First Grow! - Aerogarden Ultra With Mars Reflector 48 Using CK Dwarf Low Flyer

Last idea for the night; plumbing black rubber hose - 1" diameter - from a small fan on the ground into one of the grow sites. On the opposite side of the unit would be another 1" diameter rubber hose emerging from a grow hole. The effect of the air flow on the surface of the water should provide a 3 to 4 degree cooling effect, maybe more since it's usually a completely closed system. I ran a system like this on one of my reefs a few years back and it was very effective at cooling with minimal evaporation as a side effect. Can anyone think of any negatives to doing this? The black tubing is thick and will not allow any light in - think radiator tubing from an automobile. Any negative effects on air hitting the roots? It's a very light breeze, not enough to cause them to flail about at all.
 
Yes, I got the call this afternoon. I didn't think it would happen until around June, but better now than 6 weeks from now! My wife and I are in the process of buying a new home. We're in about 2500 sq/ft right now but would like more with a pool and some acreage for a larger garden and - hopefully - chickens and goats. Won't be showing this house to the market until June, though. We're hoping we find our new house by August or so. I sold off an obscene amount of vintage star wars figures - all unopened and near mint - to make this happen for my family on such a short timeline. Thank God for that new movie coming out, eBay was very kind to us.
 
I had a very good connection for about 4 years but have been totally without for 2 months, which is what prompted all of this. Unfortunately, due to my job and position, I have to maintain a professional appearance which means many of my old channels and friends that I could source from aren't an active part of my life anymore and haven't been for about 10 years. My old connection delivered to me on a regular schedule, which was fantastic. I hear some of the folks that work under me talk about MMJ from time to time but I choose not to participate in those conversations at work or in public, as discretion is too important to me at this stage in my life. CBD is legal here by RX but it's still gaining traction. MMJ will be on the ballot in the fall. I know many, many people whose lives have been ruined by alcohol so it's upsetting that my form of relaxation is still frowned upon by the State. Times are changing, though, and I'm optimistic that very soon things will be different here.
 
CMJJMC2000 said:
The more pointy side goes down and the flatter side goes up, right? My package from the UK - bubblelicious auto, big bang auto, auto speed bud - arrives tomorrow (maybe I can use the handbag/purse from stealth shipping as a valentines day gift for wife haha) but the package from up North is looking like it won't arrive until Monday.

If the dark side of the moon was a location in the U.S. it would be a very sunny part of the South East.

The only dwarf auto low flyer grows that I've seen are on youtube. There's a guy that had 3 very bountiful specimens that he grew outdoors on a balcony. They were definitely yielding over an ounce (dried) per plant at harvest. His grow seemed more like a "dump the seeds in a pot and let it do its thing" type of grow. The compact size and densely packed colas make me think that it *could* be possible to maintain two of these in the aerogarden. I will be tending to these at least twice, and ideally 4 times per day - so I'm not worried about the reservoir running dry. If I went with 2 plants, my only concern would be for the root ball. If each one stayed at or below cantaloupe size I'd be fine. My lighting should be able to sustain 2 without a hiccup. I've thought of drilling the back of the reservoir to add in an ice probe from an old nano reef tank in order to maintain cool water temps but not sure how necessary that is. Seems like keeping the reservoir below 80 is essential.
Renegade, did you turn your pump off after roots were submerged and just let the air stones handle circulation up to the plant? With the air pump turned on full power (this one is adjustable, quite nice) it seems very capable of saturating the grow sponges and circulating water in the reservoir.
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Pointy side down...LOL. Or something like that. Even if you forget the seed will still pop, she just may have a difficult time turning up. And Obtw....you may already know most of the crap I'll telling you, it never hurts to hear it again for reinforcement...LOL.

Sunny part of the south east you say....LOL. I've jumped from Florida to Savannah to Charleston and finally in the mountains around Charlotte. Finally....LOL. All in the last 3 years...ugh.

I like your mind set to give this AG thing a go so my input is this. Keep in mind that ideally a hydro plant needs 2-3 gallons of water per plant. More water if you veg long. Dwarf auto's may not apply in this situation but remember, a plants tap root is suppose to be twice the length under ground then the height of the plant above. And that's just the tap root. That does not include all the shoots. That res will fill up fast in a healthy environment. But we did say healthy which is why res temp is extremely important. I believe ideal temp is suppose to be below 70, you can confirm that. I'd imagine that if you can keep the temp low that 2 dwarf auto plants should survive nicely. In fact I bet they would thrive.

I'd caution against air in the res that blows across the top of the water. In my opinion it would dry out the exposed roots. Not sure but this I would verify to make sure. If you have an ice probe that you can install, do it....do it....did I say do it....LOL. Ice probes or chillers are ideal and pretty much a must.

I left the pump running 24/7. I was drawn to drip systems which is why I thought the AG ideal...It's a mini drip system. Kept my pods moist. The added air stone provided the necessary air to the res.

Ok, I'm out....LOL.
 
Last of the Advanced Nutrients arrived today - flawless finish, rhino skin and bud candy. I'm going to call them on Monday to get a dosing schedule planned out for this small 1.25 gallon reservoir.

I pulled out the old chiller (coolworks ice probe) and I've got 2 mounting options but both will require modification to the reservoir and the reservoir holder (the black plastic base that the reservoir sits on, it contains the LCD control panel along with the power output for the pump and stock hood). Option one is to go in from the far left or far right side on the bottom of the front. Option 2 is to go in straight from the bottom and cut about a 3"x3" square from the black base which will require me to elevate the base off of the ground - probably using 2 bricks on each side. The probe itself is almost 3" long and about 1" in diameter - a 1 1/4" bored hole will need to be drilled in order for the probe to fit in with the gasket and bulkhead screws. The probe gets very cold, should I worry about what will happen when roots touch it? Outside of the tank, it will form ice/frost at air temp. Inside of the tank, not sure, never touched it as it was mounted from the bottom of the tank on the nano reef. My reservoir temp is currently 80, with the grow room temp at 85 at 30% humidity. Realistically, I have no doubt that it could drop the temp by 15 degrees since it's only 1.25 gallons. The dilemna is, once I drill the reservoir it's a done deal.

In theory, if the surface temp of the probe is 50 degrees when submerged, what would happen if roots touch that?

Last thing I wanted to discuss is the "AeroVoir" - it's a 1 gallon external reservoir that serves as a gravity fed auto top off. This may be a good idea, or may not. If I get this, would it need to be filled with just PH'D RO water? Or, would it need to be filled with PH'd cal-mag and nute loaded water?
 
Closet disassembled and contents removed. Will have everything back up tomorrow night and ready to rock-n-roll; my first set of seeds should arrive tomorrow and I will start germination immediately, unless there's customs tape and a sad white letter inside. In that case, I'll be happy I paid for the guaranteed shipping methods. Second set of seeds should arrive Tuesday. It would be great if these companies could use my FedEX account, or theirs, to have these sent via a 1 or 2 business day method. I would gladly pay the premium to bypass the rigamarole of snail mail. I'm also fairly certain that I will be installing the ice probe chiller. My plan is to have it right inbetween the "fill to here" chimney looking piece and the the hardline that goes from the pump up the grow pod drip lines. I feel that going in from the bottom will be the least intrusive and most structurally secure mounting spot. I'll be sure to document the install process for future aerogardeners that wish to go this route.
 
CMJJMC2000 said:
Last of the Advanced Nutrients arrived today - flawless finish, rhino skin and bud candy. I'm going to call them on Monday to get a dosing schedule planned out for this small 1.25 gallon reservoir.

I pulled out the old chiller (coolworks ice probe) and I've got 2 mounting options but both will require modification to the reservoir and the reservoir holder (the black plastic base that the reservoir sits on, it contains the LCD control panel along with the power output for the pump and stock hood). Option one is to go in from the far left or far right side on the bottom of the front. Option 2 is to go in straight from the bottom and cut about a 3"x3" square from the black base which will require me to elevate the base off of the ground - probably using 2 bricks on each side. The probe itself is almost 3" long and about 1" in diameter - a 1 1/4" bored hole will need to be drilled in order for the probe to fit in with the gasket and bulkhead screws. The probe gets very cold, should I worry about what will happen when roots touch it? Outside of the tank, it will form ice/frost at air temp. Inside of the tank, not sure, never touched it as it was mounted from the bottom of the tank on the nano reef. My reservoir temp is currently 80, with the grow room temp at 85 at 30% humidity. Realistically, I have no doubt that it could drop the temp by 15 degrees since it's only 1.25 gallons. The dilemna is, once I drill the reservoir it's a done deal.

In theory, if the surface temp of the probe is 50 degrees when submerged, what would happen if roots touch that?

Last thing I wanted to discuss is the "AeroVoir" - it's a 1 gallon external reservoir that serves as a gravity fed auto top off. This may be a good idea, or may not. If I get this, would it need to be filled with just PH'D RO water? Or, would it need to be filled with PH'd cal-mag and nute loaded water?
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I wish I knew it was the coolworks probe that you were talking about when I said use it...LOL. Not a fan so lets see what you can do with it. With that in mind. I believe it's too much for a 1 gallon res. But what the hell do I know...LOL. I didn't have any problems with the roots touching the prob...but then it failed me. I suppose if it works as expected you shouldn't have any issues.

Even if you don't use the "AeroVoir" for top off you could still use it to premix your nutrients. Maybe even put the prob in that instead. I wouldn't let my nutrient rich water sit for any extended period of time without maybe an air stone to keep the water moving.

I did empty my AG res every time at change out thought. And as I'm thinking about the AV....why not use it as a top off if you could keep the water aeriated. Since I did notice water level drop due to the plant feeding and evaporation.

Not really flip flopping just adding more food for thought...LOL.

And your right, once you drill that res for the prob it's done. So you better be sure that's what you want to do.
 
Renegade, thanks for the suggestions. I've gone ahead and ordered the aerovoir. I figure that it will be a nice backup to have in case I have to pull a longer than usual day at the office - especially when they start getting thirsty. I'm not sure if any of y'all have seen this strain before, but the closest thing I could find to a grow journal is on youtube. Here's the link for the harvest video
I'm hoping that mine take the "straight up" approach like his did and just make one giant cola of bud on each plant. Since it seems this strain likes to go vertical, I'm going to attempt 2 in the aerogarden. Today is a postal holiday, so even though my orders have been sitting at the local post office since Saturday, no delivery for me today. I don't know if I've ever anticipated something as much as plucking these out of my mailbox. The last few days have been miserable waiting to get this underway. Supposing both orders arrive tomorrow, I'm going to have to hop these germinate and sprout up in 3 days or less in order to stick with my schedule for harvest and drying to be done before 4/20. Anyhow, happy Monday, folks!
 
Home inspection is completed, no issues fortunately, and there won't be any visitors until it's time to show the house in 4 months or so.

Tested out the ice probe chiller today and my results led me to purchase a controller - inkbird prewired itc308- that will take care of heating and cooling. Doubt I'll be needing the heat function. I think that this should be the last of my purchases for build up supplies. I can't think of any other variables that won't be accounted for. Now, come on seeds!
 
420, yes indeed but it's the shipment from Attitude that arrived today; Auto Speed, Auto Bubblelicious, Auto Big Bang and freebies of Blimburn Mango and a Blimburn auto.
Tracking shows that the Crop King seeds will be arriving tomorrow.

I can't believe how tiny some of these seeds are! When I would find the occasional seed in my bags, they were always larger than this. Some of these seeds are about the size of a tomato seed, just a bit fatter, very surprising.
I'm brewing up some RO water tonight and going to be ready to start germinating the CK seeds tomorrow when they arrive. Still going with the original plan of germinating 3, but I'm going to try to keep 2 going in the aerogarden all the way through to harvest.
 
Me and the tude used to have a great relationship. I grew my first plants from them... also killed my first plants from them... but my first grow was barneys farm blue cheese. Cbd seeds northern. And idk the breeder but hippie killer was the strain. All cfl
My dumbass hermied them... I didn't understand how important the whole don't let any light leaks thing was. Next grow was barneys laughing Buddha and honeyb. Not my best but desent. Seeds were all different size. Last I grew from the batch a bought and didn't kill was dinafem cheese. Heaviest yeilder yet. Hope my white widow from cks is close to it. Gonna take some pics soon.. but soon after my buddies seeds never arrived.. and I soon switch companys. Paranoia will come back some times. Cks has been were I stuck. I have pics of both grows if u ever want to see. My 2 original. Not my 3. I never took a picture of it.
 
Pic of all the nutes ready to be put to use and the mint at day 14 ;-) I'll be transplanting the mint as soon as the seeds go in for germ/sprout.

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420forsure said:
Me and the tude used to have a great relationship. I grew my first plants from them... also killed my first plants from them... but my first grow was barneys farm blue cheese. Cbd seeds northern. And idk the breeder but hippie killer was the strain. All cfl
My dumbass hermied them... I didn't understand how important the whole don't let any light leaks thing was. Next grow was barneys laughing Buddha and honeyb. Not my best but desent. Seeds were all different size. Last I grew from the batch a bought and didn't kill was dinafem cheese. Heaviest yeilder yet. Hope my white widow from cks is close to it. Gonna take some pics soon.. but soon after my buddies seeds never arrived.. and I soon switch companys. Paranoia will come back some times. Cks has been were I stuck. I have pics of both grows if u ever want to see. My 2 original. Not my 3. I never took a picture of it.
Click to expand...

I've seen some journals on dinafem grows and they seem to have some great genetics. I haven't read much on non-auto plants at all, but have seen a few bits about plants herming. Where are your pics of your first 2?
 
CK order arrived today, very stealth! They threw in a few extras - this noob appreciates it. Anyhow, I got the RO water PH'd to 5.7 and added in the calimagic (1ml) for my gallon that I topped the aerogarden with. I also drilled the reservoir and base and sanded down the support ribs in a small area to accommodate a flush seal with the outer gasket. When I first tested it, I was getting a small leak between the reservoir and the base. So, I epoxied a circle about 1 inch larger in diameter than the hole on the side of the base where it meets the reservoir. I also added the same circle to the other side to maintain a level surface. Once I joined the pieces together (no going back now, it's permanent!) I then filled in the gap between the reservoir and base where the ice probe goes in. Fortunately, I have many hobbies and used an epoxy syringe to ensure that the area between the previously made circle of epoxy and the open hole was completely filled with epoxy. So, no where for water to go now! I also crafted a gasket that goes between the inside of the reservoir and the bulkhead screw that tightens down onto the ice probe - definitely no water escaping now! I let it set for 4 hours (it's a 5 minutes cure) and then filled with the PH'd and calimagic'd RO water. I also had my grow sponges (and 4 seeds) soaking in a small bowl of the same water. I set 2 of the Dwarf Low Flyer seeds into the sponges point end down, roughly 1/3 of an inch into the sponge. I now have these two on the far right rear and far left rear pods of the aerogarden. The 2 remaining seeds are sitting in the bowl - now tinfoil wrapped - at 80 degrees to sit overnight. I'll move them to paper towel and plate tomorrow and follow CK's instructions for those 2.
Anyhow, very exciting stuff! For me at least.....
The temp controller is set up and the probe is reading accurately from inside of the reservoir. I'm not going to kick on the ice probe until the plant has sprouted, as having cold water flushing over the seeds twice a day is probably very much counter productive to my goal of getting these babies to burst out of the sponge.
Enjoy these pics of the process tonight....

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