EarthBox [LOS] - ILGM - NYC Diesel Auto

Introduction - Week 04 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100389.58, Well this week started off great! Began bottom watering early in the week. Mid-week, I did more vermicomposting and checked the worm bin. Also did a worm transplant into the EarthBox and filled the hole in. Also did a top dressing and gave her first feeding. Even installed the EarthBox's mulch cover. Great! Well.. This is around the time everything started going downhill. Despite a nicely developing mycelial mat under the mulch cover. She begun showing signs of stunted growth.. By the end of the week, growth has pretty much halted and her leaf tips are now yellowing and drying up (damnit Ensign). I'm pretty sure this was due to over-watering. More specifically over-bottom watering from the reservoir. Now that I look back at the week, I bottom fed her a total of 9 cups of water. Way too much (damnit Ensign). Will have to consider this for the next bean. There goes a month of growth.. Wohoo. [*smokes a bowl] Of course, since I was assuming that I would succeed at this attempt (over confidence), instead of planting her on one side of the EarthBox, I planted her in the center. Unfortunately this means that I'd either have to plant the next seed on the far ends of the EarthBox, or will have to completely swap out the current grow. Damnit Ensign... [*smokes several dabs] Well I guess failure is always an option.. If she doesn't recover soon (they never really do), plan to reset again and do another seed soak of the same genetics (which will be attempt #46). Shaka. When the walls fell.. 🖖 [START OF WEEK 04] ========================================================== WEEK 04 - Early Veg 10/10/22 → 10/16/22 This Week's Estimated Goals ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: 30 mol/m2/d PPFD: 463 μmol/m2/s VPD: 0.8-1.1 kPa This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: 29.48 mol/m2/d PPFD: 455 μmol/m2/s VPD: 0.89 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 10/10/22 - Total Days: 026 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.5°F [24.7°C] - Humidity: 68.7% - VPD: 0.96 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:32]: Morning my girl! --- Wow looking great! --- Did not mist anything. --- Simply placed the dry dome back on with the vents closed. --- Steady as she grows Ensign! - [21:53]: Okay! Evening checkup! --- Can see noticeable top growth. Nice! --- Still a bit lime green. --- But overall, she's looking pretty good! - [22:08]: Time to check the DLI! --- Took a PPFD reading which was at 332 μmol/m2/s --- This week, need to increase the PPFD closer to 463 μmol/m2/s --- Since I didn't want to lower the light any lower, the wattage had to be increased. --- Checked the wattage of the light which was at 103.1w --- After a bit of adjusting, increased the light to 166.2w --- At this new wattage, I actually had to raise the light up a bit. - [22:40]: The new PPFD reading is 456 μmol/m2/s --- This gives a DLI of 29.55 mol/m2/d --- This week's DLI goal is 30 mol/m2/d --- Perfect! --- Going to give the soil and grow bag a misting of more microbes and aloe. - [22:56]: Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/32tsp of the following products: ----- Horticultural Aloe ----- Mycrobe Complete --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into a spray bottle. --- Misted the grow bag along with the top soil of the EarthBox with the entire bottle. --- Also refilled the humidifier with more distilled water. - [+00:28]: Opened the vents all the way open. --- VPD was getting way too low. Day 02 - Tuesday - 10/11/22 - Total Days: 027 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.6°F [25.3°C] - Humidity: 68.2% - VPD: 1.01 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:44]: Good morning beautiful! --- Looking incredible girl! --- The local TEMP/RH under the dome were at 82.5°F/72% which gives a VPD of 1.31 kPa --- A bit high on the VPD, but looking good regardless! --- The local TEMP/RH outside the dome were at 78.8°F/63% which gives a VPD of 1.24 kPa --- The VPD outside the dome is still a bit high, but also a bit better than inside the dome (goal is 0.8-1.1 kPa). --- I'm just stoked that growth looks perky and happy! --- Top growth is still a bit lime, but has been greening up as the leaves mature. --- Did not mist anything. --- Simply placed the dry dome back on with the vents fully open. --- Her leaves have pretty much reached the edge of the dome (wish I had a larger humidity dome but oh well). --- Plan to remove the dome soon. --- Anyways, --- Sleep well my queen! - [18:25]: Evening checkup! --- Aye growth looks great! --- Her leaves are a bit lime, but growth looks good none the less! --- Plan to start feeding her fertilizers in a couple days. --- Going to start bottom watering now. --- Starting off slow with 2 cups of distilled water and plan to check the reservoir daily. --- Debating about extending the dry period between bottom waterings, but for now, similar to last grow, only going to add water once the reservoir is dry. - [18:31]: Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Misted the grow bag and surround top soil with distilled water. --- Then placed the dry dome back on. Vents closed. --- A simple day of growing. Done! Day 03 - Wednesday - 10/12/22 - Total Days: 028 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.8°F [25.4°C] - Humidity: 70.9% - VPD: 0.90 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:19]: Morning checkup! --- Growth is looking incredible! --- Wow she looks so happy! --- Growing along nicely! --- Refilled the humidifier with more distilled water. --- Also misted the surrounding top soil with a bit of distilled water. - [21:04]: Good evening girl! --- Growth is looking green and great! --- Checked the reservoir and it was nice and dry. - [21:09]: Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Similar to this morning, I only misted the surrounding top soil with distilled water. --- Done! Another easy day of growing! Day 04 - Thursday - 10/13/22 - Total Days: 029 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.8°F [24.8°C] - Humidity: 70.4% - VPD: 0.92 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:19]: Good morning beautiful! --- Wow she looks perky! --- Hyped! --- Sprayed the surrounding top soil with a bit of distilled water. --- Also refilled the humidifier. - [09:34]: Took a PPFD reading. --- The canopy was at 480 μmol/m2/s which gives a DLI of 31.10 mol/m2/d --- With a goal of 30 mol/m2/d, this was a bit high. --- Raised the light up a bit and took another reading. --- The canopy is now at 455 μmol/m2/s which gives a DLI of 29.48 mol/m2/d --- Perfect! - [09:42]: Took some height measurements. --- Wow! She was already just over 5" tall! --- The distance between the top of the canopy and the light was around 16" --- Going to be a busy day! --- Plan to do a transplant tonight by filling in the hole. --- Also will be installing the mulch cover. --- Hyped! --- Plan to transplant a few worms into the EarthBox as well. --- Going to prep a mini worm bin. --- Since this will also be used to fill in the hole in the EarthBox, going to use some fresh soil. - [10:08]: Filled a small black container with some BAS Oly Mountain soil (about 2/3 of a solo cup). --- This mini worm bin will store the worms before transplant. --- Time to make a wetting solution! - [10:13]: Filled a measuring cup with 1/3 cup of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of the following BAS products: ----- Quillaja Saponaria Extract ----- Horticultural Aloe --- Added 1/32tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Mixed the solution and set it aside for a bit. --- To keep the worms happy, going to mix in a bit of bokashi grain. --- Added 1tbsp of Kashi Blend --- Mixed the kashi into the soil before adding the wetting solution from earlier (1/3 cup). --- Sprinkled another 1tbsp of Kashi Blend --- Finally sealed the mini bin with a perforated lid. --- This soil should give the worms something to feed on while they explore their new EarthBox home. --- Going to let this sit for a bit before adding the worms. - [12:16]: Okay! Time to check the worm bin! --- It's been 12 days since the last feeding and checkup. --- Nice! Most of the brown paper mulch was gone and so was most of the food (some of the mango was still left). --- Wow! Worms were just crawling on the top of the soil. --- Time to harvest a few worms for the EarthBox! --- Gave the bin a quick mix and picked out a handful of worms. --- Then added these worms into the mini worm bin that was prepared earlier in the day. --- Sealed the mini bin and set it aside for later today. --- Okay, back to the main worm bin. - [12:28]: In preparation for feeding, I dug a hole in center of the worm bin. --- Going to feed a few pieces of watermelon rind along with some spinach and kale. --- Of course adding in some bokashi as well. --- First layered the spinach at the bottom of the hole before sprinkling 1tbsp of Kashi Blend --- Then I layered the slices of watermelon rind and kale on top. --- Sprinkled another 1tbsp of Kashi Blend --- Then using the surrounding soil, I covered the hole. --- Layered a bit of shredded brown paper and topped it off with a fresh sheet of brown paper. --- Slightly misted the top of the paper with distilled water before sealing the bin with a cleaned lid. --- Done! --- Everything is all set for tonight's transplant (hole filling) and mulch installation. --- Also will be feeding in a bit of fertilizer too. --- May even do an IPM foliar spraying as well. --- Lots to do! --- Stoked! --- Please don't frack this up Ensign! - [16:52]: Evening checkup! --- Aye nice! Looking good girl! --- Growth is looking green and healthy! --- Hmm. I'm noticing some kind of mutation. I think. --- One side of each set of her leaves seems to have a squatted tip. --- Regardless, she looks healthy, so going to continue on. - [16:59]: Okay! Time to fill in the hole! --- Gave the grow bag and entire top soil a misting of distilled water. --- Sprinkled 1/4tsp of Great White into the hole. --- Took the mini worm bin container from earlier and dumped the contents into the hole (about 2/3 solo cup of BAS Oly Mountain soil + worms). --- To make a solid seal, I patted the soil down (was gentle to not squash any worms). I also adjusted the grow bag's paper sides a bit. Made sure to leave about an inch or so of excess for fresh soil. --- Almost time to install the plastic mulch cover. --- But first need to top dress some fresh soil and amendments. - [17:18]: Layered a bit of BAS Oly Mountain soil over the entire top soil (~3.5 solo cups). --- This is mainly to create a fresh top soil layer. --- Covered that top soil with some BuildAFlower Top Dress (~2.5 solo cups). --- Just enough to cover the surrounding top soil. --- I used the sides of the grow bag as a guide on how much to layer on (made sure to keep everything just under the top of the paper bag). --- By now the soil line is just under the top of the grow bag which gives about 0.5" to 1" of newly added soil. - [17:39]: Time to mix in some amendments! --- Sprinkled 4tbps [1/4cup] of Craft Blend --- Sprinkled 4tbps [1/4cup] of Alfalfa Meal --- Sprinkled 4tbps [1/4cup] of Kelp Meal --- Sprinkled 4tbps [1/4cup] of Kashi Blend --- Mixed the top soil to work in the amendments. --- Sprinkled 8tbps [1/2cup] of Kashi Blend --- Very loosely worked in the Kashi Blend into the top soil. --- Okay time to for her first fertilizer feeding! --- Going to go with a scaled down version of the BAS seedling feed chart. --- Please don't frack this up Ensign. --- Since I am going to be using the mulch cover for the first time, I'm not sure how the moisture will evaporate. --- This first week's feeding will be a total of 3 cups of water (1 top watered, 2 in the reservoir). --- Anyways, - [18:10]: Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of the following BAS products: ----- Quillaja Saponaria Extract ----- Horticultural Aloe ----- Big 6 Micronutrients [+ Humic Acid] --- Added 1/16tsp of the following products: ----- Pure Protein Dry [Organic Fish Aminos] ----- Mycrobe Complete --- Added 2 drops of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into a spray bottle. --- Misted the entire bottle evenly over the soil (did not foliar feed). - [18:33]: Time to install the plastic mulch cover! --- Have to admit that I was low key nervous about this. --- Don't frack this up Ensign. --- To help ensure that I didn't harm her during the process, I decided to cover her with the humidity dome. To help with cutting, I made sure to center the dome on her. --- Then I gently stretched the plastic mulch cover over the top of the EarthBox. Black side facing out (white side in). --- While covering the EarthBox, I was very careful with the dome and made sure that it did not shift. --- Using a pair of scissors, I gently cut a 4" x-shaped hole in the mulch cover (at the very top of the dome). --- With a pair of binder clips, I secured the back end of the mulch cover to the EarthBox. This will keep the back stable and in place (I don't want the cover to snap forward). --- Now for the tricky part, --- I partially removed the mulch cover and took the dome off. --- Then using both hands, I stretched and maintained tension on the mulch cover while carefully sliding her through the hole I cut earlier. --- Once she was safely through the mulch cover's hole, while still maintaining even tension, I gently covered the top of the EarthBox. --- Nice! --- Okay time to give her a foliar misting. --- Going with an IPM spraying of EM-5. - [18:49]: Filled a measuring cup with a cup of distilled water. --- Added 1.75mL of Formula EM-5 [All Natural Garden Cleaning Concentrate] --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into a spray bottle. --- Misted her evenly with a bit of the solution. --- Also misted the top of the mulch cover and sides of the EarthBox. Discarded the rest. --- Checked the reservoir and it was nice and dry. --- Going to bottom water a bit. - [18:57]: Filled a measuring cup with 2 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Done! --- I really hope I didn't screw this up. The next few days will tell. --- Grow strong my beauty! Day 05 - Friday - 10/14/22 - Total Days: 030 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.5°F [24.7°C] - Humidity: 73.2% - VPD: 0.82 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:25]: Good morning! --- Refilled the humidifier with more distilled water. --- Growing along very nicely! --- No yellowing, so happy with the transplant so far. --- I hope growth doesn't get stunted. - [20:59]: Evening checkup! --- Nice! --- She looks green and healthy! --- Also hyped about the noticeable growth! - [21:03]: Peeked under the mulch cover. --- Wow! --- A white mycelial mat of fuzzy mold (actinomycetes. I think) was already starting to bloom! --- This fungus fuzz is a good thing and should help to break down the organic matter into nutrients the plant can uptake. --- Very cool! --- Going to be an easy night with only a reservoir watering! --- Checked the reservoir which was nice and dry. Gonna increase the watering by a cup. - [21:08]: Filled a pitcher with 3 cups of distilled water and poured it straight into the EarthBox's fill tube. --- Done! Day 06 - Saturday - 10/15/22 - Total Days: 031 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.2°F [24.6°C] - Humidity: 73.4% - VPD: 0.81 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:23]: Morning check! --- Nice! --- Growth still looks healthy and green! --- Hmm. Growth does seem a bit slower (damnit Ensign). --- Checked the reservoir and there was still a bit of water (too much?). --- Well new growth is not yellowing, so just going to continue on. --- The local TEMP/RH were at 77.7°F/59% which gives a VPD of 1.33 kPa --- VPD was a bit high. --- Misted the top of the EarthBox with a bit of distilled water. --- Also refilled the humidifier with more distilled water. - [19:23]: Evening check! --- Hmm. She looks about the same. --- Also one of her bottom leaves is yellowing at the tip (damnit Ensign). --- I checked the reservoir and it was almost completely dry. --- Not going to add water. Going to let the soil dry up a bit. --- Checked under the mulch and was happy to see more mold growth. --- But why are her leaves yellowing? --- I guess I over-watered again (damnit Ensign). --- Most likely I drown her roots and stunted the growth. Again. --- Or was it too much food? Or both? --- I dunno. --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Just going to continue on. --- Misted the top of the mulch cover with a bit of distilled water (mainly to increase the RH and to lower the VPD). --- By the end of next week, if she ends up getting too stunted, probably will start another seed soak. --- Damnit Ensign. --- Well the next attempt probably won't get a top dressing. --- Probably won't add water to the reservoir on feeding days. Or at least until she gets bigger. --- Also may not use the mulch cover and will go back to planting cover crop. --- [*smokes a bowl] Day 07 - Sunday - 10/16/22 - Total Days: 032 ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.2°F [24.6°C] - Humidity: 72.2% - VPD: 0.85 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:21]: Morning checkup. --- Top growth looks okay. But more yellowing leaf tips. --- Refilled the humidifier. --- Yep, I stunted her. --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Must have been over-watering. --- Just like yesterday, not going to water tonight. --- Misted the top of the mulch cover with distilled water. - [19:44]: Evening checkup. --- Yep. She looks stunted. --- Not going to water today. --- Just misted the top mulch cover. - [21:00]: Took some height readings. --- She was just under 6" tall. --- The distance between the canopy and the light was around 15" --- This week started off great! --- But I guess I over-watered. I'm pretty sure the over-watering occurred on Friday. But could have been on Thursday when I fed her. --- Regardless, --- This week ends with stunted growth (damnit Ensign). --- Hopefully she recovers, but since she's an autoflower, I'm not sure if she can. [END OF WEEK 04]