My First Attempt with Seeds on Paper?

[dmforcier]

They look pretty good. Yeah, a little spindly. You've never said how close you set the tubes above the plants. ??

At some point, after they've been in the pots for a while (a week or so) pop a couple out of the pots and check the roots. Are there nice white roots running along the bottom of the ball? If not you may have a watering problem.

How do you plan on keeping the capillary mat from developing .. growths?

[murihikukid]

Hi.The light height is a Problem I might have to drill out a "peep" hole and put a sliding cover on it ..so as I can look inside...at the moment I am setting the height mathematicly ..and the plants did have a growth spurt when the cooling broke down ....My understanding is they will need to be transplanted in round 3 weeks ...I gave them all a 1/3 of a cup of Miracle gro mix last night and checked the Capillary cloth and trays for water and I have also put a sanatiser thing that I had that blows air around in the bottom of the chamber which hopefully may help with extra air movement ...
Now you will have to explain to me whay you actually mean by...."""How do you plan on keeping the capillary mat from developing .. growths?""""
I plan to turn an upright Fridge freezer into a second growth chamber but it will have to be later on and would not be ready til next season ....I see advantages in having a second unit especially one with doors that open ...I could use a similar or even the same cooling system as long as I get it working properly on both....I missed out on a $1 Fridge freezer yesterday which annoyed me..
I can actually freeze water overnight and put it in the reservoir of the broken down freezer so the returning flow outputs onto the ice ,cools and gets pumped around again ....and I got the air temperature down to 11 degrees but I have to manually control it best I can ...I have estimated that with the lid down and lights on I need a water temperature of round 4 degrees flowing though the system to get an air temperature of 10 degrees.....
I believe their must be another way perhaps with an air cooler but these are not available here ....The electrician that advised me ensured me it would work when we started on it but he never took into account heat generated by the lights......
I am no REfrigeration person...but I do have a quite large radiator from a Heat Pump with a fan assembly that could be located in the bottom of the chamber ...I think it would give me greater cooling power with water flowing through it but my friend the electrician did not think it would ...The water returns quite warm from the two small radiators w Computer fans i am at present using...I also think I chose the wrong freezer chest to use as the chamber..
Theres probably even a stand alone cooler that could sit in the bottom of the chamber and keep the air at 10-12 degrees and eliminate the need of water ,tubes etc....Maybe Worth knows of something as he seems to be a man of infinate knowledge....I even went through our auction site and came across some items of interest including a 12v car freezer that could perhaps work ...I will keep looking?
I have just checked the temp out in the chamber and its 17.7degrees (with all fans going overnight) so I need to put Ice in the reservoir and bring it down and switch the lights on...
REgards Ron..

[dmforcier]

WHY on God's green earth are you so bloody fixated on the stupid cold treatment??

GIVE IT UP. You don't even know what the light intensity is in your grow chamber! Deal with the basic stuff first! Then get fancy.

As for "growths" on the capillary cloth.. just wait for a while and you'll see.

[Worth1]

17.7 is a wee bit cold but not bad go up to 22 C.
You wont know what the devil is going on with fertilizer in the cold, the plant cant take it up.
Then when it warms up all the extra fertilizer is going to hit them like a quart of hard strong whiskey and knock them flat on their butts.
Worth

[murihikukid]

Why am I so fixated on Cold Treatment ...I see amazing young plants grown by growers and when I sought answers I was told its the cold treatment applied when they are just developing their first true leaves so I went to Google and found articles etc from experts on this particular topic......
So what you are saying is stop reading and learning ...that these people and organisations are stupid ....
I have used the same capillary cloth for 4 years and never come across "growth" as you put it unless you are referring to tomato roots that will sometimes grow right through seeking water...Hell this is only for a period of 3 to 4 weeks at the beginning of their life prior to them being strong enough to be transplanted into my drums ...which by the way aparantly are stupid also but believe me they work incredibly well ....I check them everyday and make sure water from upstairs is feeding them ...Compared with what I have used in the past this is so easy ,time saving and disease free??....I could easily rinse the capillary cloth in fresh water and clean the trays used as a reservoir every week when I give them Miracle Gro....They all got Mycorrhizae when transplanted?? I hope that is not stupid also...

My young plants will not get any extra fertilizers until they are out in their final place in the greenhouse ...I cannot afford all the different fertilizers I bought last season for very little or nil result..anyway I must get back to my work IE putting a window in my growth chamber to look through to ensure I have them under the lights at the right height ....
There is one other point also ..I doubt if one can compare Texas Conditions to what we experience in the south of New Zealand ...just over a week ago it was beautifully hot then it turned cold and now we have semi type gale wind ...thank goodness my greenhouse is strong ..I note people down here who had Tunnel Houses have given up ..they can no longer insure them and so they are taken down......
Regards Ron

[dmforcier]

No. I'm saying you should get down with the basics FIRST. When you can reliably grow healthy plants, then apply the advanced techniques. As it is now, if something goes wrong (or right) you have no idea what it was due to.

I don't think your tubs are stupid - remember I defended them. I'm skeptical of your wicking system. I'm skeptical of the capillary mat. But if they work, then good for you.

[Worth1]

I'm confusing with the big plants and the little plants.
Worth