Hey gang!
Its been a while since my last check in. The holidaze and laziness have been in full swing.
What I've realized and done in these few weeks:
-The grow's herb is cured and I have been enjoying it.
-Have taken down the 3x70w HPS fixture and moved the two outer lights inward by about 8". It's hanging back up and the improvement is dramatic. Light is much more condensed and focused directly over the growing bed. I should have done a before and after shot - I may shop one up later.
-have been cleaning the hydroton / expanded clay pellets. Wow. I didn't realize how huge of a task this was going to be. I am never going to fill a gowing bed with them again. It's just too much of a pain to sift through all the rocks to try to remove the roots.
I don't know how you guys clean 40+ LBs of Hydroton, but I've been filling up a 4" net pot about 1/2 full and swooshing that around in a bucket of water until most of the roots and debris fall off, then I boil the clean rocks to sanitize them, then dry them in the oven. It's a long process, but it keeps the house warm, and I'm left with clean, dry, sanitized hydroton.
This next grow will use the same 4" net pots filled with hydroton, but they will sit on the bottom of the tray and won't be surrounded by hydroton. I've already lowered the spillover level, so there should only be about 1/2" water in the tray max. This should also allow me to keep the same reservoir -- I was strongly considering upgrading to a larger size, but reducing the water level in the tray will keep more water in the reservoir.
-I want to raise the whole table by about 2-3" and totally level it. This will make accessing the reservoir much easier.
Took 20 clones on Jan 1, but I think some might be too small to take root.
Its been a while since my last check in. The holidaze and laziness have been in full swing.
What I've realized and done in these few weeks:
-The grow's herb is cured and I have been enjoying it.
-Have taken down the 3x70w HPS fixture and moved the two outer lights inward by about 8". It's hanging back up and the improvement is dramatic. Light is much more condensed and focused directly over the growing bed. I should have done a before and after shot - I may shop one up later.
-have been cleaning the hydroton / expanded clay pellets. Wow. I didn't realize how huge of a task this was going to be. I am never going to fill a gowing bed with them again. It's just too much of a pain to sift through all the rocks to try to remove the roots.
I don't know how you guys clean 40+ LBs of Hydroton, but I've been filling up a 4" net pot about 1/2 full and swooshing that around in a bucket of water until most of the roots and debris fall off, then I boil the clean rocks to sanitize them, then dry them in the oven. It's a long process, but it keeps the house warm, and I'm left with clean, dry, sanitized hydroton.
This next grow will use the same 4" net pots filled with hydroton, but they will sit on the bottom of the tray and won't be surrounded by hydroton. I've already lowered the spillover level, so there should only be about 1/2" water in the tray max. This should also allow me to keep the same reservoir -- I was strongly considering upgrading to a larger size, but reducing the water level in the tray will keep more water in the reservoir.
-I want to raise the whole table by about 2-3" and totally level it. This will make accessing the reservoir much easier.
Took 20 clones on Jan 1, but I think some might be too small to take root.
