Howdy everyone.
I've been lurking here a long time, and only recently finally registered.
I've read a ton of threads with differing opinions (so, my mind boggles), and along the way have come up with a few questions that weren't addressed, found in topics I liked. Anybody who might elaborate on this -- in theory or practice -- it would be appreciated. These are not really start-up questions in some cases, just stuff I'm wondering about.
Background: I am turning a bedroom (11'w x 12l' x 8'h) into a garden room (ideally, "the whole thing" although with a lot of space to walk around and workbench). (Note: I am growing flowers and culinary stuff. Not maritomatoes. Want to grow food and flowers year round as a pretty major hobby. I have been a deep bed (24" & 32"!) backyard gardener for 20 years.) Mold-resist paint all over the room, A/C in window, climate control to 'help' in floor, heater, humidifier. Everything has auto-stats. LED lights.
Some questions:
1. GH FloraBloom (as one example) ingredients list says: Magnesium Sulfate, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Carbonate, Potassium Phosphate, and Potassium Sulfate.
a - would it be cheaper to just get small-bulk of these things and make your own?
b - is there somewhere to find the % ratios of those things in the formula, or any other useful formula?
2. What is the reason one would choose to use panda film to block light around stems/over net cups, when it seems like you could use mylar (if necessary with some backing for more opacity if needed) and get light reflection instead?
3. Neem comes in a lot of forms and lot of brands. I got a spray in case of issues, for foliage. But 'preventative' sounds good to me since I will also be aero cloning, and I see a lot of refs to neem 'cake.' It looks like ferts on the amazon listings though so I'm confused. If one were to have a very small amount of this added to an ebb/flow system,
a - what would be the type to add? (Oil? powder? cake? seed meal? the latter two don't seem pure neet)
b - best brands?
c - and how much to add to say, 35gal reservoir?
d - one would just do this initially, but not ongoing?
4. Expanded clay pellets (8mm). If cleaning this benefits from boiling, can you toss it in a pressure cooker (which does that very well, NOTHING will live through that), for say just 0 or 1 minute? I am wondering what effect 'pressure' will have on the pellets. (I wondered about using the IP instead of stovetop because you don't have to watch it.) Like... would they explode?? Eggs don't explode so it seems like no, but I thought I should ask.
5. If you should choose to use UVB light for several hours a day (re: insects, spores, fungi), and you do this in addition during the lighted hours,
a - would it be better to do it all at one go or divided? (6hrs, vs. 3x2hrs)
b - if you were to put that at the before/after/front/middle/end of the lighting cycle, which point might be better?
c - would it be best to put this somewhat below the plants or beside them, to get more 'under' the leaves, rather than above?
d - could this be done during light-off time, since its frequency is so far from the PAR zone?
6. I want to do ebb&flow (I have 40qt containers with lid nesting in 70qt containers), but I'd also like to do some using a separate reservoir and several small (2gal) containers, for summer plants (all this is indoors and no window, all LED for now). This would work fine, right? Maybe cycle the flow more than the normal 3-4 hour range, with the lower quantity of media/space, but is there any reason why these two formats (E&F and RDWC) for hydro can't be combined?
7. Is there any reason why ebb&flow would not work well for greens? (culinary lettuce/herbs) Maybe with a much smaller media/area but a much more constant flush? I only see them referenced in kratky/dwc/rdwc/nft forms. I suppose at some point if the flush is often enough and the media is drain-y enough you'd just have another version of the nutrient film technique. Hmmn maybe I don't have a question there after all...
8. I went to amazon and looked at someday-maybe-affordable CO2 generators. But reviews suggest that even if you spend a chunk on one, it's unlikely to add much more than your breathing would. Is there any different way of adding CO2 than to the air? Spraying it right on them like a foliar spray now and then? (Auto-mister perhaps?) Putting something in the water? It doesn't seem like the air techs are worth much unless you spend way more than I can.
Although I admit, the awesomely steampunk impression of a couple with big analog dials and water tubes was inspiring totally aside from whatever it does.
9. I purchased grow lights when I got everything else -- over a year ago. (Medical stuff kept me from implementing any of it until now.) I knew almost nothing about them, which is about what I know now, too. Not for lack of reading, mind you. Just a lot of noise to the signal. But I can't afford a luxmeter that will work with LEDs decently, and my cheap chinese knockoffs on amazon likely suck, and so I haven't a clue how much light I actually have. I have a little 23w green for night, a low level 25w, 5x 100w (allegedly), 2x 1200w (allegedly) (all those are "FS" but really blurple), and 1x 1500w (this one is mostly white not blue/red). Chances are I will only truly be getting 25-50% of that though, if some of the random tests I've found on youtube of these things holds true.
So my question is, since I am now ridiculously broke for cash, if you had to put some types of plants under a more blue/red focus than white (culinary, I am not growing maritomatoes) -- since that's what I have,
a - what type of plants might do better with that more limited spectrum?
b - will ordinary bright-led-white bulbs from economy stores help at all as an addition to those? I know the efficiency and output are likely poor but would that standard white and the little green bulb just help fill in some of the red/blue issues?
c - would putting even small lights/LEDs beside or slightly under the plant help?
I have done immense reading in this forum, so if the above are clearly answered somewhere I didn't happen to see, I apologize. Greatly appreciate any helpful hints.
I've been lurking here a long time, and only recently finally registered.
I've read a ton of threads with differing opinions (so, my mind boggles), and along the way have come up with a few questions that weren't addressed, found in topics I liked. Anybody who might elaborate on this -- in theory or practice -- it would be appreciated. These are not really start-up questions in some cases, just stuff I'm wondering about.
Background: I am turning a bedroom (11'w x 12l' x 8'h) into a garden room (ideally, "the whole thing" although with a lot of space to walk around and workbench). (Note: I am growing flowers and culinary stuff. Not maritomatoes. Want to grow food and flowers year round as a pretty major hobby. I have been a deep bed (24" & 32"!) backyard gardener for 20 years.) Mold-resist paint all over the room, A/C in window, climate control to 'help' in floor, heater, humidifier. Everything has auto-stats. LED lights.
Some questions:
1. GH FloraBloom (as one example) ingredients list says: Magnesium Sulfate, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Carbonate, Potassium Phosphate, and Potassium Sulfate.
a - would it be cheaper to just get small-bulk of these things and make your own?
b - is there somewhere to find the % ratios of those things in the formula, or any other useful formula?
2. What is the reason one would choose to use panda film to block light around stems/over net cups, when it seems like you could use mylar (if necessary with some backing for more opacity if needed) and get light reflection instead?
3. Neem comes in a lot of forms and lot of brands. I got a spray in case of issues, for foliage. But 'preventative' sounds good to me since I will also be aero cloning, and I see a lot of refs to neem 'cake.' It looks like ferts on the amazon listings though so I'm confused. If one were to have a very small amount of this added to an ebb/flow system,
a - what would be the type to add? (Oil? powder? cake? seed meal? the latter two don't seem pure neet)
b - best brands?
c - and how much to add to say, 35gal reservoir?
d - one would just do this initially, but not ongoing?
4. Expanded clay pellets (8mm). If cleaning this benefits from boiling, can you toss it in a pressure cooker (which does that very well, NOTHING will live through that), for say just 0 or 1 minute? I am wondering what effect 'pressure' will have on the pellets. (I wondered about using the IP instead of stovetop because you don't have to watch it.) Like... would they explode?? Eggs don't explode so it seems like no, but I thought I should ask.
5. If you should choose to use UVB light for several hours a day (re: insects, spores, fungi), and you do this in addition during the lighted hours,
a - would it be better to do it all at one go or divided? (6hrs, vs. 3x2hrs)
b - if you were to put that at the before/after/front/middle/end of the lighting cycle, which point might be better?
c - would it be best to put this somewhat below the plants or beside them, to get more 'under' the leaves, rather than above?
d - could this be done during light-off time, since its frequency is so far from the PAR zone?
6. I want to do ebb&flow (I have 40qt containers with lid nesting in 70qt containers), but I'd also like to do some using a separate reservoir and several small (2gal) containers, for summer plants (all this is indoors and no window, all LED for now). This would work fine, right? Maybe cycle the flow more than the normal 3-4 hour range, with the lower quantity of media/space, but is there any reason why these two formats (E&F and RDWC) for hydro can't be combined?
7. Is there any reason why ebb&flow would not work well for greens? (culinary lettuce/herbs) Maybe with a much smaller media/area but a much more constant flush? I only see them referenced in kratky/dwc/rdwc/nft forms. I suppose at some point if the flush is often enough and the media is drain-y enough you'd just have another version of the nutrient film technique. Hmmn maybe I don't have a question there after all...
8. I went to amazon and looked at someday-maybe-affordable CO2 generators. But reviews suggest that even if you spend a chunk on one, it's unlikely to add much more than your breathing would. Is there any different way of adding CO2 than to the air? Spraying it right on them like a foliar spray now and then? (Auto-mister perhaps?) Putting something in the water? It doesn't seem like the air techs are worth much unless you spend way more than I can.
Although I admit, the awesomely steampunk impression of a couple with big analog dials and water tubes was inspiring totally aside from whatever it does.
9. I purchased grow lights when I got everything else -- over a year ago. (Medical stuff kept me from implementing any of it until now.) I knew almost nothing about them, which is about what I know now, too. Not for lack of reading, mind you. Just a lot of noise to the signal. But I can't afford a luxmeter that will work with LEDs decently, and my cheap chinese knockoffs on amazon likely suck, and so I haven't a clue how much light I actually have. I have a little 23w green for night, a low level 25w, 5x 100w (allegedly), 2x 1200w (allegedly) (all those are "FS" but really blurple), and 1x 1500w (this one is mostly white not blue/red). Chances are I will only truly be getting 25-50% of that though, if some of the random tests I've found on youtube of these things holds true.
So my question is, since I am now ridiculously broke for cash, if you had to put some types of plants under a more blue/red focus than white (culinary, I am not growing maritomatoes) -- since that's what I have,
a - what type of plants might do better with that more limited spectrum?
b - will ordinary bright-led-white bulbs from economy stores help at all as an addition to those? I know the efficiency and output are likely poor but would that standard white and the little green bulb just help fill in some of the red/blue issues?
c - would putting even small lights/LEDs beside or slightly under the plant help?
I have done immense reading in this forum, so if the above are clearly answered somewhere I didn't happen to see, I apologize. Greatly appreciate any helpful hints.
