test it; maybe luck ;) but it is only on the kitchen sink.

I probably "cooked" the seeds in the center. I will wait another week and replant if they do not sprout. Lesson learned and I expect to kill of a few more before I'm done. I guess I live by the moto "nothing messed up, nothing learned". I think I have an old waterbed heater that has a thermostat on it that may be more controlable. If not I will probably splurge and by the heating pad my local store sells. The timer is an excellent idea, not only for the heater but also the lights the seeds are under. I might go to walmart on my next day off and pick up a couple, I think they were only a couple of dollars each.

I am also going to contact our master gardner thru the local extension office and see if he knows of anybody else playing with hydroponics in the area. I think it will be fun to compare stuff and see what people in my area are doing for heat/cold control, etc

So I finally was able to get some PH down today. The store was sold out and not expecting any till Wednesday, but they kept one bottle and gave out small amounts to their customers till it comes in. So I was able to lower the PH on the outside plants today. Waiting to see some results as the PH was about 7.6 and I lowered it to 6.4. Will test it again tomorrow am before work and see where it lands. I see some leaf curling on the plants and I hope lowering the PH will help. I still have no clue what the plant is that is flowering. I've looked at several plants on-line and I just don't see anything like what I have.

The inside plants are doing great! A few more have sprouted and the light is keeping the new ones from getting leggy. Yea some success!!! But they are not gonna wait till the greenhouse is built before they need to get into their next home. May just have to build it in the backyard and move it when the greenhouse is built.

So the PH was still a little high this am, added some more PH down and now it is reading 6.2. I think that because I am only using the grow part and not all 3 parts is why I'm having this issue. I'm only using it till the floramato comes in as it is backordered in my area.

I really do not think this is any type of squash plant as the flowers are white and not yellow. The flowers are very small and the leaf shape is different too. I'm gonna keep looking today on the internet. It must be something that likes a higher PH, because it has been thriving with a upper 7 PH. I think maybe a pepper, what do ya all think?

Now that I take a closer look at the leaves they look like green beans.

Thank, I will check that out!

Everybody is "getting into" hydroponics
 

So I just couldn't resist posting this. I woke up to the cat in the seedling nursery. I guess everybody in the house is excited about hydroponics :D

Is it just me or does it look like some of those seedlings are falling over in that third pic.

yes, a few of them are. I don't know why, temp is ok, water level in the resv is ok. I've been looking on-line to day to try and figure it out. I pulg the light in when the sun comes up and unplug it when the sun goes down. I think because it got too leggy it can not support the weight of the new leaves. IDK Those are lettuce seedlings if it helps

I see the kitty is liking the light.

Kitty does like the light, however I think I overwatered the resevior when I added in the first of the nutes a few days ago and soaked the cubes. I think some of them may be damping off which sucks. There are still seeds sprouting daily. I found a web site that said some hydrogen peroxide may help so I squeezed out the excess water out of the cubes and added a few drops of it to the stalk area where it goes down into the starter cube and in the resevior. IDK, they are still bent over this morning but they are green and the tops look good. I don't see any discoloring of the roots out the bottom or on the stock that I can see. I tore open a cube to look at the root inside the cube and did not see any discoloration either. It is just some of lettuce seedlings and maybe a tomato plant (or maybe I squeezed it too hard getting the excess water out of the cube because it was fine before I did that). The new seedlings that have come up over the last 2 or 3 days all look fine. I think I will go to town and get another try for the ones that still look ok to tray and save them. The others I probably should throw out, but I'm going to wait to see if that is really what it is. Anybody have any other ideas?

So I was really feeling down about the little guys inside and I went outside to check on the system outside, WOW! After getting the PH down the roots have explooded. They are now about 10 inches long and probably at least 3 times as many. AND I think I see some growth out of the canalopes. The PH was in the high 6's, but still in the 6's, so I added some more PH down, only a few drops to get to 6.0. I think I may be getting it. Going to go into town today and see if the flormata dry is in yet because I think that will solve my PH problems.
I am a little worried about the heat this week; finally gonna see some summer temps in the 90's. I am worried about the nute temp but I think that if it gets too high I will use some frozen pop bottles to try and cool it down till I can come up with something better. I have a coworker that has a small dorm fridg who is going to give it to me for my hydroponics (maybe so I shut up about it???) and I have been looking at the coiled hose system others have tried.

Yep, those look like smaller versions of my bush beans.

fintuckyfarms
I was going to mention last night that if the cubes were over watered that could be suffocating the roots. Mainly because I wasn't sure what you meant by the water level in the reservoir being fine. I'm not really sure what kind of reservoir your using for it either, although I can only assume that is referring to the tray with the seeds in it sitting in another tray that has water in it. If those cubes are anything like roockwool cubes, they will suck up lots of water until their saturated. That basically drowns the roots suffocating them, and can be another reason some of those seeds haven't grown also.

When I over water my cubes, I don't ring them out, I'll place them on dry paper towels. When the paper towels get soaked, I place the cubes on more dry paper towels. The paper towels suck the water right out of the cubes quickly, and without damaging them at all. If I have a large amount of cubes to dry out, I'll use regular cloth hand or bath towels, and do the same thing. You want the cubes damp, but not soaked. Also I know you took off the humidity dome to lower the light, but taking the dome off will allow the damp cubes to dry out much faster. I assume that you may have compensated for that by allowing the cubes to suck up more water. But I'm guessing that lead to them becoming too saturated instead. Perhaps a shorter dome lid would help.

Ya, if the the water temp gets to high you'll have plant problems. Sticking Ice in the reservoir helps and is a good temporary solution. But if you can acquire a small fridge, and don't mind the electrical cost to run it, that should work quite well. As you mentioned using coils inside the fridge is an easy enough way to use the fridge without much modification. To make it as efficient as possible, first keep it in a place out of the sun with good air circulation. Like an air conditioner, the surrounding air temp has an effect on how cool it can get as well as how hard it works. Then I would use as many metal coils as I can, and place them inside as large of a container of water as I can fit in the fridge. Then as you know, simply pump the nutrient solution through the coils in the fridge, and back to the reservoir. But you may need to insulate the reservoir to keep your nice cool water from heating back up quickly.

P.S.
I have a feeling that giving you a fridge wont shut you up, you'll probably just have a lot more to talk about. But don't tell your coworker that...

So I have been very busy today! I solved my issue with hot nutes, started a second DWC for the little guys in the house that were ready to be moved out and were not showing any signs of dampening. I also bought a second seedling tray to move the seedlings that were not showing signs of dampening but were not ready to move into the DWC. I moved the seedling that are showing signs of dampening outside in the sun and breeze hopeing that will dry them out more and maybe save them, doubt it but maybe.

So I went and bought a $3 foam cooler, $5 fountian pump, $6 coil of clear flexable tubing, 4 $1.69 adapters, some fast drying silicone and some fishing weights.

I added the pump to the nute tank, ran a line out thru the nute tank thru the cooler and back to the nute tank. I am just going to fill the cooler with ice and salt when needed to cool the nute tank down. I am still going to add some bubble wrap around the nute tank and the exposed lines.

I used the fish weights to clamp onto the air stones to keep them in place, then I got tired of that and just clamped them to some twine and presto it holds it them in place.

Why didn't I think of paper towels :confused: Well, I hope I will not have to use that particular tip again.

So today's update: I have baby beans!!! There are at least 4 showing so far and the squash/pumpking is starting to really put on some more leaves and roots. The cantalope is finally starting to show some growth and the roots are looking good also. PH is the key, no if and's or butt's.

The plants in the new DWC are doing great, really watching for any signs of dampening, but so far so good. I really tried to make sure the cube was not in the water, just the roots so the cube did not get soaked. The little guys I transfered to a new tray are all still looking good and growing, 6 new seedlings yesterday and over night. The ones with dampening not doing so well, I think they got too dried out in the sun yesterday but I really did not have any hope of saving them anyway; lesson learned!

So my nute cooler is working like a charm! ;) Dropped the nute temp from high 90's to low 80's. Going to put some more containers in the freezer so I dont have to buy ice, but I can't believe how well it works. All but one of the seedlings in the new DWC are looking good; one tomato plant is kind of swaying to one side like it has dampening. All the ones I put in the new tray are looking really good and several new ones have sprouted. I tossed some of the lettuce that was affected by the dampening, should probable toss them all and bleech the tray but I'm gonna wait a few more days. Hope everyone is having a great day! Back to work tomorrow for me, gotta make some more $$$ so I can spend it on my new hobby :D
Guess they are getting hit hard at work with fires. Please everybody be careful with fires and sparks; a lot of good people put their lifes on the line to try and protect you and your property. Please help them help you by making sure there is no fuel near you home or property and if you have to call 911, please, please try not to panic and know where you are at ( address or even a intersection is helpful).

Plants are looking great! I haven't figured out yet if I need to insulate my tubes or reservoir, since we haven't had enough sun yet. I like your solution though.

So I am really frustrated today…. My local hydroponics store is still out of PH down and my order of nutes is still backordered. :eek: I could have ordered it online and have had it 3 times by now, but I wanted to support my local store. UGH, it is so frustrating. They gave me a free gallon of "tea" since I traveled so far to get there. They make it there at the store and I don't think most of the clients that use it are growing veggies. Don't really know what it is but I have read some posts about it online. Suppose to be good for the roots, IDK. Has anybody else used this?

Compost tea is basically just as it sounds, a tea made of compost, and is generally used as a supplement to your nutrient solution. It can be made of a "HUGE" variety of, and combination of different things. Thus how good it is, is really up to who made it. But generally you take good quality compost, beneficial acids, beneficial microbes, and brew then together into a liquid. You can either make a large teabag, or strain out the solids later. The main difference between the way regular tea is made, and compost tea is made, is the water temp. The water temp should be about room temp, hot water will kill the beneficial microbes. But another difference is the use of a large blubber in the bottom of the brewer. This helps keep the the brew churning, as well as promotes the growth of the beneficial microbes. Compost tea can be a good additive to use with your nutrients, though I wouldn't consider it a replacement for hydroponic nutrients. Though some people do make their own, and use only the compost tea as their nutrients.

Here's an article about compost tea, and how it's made:
Organic Compost Tea for your hydroponic system

P.S.
I do understand wanting to support your local hydroponic supply store (any store). But I never willingly pay for anything when they say it's on back-order (unless I cant get it anywhere else). Simply because when something is on back-order there is never any guarantee when you will receive the product. You could wind up waiting weeks or even months before the product comes in. Meanwhile they hold your money hostage, and you usually cant cancel the order. So if you get the product from another source, your stuck with two of them. It may be a nice gesture, but compost tea dosen't cost them much to make. They should have given you some of another brand of "actual nutrients" they had on hand to get you by instead (in my opinion).

So I went back to my local store today and they gave me FLORA NOVA GROW since my order is still backordered. They told me that even though it is a 2 part system they are two separate parts and it should solve my PH problem. They also gave me some more PH down since their shipment is MIA. That was pretty cool however I have to question the company they are buying from. Their origional shipment was suppose to be in two weeks ago and then a for sure will be there Wednesday. Ummm it's Friday and it is still a no show. I would switch companies if I were them. They had people come in from the next state (aprox 45 minute drive) on Wednesday for their product. They are going to have to double order just to keep up with demand now.

Anyway, does anybody use the FLORA NOVA GROW? How did ya like it?

I use floranova and like it. I bought some floramato and am waiting to use it on the next nutrient change. Since I have lifted my nutrient container off the concrete floor my pH has remained stable I have not had to adjust it since then. I am gonna switch water supplies here and go before my softener and also buy some of the bottled water as well just to run an experiment.

Thanks for the info! Stuck at work till 8pm, but I will do a nute change when I get home and try it out.

I was under the impression that the flora nova series still needed both parts to work right. But after looking at the General Hydroponics website, as well as their nutrient calculator for the flora nova series, it looks like they are right, they are single part nutrients and the two parts are just for different phases. The GRO is for plants growing vegetation and/or don't flower, and the bloom is for plants that are ready to flower. The flora nova series does have pH buffers in it to help stabilize pH (most commercially made nutrients do). That's much better than the compost tea, even so hopefully your order will be in soon so you don't need to worry about it.

P.S.
Even though I live in western Arizona, I am somewhat familiar with Washington state because I used to drive trucks through the 11 western states. Unfortunately when driving trucks you don't really get time to "sight see" (unless you can see it from the road as you go by), but I've been through some city's in southeast Washington like Kennewick, Walla Walla, Yakima, Ellensburg, and many times to Spokane. As much as I loved traveling through the Rockie Mountains, I really liked the northwest even more. Especially the northern Rockies (in the US) from Spokane WA, to Bozeman MT is probably the most beautiful country I've seen.

Nutrient Calculator (make sure if it isn't already their, to change the "1. Option, Nutrient System" to the Flora Nova option)

crad
That sounds like an interesting experiment, running 3 separate systems with everything the same expect the water supply.

I live just outside Kennewick in Finley. (actually have a Kennewick address)There is a truck stop there at the "General Store" where a lot of guys stop over for the night.

I just have the one bean plant in flower/fruit right now so I think I can get by on it till the good stuff comes in :)