Rural Buddha Posted December 5, 2021 Author Share Posted December 5, 2021 Day 6 Today I've been mainly making a jacket for the Pot Noodle pot - in between all the other things I have to do. If the jacket doesn't do enough to keep the temps. down I could make a water jacket using a spare Neza pump I have kicking around. Get some 1/2" silicone tube and coil it around the pot, hopefully this jacket is enough tho, the HydroPotPoodle I link to above had very high water temps, and that plant survived and did really well! Finished jacket. two layers of 8mm polystyrene with a layer of small bubble wrap sandwiched between them. Self-adhesive foil tape on outside. Tent still not tidy though P-DWC res and pumps now outside it. P-DWC catching up with compost pot. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InMyPocket Posted December 5, 2021 Share Posted December 5, 2021 This looks like more of an engineering project!! Serious thought and effort going into this. I love looking through diaries like this, thanks for putting it up for us 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 5, 2021 Author Share Posted December 5, 2021 Thanks @InMyPocket I think of growing as much a technical and engineering challenge. My mother was a trained horticulturist - none of which rubbed off on me, cutting the grass was pretty much my limit before lockdown. As @Wacky Wardrobe pointed out - I didn't do coopering at school or I would have angle cut the staves - though the air pockets might help with cooling. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 Day 9 Think the P-DWC plant has overtaken the compost pot for size. Think I need to get another cover on the P-DWC pot, light probably getting through to the roots from the top - do that now! Wondering if I should start the Blumat off with just water - yes, I'll do that tomorrow. No feed for a week or so tho. It just gets a gentle top water at present. Roots! Water temp measured at 19°C - within the DWC margin for good oxygen saturation. Getting a Raspberry Pi fixed up to have live measurements without disturbing the pot. Still have the pumps run for 20 minutes every 6 hours, at ~100ml/minute the feed solution gets a good mix up and change around. Only small adjustments needed to get the water level correct in the noodle pot - I run in or out pump as required for however many seconds to get level around 10-15mm from bottom of net pot. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 A montage of growth from day 2 to day 9 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 12, 2021 Author Share Posted December 12, 2021 Day 13 Managed to knock the P-DWC down three times in 12 hours! Each time she landed on her head, the third time a leaf has broken off - a sort out was absolutely required. Both noodle pots now not balancing on upturned noodle pots reduces the risk of being knocked down a bit. Going to look at ways to support the feed and air tubes as they are the reason the pot hit the floor all three times, I caught the tubes when turning the heater down and when moving the pumps to add new feed water to res. - that setup had a re-jig too. P-DWC plant looking a bit flaccid but has overtaken the compost pot by a lot - compost plant appeared above ground 2 days before P-DWC. Fresh P-DWC feed mixed up today, similar strength Hydro a+b to first feed mix, a few drops of Tribus and added a touch of CalMag, EC went to 1.4 - hopefully not too strong, we'll see - down to 5.6pH. Pot water ~18°C which is just about perfect. Tent temps. between 25 & 30°C, humidity still a bit low, damp towel going in at least twice a day. Compost pot Blumat now supplying water with Doff Liquid growmore 7-7-7 mixed in but it seems it separates if left standing so going to have plain water in Blumat and top water with the growmore and alternate with Doff Liquid Seaweed once a week or as required. 200W Maxibright LED now on full power at 35cm above plants. New second top cover for P-DWC with silver foil tape on underside to prevent light filtering through to roots, hopefully they are in complete darkness now. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Day 17 Having pump issues - came in to grow room (bottom bedroom) to see P-DWC res. nearly empty. Out pump not pumping! Feed water all over tent floor and noodle pot full. What the problem is is not obvious, I checked the pump wheels, changed the tube that the wheels squeeze but neither fixed the problem. Swapped the tubes to the in pump to drain some from the pot, then thought will the 'faulty' pump push feed in - yes it does. Going to have to look closer, is the out tube being blocked by the roots? Might have to think up some method to keep the end of out tube clear from the roots. Current thought is to put a piece of 4mm ID tube over the 4mm OD pump tube, I try that tomorrow (I'm tired, tiredness causes accidents). For now I go and run the pumps a couple of times a day while watching to see that there's no more flooding. New thought as I type this - is the out tube just the right length to be sucking itself to the bottom of the noddle pot and stopping the flow, off to pull it out the pot a few mil. Humidity still a problem - not enough and I'm getting bored of putting a damp towel in twice a day, if I remember to. A small cheap humidifier off fleabay on its way that hopefully does the trick. A few brown marks on the lowest leaves of the compost pot. A couple of spots on P-DWC plant, not too concerned about either just yet. P-DWC growing with a low profile. She's getting a thick stem too. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 20, 2021 Author Share Posted December 20, 2021 Day 21 Both plants still doing OK. Today I removed a couple of the lower leaves off the compost pot, and side shoots off P-DWC. Sometime quite soon I'll top P-DWC, have to see what to do with the compost pot later. The Blumat is keeping the compost pot watered - maybe too much, I withdrew the tube from the res for a few days as the pot felt heavy then gave a feed water, refilled the Blumat carrot and popped the tube back in the plain water res. The P-DWC pot requires me to run the input pump two or three times a day. I still haven't sorted out a more automatic system, tho running the pump manually - switching it on for 15 seconds - is hardly hardship Fresh feed for the P-DWC will be required tomorrow, she's drunk a fair bit plus I lost around 250ml when the output pump stopped outputting and the pot overflowed. Cheap (£8) humidifier helping to get the RH up a bit. Run at highest level, needs refilling twice a day so done when I run the P-DWC input pump. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 Day 27 Compost pot looking a little sad, have mixed up some Doff Liquid Seaweed feed with just a pinch of Epsom salt added. P-DWC pot staying squat, not topped yet but possibly soon. She's drinking quite well, there's a good amount of roots in the pot. Some fresh feed mixed up on 21st, EC went to 1.6. Seedstockers CBG Zero Due seedlings destined for the full-size R-DWC system have joined the Wedding Glue party until they all move to the 'big tent'. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 Day 31 Compost pot looking even sadder, need to find out what the problem is so have started a post in the sick plants section. I've got a packet of ecothrive biosys Instant Microbe Tea that was sent as a freebie with something - the SCOPEX 680 in the big tent I think - I'll give that a try with the compost pot. PN-DWC pot still very squat, foliage so dense I can't count the nodes. I did top it the other day. Neither plant is growing like I thought they would. Maybe when I flip them something will happen. PN-DWC root ball - roots are actually quite white, just the shade from the cover causing the brown look. Temperature and humidity - I'm running the tent 17/7 - lights out at 11pm, on at 6am. I turn the oil rad down around 10:30pm and up again in the morning sometime. The cheap humidifier got refilled around midday. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shumroom Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 (edited) Did you think this pot noodle stuff was gonna be easy? I'll pop over to the sick plants section Atb Edit: Do you have a link to the thread? I can't seem to find it Edited December 30, 2021 by Shumroom Eta 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegridy Farms Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 @Shumroom easy is not what a pot noodle comp is I’ve grown in all sorts of pots, of all shapes and sizes, but this has definitely been the most finicky veg stage I’ve ever had. Feels like Ive been constantly battling to keep the girls alive. Best of luck with the plants @Rural Buddha 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shumroom Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Mark asked me if I wanted to take part. I declined... I'm not daft enough to try and grow a plant to completion in in such a small space. It's crazy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rural Buddha Posted January 5, 2022 Author Share Posted January 5, 2022 Day 37 Compost pot still looking sad, P-DWC pot still squat. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Rose'n'Tail Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Feck me @Rural Buddha, that main stem looks like it's getting ready to hold something heavy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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