EarthBox [LOS] - ILGM - NYC Diesel Auto

Introduction - Week 07 Summary - Ensign's log, stardate 100447.15, This grow is finally looking a lot better! Had a great week of growing! Early in the week, the new seed popped and was planted. Within a day, she sprouted! Mid week the new EarthBox arrived! Filled and top dressed for a new set of seeds! Keeping the seedling level as priority, I also raised the DLI up by increasing the grow light's wattage. By the end of the week, new seeds were planted and are now on their way to sprouting! So now there are 4 seeds in this grow! Stoked! Even better to say that the main grow has seemed to recovered (again) and is starting to ramp up with growth once more! Gave her a defoliation to clean up the damaged leaves. Not going to water anything down the reservoir until the seedling gets a lot larger. Only top misting. Also weather conditions in general are getting colder. So by the end of the week, had to stop using the AC and am now using heaters to keep temp conditions stable. Please don't frack this up (again) Ensign. [START OF WEEK 07] ========================================================== WEEK 07 - Veg 2 WEEK 00b - Germination → Seedling [Pre-Veg] WEEK 00 - Germination - [1st entry: 11/03/22] 10/31/22 → 11/06/22 This Week's Estimated Goals ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: 12-14 mol/m2/d PPFD: 185-216 μmol/m2/s VPD: 0.8-1.1 kPa This Week's Meter Readings & Averages ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DLI: 13.74 mol/m2/d PPFD: 212 μmol/m2/s VPD: 0.87 kPa ========================================================== Day 01 - Monday - 10/31/22 - Total Days: 047 [002] ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.9°F [24.4°C] - Humidity: 74.1% - VPD: 0.78 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:24]: Morning check. --- Yea she is still stunted. - [22:01]: Evening checkup. --- She still overall looks stunted, but the very top growth looks okay. --- Checked the soil with a moisture meter. --- Reading were of course still off the charts. --- Shaka, when the walls fells.. --- Damnit. --- Going to continue to hold off on anymore watering and will let the soil dry out. --- [*smokes a bowl] Day 02 - Tuesday - 11/01/22 - Total Days: 048 [003] ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 75.7°F [24.3°C] - Humidity: 75.0% - VPD: 0.75 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:40]: Quick morning checkup. --- Well she is still growing. --- The top few nodes look pretty good, but the rest is stunted. --- Refilled the humidifier. --- Plan to check on the new seed soak in the evening. - [16:02]: Evening checkup. --- Well top growth is looking a lot better. --- Maybe she has started to recover? --- Will continue to not water anything. The soil is still more than moist enough. - [16:07]: Checked on the new seed soak. --- This one was started two days ago. --- Oh snap! She popped!!! --- Ooowee! --- Finally something positive! --- Wow! She looks very healthy!! --- Her tap root is already about an inch long! --- Hyped! --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Okay! Time to prep! - [16:20]: Made a hole in the back of the EarthBox (the side furthest away from the fill tube). --- Mounded the excess soil around the sides of the hole. --- The soil just under the top soil felt pretty saturated. There wasn't enough moisture to squeeze any water out, but the soil was definitely damp. --- Was also relieved to discover a very nice earthy aroma with no stinky pond smell. --- So, no need to pre-wet the hole. --- Great! --- For this attempt, going to be planting straight into a grow bag filled with fresh BAS Oly Mountain soil! --- Since this bag will be planted directly into the EarthBox with no air gap, going to use dry soil. --- Soil moisture in the grow bag should eventually equalize as water will be absorbed from the surrounding soil within the EarthBox. --- Of course, still planning on using a wetting solution for the initial planting, but unlike last time, this solution will be slowly top misted instead of mixed in. - [16:23]: Using a pair of scissors and a bit of paper folding, I trimmed a small paper bag down to 4" tall. --- Took the modified paper bag and filled it with about 2.25 solo cups of BAS Oly Mountain soil. --- Great! --- Using more BAS Oly Mountain soil, I partially filled in the hole dug earlier. --- I put enough soil to keep the bag level with the top soil (about 1 solo cup). --- Sprinkled in 1/64tsp of Mycrobe Complete into the hole. --- Then placed the bag into the hole and packed everything flush. --- Great! --- Time to make a simple transplant wetting solution. - [16:53]: Filled a measuring cup with 1/3 cup of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of the following: ----- Quillaja Saponaria Extract ----- Horticultural Aloe --- Added 1/32tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into a spray bottle. - [17:04]: Did an initial soil wetting by misting the top soil of the grow bag. --- Misted the top with about half of the solution. --- Okay! Time to plant! --- Not making any hole. --- Sprinkled 1/64tsp of Great White into the center of the grow bag. --- Using a clean dab tool, I gently scooped the new seed out of the shot glass and placed her into the hole sideways. --- Then gently sprinkled and covered her with a little bit of fresh dry soil (BAS Oly Mountain). Gently patted everything down a bit to secure her in place. --- Misted the top with more of the wetting solution. Mainly to wet the fresh soil. --- Time to add a mulch layer. - [17:19]: Added a layer of dried rice hulls. --- Took about 4tbsp of BAS Rice Hulls and evenly covered the top soil of the grow bag. --- Then misted the rice hulls with the rest of the wetting solution. --- Just like last time, going to use a humidity dome. Will keep on until she gets larger. - [17:25]: Misted the humidity dome with a bit of distilled water before covering the grow bag. Vents closed. --- Done! --- No reservoir watering until she gets to a larger size. --- Will only top water for now. --- Probably won't even start top watering for a good week or two. --- PLEASE. Don't frack this up Ensign! --- [*smokes a bowl] --- "The path to Kamata in spring." 🖖 Day 03 - Wednesday - 11/02/22 - Total Days: 049 [004] ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.3°F [24.6°C] - Humidity: 69.6% - VPD: 0.92 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:17]: Morning checkup. --- Wow! --- She looking a lot happier! --- Definitely has definitely gotten larger! --- Wow, did she really recover!? --- Just going to continue on with the no watering. --- Refilled the humidifier with distilled water and a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide (~20mL). --- Checked on the newly planted seed and to my surprise, I could see a tiny patch of rice hulls lifted in the center. Incredible! --- At this rate she should be fully sprouted by tomorrow for sure! --- Hyped! - [09:50]: Evening checkup! --- Checked on the seed and wow she has already sprouted! --- Sort of. --- The seed was still wrapped around her cotyledon leaves. --- Using a pair of tweezers, I very gently removed both sides of the seed. --- She looks a bit funky right now, but now that the shell is off, hopefully by morning she'll be fully unwrapped and healthy. - [21:53]: Looking at the current grow. Wow! --- She is looking quite perky. Very nice! --- I think her leaves have just grown beyond the sides of the EarthBox. --- Just going to leave everything alone and not going to water or foliar spray. - [21:54]: Misted the dome before placing it back on the newly sprouted seedling (vents fully closed). --- Please be healthy! Day 04 - Thursday - 11/03/22 - Total Days: 050 [005] [001] ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 77.2°F [25.1°C] - Humidity: 62.8% - VPD: 1.15 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:09]: Good morning! --- Wow! Okay now she's starting to really take off! --- Growth is looking a lot healthier too! - [09:11]: Check on the new sprout and she is looking a lot better! --- Her cotyledon leaves are just uncurling! --- Her stem has also looks healthier and has turned a more brownish color! --- Misted the dome with distilled water before placing it back on. --- Also refilled the humidifier with distilled water and a bit of Hydrogen Peroxide (about 20mL). --- Wow! --- Very surprised on the recovery of the main grow! --- Going to check the soil tonight for moisture with the meter. --- Regardless, still won't be watering. --- I'm just stoked that she is recovering! --- Less is definitely more. --- Don't frack this up (again) Ensign! - [14:05]: Oh nice!! --- My BAS shipment has arrived!! --- Boxes were a bit beaten up but everything arrived completely undamaged! --- Ahhh yea! --- Within both boxes I received: ------ EarthBox + wheels [chocolate brown] ------ BAS Potting 3.0 soil [1ft3] ------ BAS Light soil [1/2ft3] ------ Gnarly Barley [6lb] ------ Beauveria Bassiana Plus [2oz] ------ Yah-Whey [1qt] --- Wow! --- [*smokes a bowl] --- Planning to prep this second EarthBox tonight! --- Hmm, --- Since my shipment arrived a lot sooner than anticipated (always a good thing), and since the current grow is recovering quite nicely, I have the option of transplanting the freshly sprouted seed. --- But will most likely just pop a fresh one (or two). --- To increase my chances for a successful grow, going for more plants. --- While the seeds soak, plan to pre-wet the soil and let it 'cook' for a day or so with the mulch cover on. - [15:19]: Getting a bit colder so off with the AC and time to start using the heater. --- The heater's controller target values were increased from 76°F to 77.0°F --- Before the evening checkup, decided to prep the EarthBox. - [15:46]: Added the wheels to the bottom of the EarthBox. --- The wheels lift the EarthBox off the ground which provides insulation (from temperatures on the floor) along with a bit of air flow underneath. --- More importantly, the wheels make moving the heavy planter a whole lot easier. --- Also added a bit of paper to cover the wicking holes and top tray. The paper will easily decompose into more soil. --- This is mainly to temporarily prevent any dry soil from dropping into the reservoir. - [16:04]: Okay! Lights on! --- Removed both of the old 1-gallon pots on the right and placed the new EarthBox into the tent. --- Perfect! - [16:10]: To make filling easier, temporarily rotated the EarthBoxes until the new one was in front. --- The wheels really made moving a whole lot easier. --- Time to start filing the new EarthBox! --- First the wicking holes. --- Took one of the old 1-gallon pots of BAS Light soil and started to mix the top soil. --- Added about 1/2 cup of distilled water and continued to mix until the top half was hydrated. --- Then I began filling one of the wicking holes with soil (about 4-5 handfuls). --- Made sure to pack each handful down tightly before going onto the next. --- Using the second 1-gallon pot, I repeated the process for the other side. --- Once each side was nice and full, I dumped the remaining (dry) soil from both containers and firmly patted it down. --- To finish off the wicking holes, I misted about 1/4cup of distilled water on each side. --- Great! --- Time to fill her up! - [18:02]: Emptied an entire cubic foot bag of BAS Potting 3.0 soil into the EarthBox. --- I then spread the soil evenly and gently packed it down. --- Great! - [18:13]: Covered the top soil with a layer of BAS Oly Mountain soil (~7 solo cups). --- Just enough to cover the top soil with about 1/2-1in of additional soil. - [18:28]: Covered that top soil with some BuildAFlower Top Dress (~4 solo cups). --- Just enough to cover the top soil with about 1/2in of top dress. - [18:45]: Time to top dress some additional 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 Milled Mustard Seed Meal --- 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. --- To help kick-start the soil biology, going to make a basic wetting solution. - [19:17]: Filled a pitcher with 5 cups of distilled water. --- Added 1/32tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 4/16tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Added 9mL of Yah-Whey --- Added 1.5mL of Bio-Catalyst Enzyme Elixer --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into a spray bottle. - [19:44]: Misted the entire solution evenly over the soil. --- Lastly covered the EarthBox with a new plastic much cover, black side up (white side inwards). --- Done! --- Plan to eventually mix in some Gnarly Barley (don't have a coffee grinder or blender), but for now, this should be more than enough. --- Since I'll be planting the new germinated seed in a grow bag of BAS Light soil, shell be protected from the living soil. Also this will give the soil amendments plenty of time to break down before nutrients are required. --- Okay! Time to check the main grow. - [21:31]: Rotated the EarthBoxes to do a soil moisture check on the main EarthBox (current grow on the left, new EarthBox on the right). --- According to the meter, moisture readings were still maxed out. --- Still not adding any water. --- Decided to cover one side of the EarthBox (the side nearest to the fill tube). --- Using my hand, I gently smoothed the surrounding top soil before covering it with the plastic mulch cover. - [21:38]: Rotated the EarthBoxes again until the current grow was on the left side with the new EarthBox on the right. --- Checked on the new sprout and she was looking nice and healthy! --- Hyped! - [21:46]: Okay, time for an IPM spraying! --- Filled a measuring cup with 1/2cup of distilled water. --- Added 1mL of Tweetmint Enzyme Plant Wash --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into a spray bottle. --- Misted the top soil and grow bag (did not use the entire bottle). Just enough to wet the surface. Even misted the sides of the EarthBoxes along with the tops of the mulch covers with the solution. --- Also misted the dome with the Tweetmint solution before placing it back on. This time with the vents slightly opened. - [21:59]: Also added a fresh carbon filter for the top of the new EarthBox's fill tube. --- Okay! --- While the new soil 'cooks' for a few days.. - [22:19]: Decided to start another seed soak! --- Soaking two this time! Both will be planted into the new EarthBox. --- This will be both attempt #48 and #49. Both will be a seed of 'NYC Diesel' by 'ILGM.' --- Filled a shot glass (cleaned with isopropyl alcohol) with 25mL of distilled water. --- Randomly selected two seeds and dropped them both in. --- Both seeds floated and did not sink. - [22:27]: Placed the shot glass onto the heating mat and covered it with a bowl and towel. Further insulated the bowel with some foam and another towel. --- The heating mat's thermostat was still set to 90°F (gives a water temp around 85°F). - [22:43]: Opted to refill the humidifier again with distilled water and Hydrogen Peroxide (~20mL). --- Also checked on the new sprout and decided to fully open the vents on the humidity dome. --- Done! Day 05 - Friday - 11/04/22 - Total Days: 051 [006] [002] ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.8°F [24.9°C] - Humidity: 70.4% - VPD: 0.91 kPa ----------------------------------- - [09:25]: Quick morning checkup! --- The seedling was looking pretty good! --- Leaves are nice and green. Hyped! --- As for the main grow, her top growth is looking quite perky! --- Placed the dome back onto the seedling without misting (vents fully closed). - [22:57]: Night check! --- Wow the seedling got bigger! --- Misted the grow bag and seedling with a bit of distilled water. --- Also misted the some before covering the seedling with it (vents slightly cracked open). --- Wow! The main grow is really perking up! --- I really hope she makes a strong recovery. --- If growth continues to improve, plan to defoliate soon. --- Refilled the humidifier with distilled water and Hydrogen Peroxide (~20mL). Day 06 - Saturday - 11/05/22 - Total Days: 052 [007] [003] ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.3°F [24.6°C] - Humidity: 72.8% - VPD: 0.83 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:27]: Morning checkup! --- The main grow is looking a lot better! --- The new sprout is looking a bit lanky, but looking good! Her leaves look very round which could be a genetic trait. --- Gave her a misting of distilled water before covering with the dome (vents closed). - [21:12]: Evening checkup! --- Nice! Looking pretty happy! --- The seedling is looking pretty good too! --- Okay! --- Checked on the 2 new seeds! --- Aye they both popped! --- Tap roots are a bit short, but both roots look nice and white! --- Hyped! --- Okay time to prep the new EarthBox! - [22:12]: First I rotated the EarthBoxes and removed the mulch cover. --- Woah! --- Moisture seems way too high! The top was just soaked. --- Hmm. --- Dug into the top soil a bit. --- Nice! --- Although the top soil was saturated, the soil underneath was quite dry. --- Cool! --- Dug out two holes in the EarthBox. --- Mounded the excess soil towards the sides of the holes along with the middle of the EarthBox. --- For this attempt, going to be planting straight into paper grow bags filled with fresh BAS Light soil! --- Using dry soil again and will top water for the initial saturation (via a wetting solution as usual). - [22:34]: Using a pair of scissors and a bit of paper folding, I trimmed 2 small paper bags down to ~4" tall. --- Took the modified paper bag and filled it with about 2.25 solo cups of BAS Light soil. --- Great! - [22:55]: Sprinkled in 1/32tsp of Mycrobe Complete into each hole. --- Gave each hole a quick misting of distilled water before placing the bags into each hole. --- Great! --- Time to make a wetting solution! - [23:08]: Filled a measuring cup with 2/3 cup of distilled water. --- Added 1/64tsp of Quillaja Saponaria Extract --- Added 1/32tsp of Horticultural Aloe --- Added 1/16tsp of Mycrobe Complete --- Mixed the solution and poured it straight into a spray bottle. - [23:21]: Did an initial soil wetting by misting the top soil of the grow bag with about half of the wetting solution. --- Okay! Time to plant! --- Not making any holes again. --- Sprinkled 1/64tsp of Great White into the center of each grow bag. --- Then, using a clean dab tool, I gently scooped each seed out of the shot glass and placed them into their holes sideways. --- Gently sprinkled and covered her with a little bit of the dry soil from the middle (BAS Potting 3.0). Gently patted the surface a bit to secure each germinated seed in place. --- Slightly misted the top of each grow bag with more of the wetting solution. --- Time to add a mulch layer. - [23:37]: Added a layer of dried rice hulls. --- Using BAS Rice Hulls, I evenly covered the top soil of each grow bag (~4tbsp each). --- Then misted the rice hulls of both bags with the rest of the wetting solution. --- Just like last time, going to use a humidity dome. Will keep these on until they get larger. - [23:51]: Misted the humidity dome with a bit of distilled water before covering the grow bag. Vents closed. --- Also gave the top soil a quick misting of distilled water. --- Done! --- Rotated the EarthBoxes back to the default layout. - [+00:04]: Took a PPFD reading of the main grow which was at 262 μmol/m2/s which gives a DLI of 16.98 mol/m2/d --- Also took a PPFD reading of the new seedling which was at 137 μmol/m2/s which gives a DLI of 8.88 mol/m2/d --- Going to increase the PPFD with the seedling level as a priority. --- Going to set a seedling PPFD goal of 216 μmol/m2/s --- Decided to increase the wattage of the light. - [+00:18]: After a bit of adjusting, I increased the wattage from 104.3w to 183.7w --- After increasing the wattage, had to lift the light a bit. --- After more adjusting, managed to get the canopy's PPFD readings to 212 μmol/m2/s which gives a DLI of 13.74 mol/m2/d --- With the DLI goal of 14 mol/m2/d, this should be good enough for the new seedlings. --- Also checked the main grow's canopy. --- The canopy's PPFD readings were 375 μmol/m2/s which gives a DLI of 24.30 mol/m2/d --- Since she is still recovering, the lower DLI is good. - [+00:38]: Took height readings. --- The main grow was around 13.5" tall! --- The new sprouted seedling was just under 2" tall. A bit stretchy, but okay. Later, I may mound a bit of soil around the base for stability. --- The distance between the top of the canopy of the main grow and light is now around 20" --- The distance between the seedling and light is around 31" --- Misted the seedling along with her humidity dome (vents still closed). - [+00:46]: Lastly, refilled the humidifier with distilled water and Hydrogen Peroxide (~20mL). --- Done! --- Really hope I didn't screw this one up. Please don't die little ones! Day 07 - Sunday - 11/06/22 - Total Days: 053 [008] [004] ----------------------------------- Daily Averages - Temps: 76.9°F [24.9°C] - Humidity: 76.7% - VPD: 0.72 kPa ----------------------------------- - [07:31]: Morning checkup! --- The main grow is looking pretty healthy now! --- Plan to defoliate tonight. --- Aye the seedling is looking pretty good! She looks a bit yellow though. --- Since I didn't have any BAS Light at the time, I had to plant her into BAS Oly Mountain soil which could be too hot for a new seedling. --- Opps, --- Just realized that I forgot to inoculate the seeds with Beauveria Bassiana. --- Next seed will be inoculated when being planted (instead of Great White). --- Besides, I can always top dress a bit later. - [20:32]: Evening checkup! --- Aye looking pretty damn good! Going to do a bit of defoliation to clean up the damaged growth. --- Hmm. The seedling is a bit yellow, but looking nice! --- Misted and covered the seedling with her humidity dome before going on the checking the new seeds. --- Checked both seeds and there was no sign of growth yet. --- Misted the entire top surface along with both humidity domes with distilled water. --- To prep for the defoliation, I rotated the EarthBoxes. - [20:47]: Okay time to defoliate! --- Using a pair of trimmers, I clipped off a lot of the damaged leaves. --- Wow! She's looking a whole lot better! --- She is obviously behind in growth, but I'm just glad that she's recovered. --- Took her leaf trimmings and threw them under the plastic mulch cover. Misted the leaves with some distilled water before covering. --- Still not watering anything down the reservoir. --- Rotated the EarthBoxes back to the default layout. --- Gave her top growth a quick misting of distilled water. --- Done! --- Wow been a busy week of growing! --- Did not expect the main grow to make such a healthy recovery. --- If all goes well, by the end of next week, should have 4 healthy plants! [END OF WEEK 07]