Utopia Haze on coco under LED

Due to a very busy personal schedule followed by a trip out of town for a week, I haven’t been able to update for a while. However, at day 49, I took the pictures, so while already another week has passed, I will first fill in this week 7 and add week 8 tomorrow or so. In this update, I’ll be writing as if it is still day 49 and the future is still unknown 😊. This update will revolve around two themes: the results of my last week’s attempt to fight the problems in the rootzone and the installation of an automated fertigation system. As discussed in week 6, I encountered on some problems in the root zone, especially lower roots seemed to be unhealthy brown. I flushed the coco with a 150 ppm active chlorine solution. The day after the treatment, the plants started to perk up. They weren’t growing fast, but were at least not as droopy as they were before. Also, the algae growing on the top of the coco was gone. And last: the brown spots on the leaves weren’t spreading anymore. Unfortunately, I only had day 46 to 49 to monitor the recovery, since I am going to be out of town for a week and leaving at day 49. Because of my upcoming absence, I had to install my automatic fertigation system. I had been planning it for a while and most of the supplies were already in my possession, I was just delaying the work because of work and college obligations. Anyway, this week, I had a few days to install everything and get it working properly. The fertigation mix sits in a 50L vessel. A powerful submersible pump sits on the bottom of the vessel, which is connected to 13mm tubing. This tubing goes through a flange into the tent, where it’s manifolded into 2 directions: one for each plant. On each tube, 2 sprinklers are connected. Since the sprinklers are always above the water level in the vessel, I don’t have to worry about the siphon effect. A digital timer regulates the pump in the vessel. I have found that the sprinklers deliver around 1.2L per minute if the pump is running. With the digital timer, I can precisely control the time the pump is on and thus deliver the right amount of water to get 10-20% run off. The drain is collected in the plant saucers where the AirRap pots are sitting on. I elevated these saucers with carriage bolts (around 10 cm): that construction was actually quite flimsy, but at that time I felt quite sure it wouldn’t collapse. I drilled a hole in the saucer and used some kind of filterbox with a mesh screen (to prevent dirt and debris clogging up the tubing) and a 10mm tube to connect it to a small bucket in the tent. Due to the siphon effect, the runoff will drain into the bucket. In the bucket, I installed a cheap, small circulation pump, connected to a 13mm tube that goes through the flange and delivers the drain outside the tent into a plastic jerry can. This small pump is regulated by a relay that uses two sensors. If the max sensor is touched by the water, the relay will close and activate the pump. If the water then drops below the min sensor, the power of the pump is cut off again. This way, whenever the amount of drain reaches a certain level in the bucket, it will be pumped outside of the tent. The min sensor makes sure that the pump won’t run dry. So, as you can imagine, it took quite some time to figure everything out and get everything to work properly. I also installed some plastic screens (just take a look at the photo’s) to prevent water being sprinkled outside of the pots. Anyway, it all seemed to work fine. I also installed my self made SCroG net and was ready for my week of absence. I had arranged a caretaker: he was going to come by twice during my week of absence to push the growing tips under the net. I was really curious to see if the automated fertigation would work properly during a week of absence. In my next update, I’ll show you if it worked, so stay tuned 😊. Thanks for stopping by and keep growing! FULL LIST OF EQUIPMENT FOR AUTOMATED FERTIGATION * Elho plant saucers (diameter 41 cm); * Black 10mm tubing (connected from saucer to drain bucket); * Bunch of rubber rings/flanges to watertight tubing going through the side of the drain bucket; * Sicce circulationpump nova 800L/Hr (in drain bucket, connected to a 13mm tubing that transports the drain outside of the tent); * H-Tronic 1114620 water level sensor (to control the pump in the drain bucket); * Hozelock Easy Drip Universal Watering Kit (includes 13mm tubing, mini sprinklers, connection pieces, end pieces, etc. Also a quick garden hose connection set that is compatible with the connection on the pump in the fertigation vessel); * FlexiTank 50L (fertigation vessel, the top can be closed with a zipper); * Gardena Classic Clear Water Submersible Pump 7000/C (7000 L/Hr, around .6 bar, which is enough to make the sprinklers sprinkle [instead of dripping]): the main pump to deliver the goods at the plants 😊 ; * Digital timer to regulate the feeding pump. Still on the list: another small circulation pump to sit in the fertigation vessel and run 15 minutes of every hour, to keep the fertigation mix a bit oxygenated and well mixed.