WEEK SEVEN

WEEK SEVEN:

I’m going to do this post a little differently. Although I took notes and took a few pictures, I forgot to update the blog before break. Instead of making two separate posts, I am combining the post I was supposed to do before break and the post for today as side-by-side analyses. (Last week’s pictures are on top and this week’s pictures are on the bottom)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Looking back, it does not seem like the plant grew too much, but I think you can really tell the difference in the last two pictures. Our total plant growth is now a foot and some change. Our roots are around a foot and some change as well and I am really happy with our total growth. The leaves are healthy and green and the roots seem to be doubling in size every time I check the system. Our pH level is still a little high, around 6.7, but I am not going to mess with anything because it seems as though it is not having too much of an effect on our plant’s growth. Our water level was very low, which is understandable. We have not been able to check the system for an entire week. I added more solution and checked the temperature, which is 67.5 degrees; a little cooler than what the plant is used to.

Our plant was becoming too large for the system, so we had to harvest. Here are some photos after the harvest:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not bad, huh? And we’ve got two, or so, weeks to go and hopefully we’ll be able to contribute to the potluck at the end of the semester.

-Dustin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEEK FIVE

WEEK FIVE:

Before Class:
pH Level: 6.3

After Class (the changes we made to our system, if any):
Growth: total growth is at 7.5″
Water Temperature: 68.3 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 5.8

Here are a few pictures of our plant’s growth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a photo of our root growth thus far

In this second image, it might be a little hard to see, but some of the leaves do not look as healthy as I had hoped. Some leaves are drooping and are browning. To the best of my knowledge, they seem to be wilting. So I looked up possible solutions to this and here’s what I got, hopefully some of you can help me out with this. (1) Our temperature may be too high. However, I have never measured a temperature of my solution anywhere close to 8o degrees Fahrenheit, which I have read is a dangerous temperature to reach. (2) Some suggest watering with clear water, and backing off the solution a little bit, possibly diluting it. My fear is that the plant will lose valuable nutrients that the solution has to offer. (3) As far as the browning of the leaves goes, the light may be burning it or our solution is too strong… possibly too acidic? Has anyone else in the area of our plant had similar issues with the browning of the leaves? Then I would consider altering the lighting, but if everyone else seems to be doing fine, then the problem may be our solution.

-Dustin

day one of WEEK FOUR

It’s hard to believe it’s been four weeks now since we’ve started this project. I was hoping to see some more growth, but it looks like our plants are doing pretty good.

Measurements and other Notes:
Total Growth of Plant: 5 inches
Temperature: 69.1 degrees
pH: 6.9 at the beginning of class. Towards the end, we adjusted the levels down to 6.3

I tried that little experiment mentioned in my last post and there is definitely something about the nutrient solution that I am not fond of. I don’t know how often liquids change their pH, but when I left the solution alone last Thursday, I was hoping to come back to a solution that measured 6.0 0r 6.1 pH, but instead, it measured 6.6. My only thinking is that when I first put the pH Down chemical in the gallon of water, I was receiving a lower level in pH because I had just put it all in and shook it up. Maybe the pH down chemical settled to the bottom (although I didn’t see any build up)? Maybe it just dissipates throughout the solution?

I’m not sure. We’ll see how our new solution holds up over the weekend. Here’s a few pictures of the growth of our plant from this week. It’s pretty green and looking much healthier than the last time as it now has the nutrients it needs.

day one-two of WEEK THREE: More Growth, but Plant Looks Unhealthy, High pH, Dangerously Low Levels of Nutrient Solution

day one of WEEK TWO:

** It has been a whole seven days since I last checked on the system. Although I was pretty happy to get off school Monday and Tuesday on account of hurricane Sandy, our plant was left to fend for itself. Unfortunately, we have been running into high pH levels and small losses of our nutrient solution, probably because the plant is taking full advantage of those delicious nutrients. Because we were away for a whole week, we couldn’t monitor our plant’s progress. Here is a picture of what we came back to:

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, our plant looks terrible. Although we saw a lot of growth, it does not look healthy. Our nutrient solution was extremely low and was not touching the solution. We do have some roots growing and they were still in the solution, so I think that the plant was still able to get some nutrients, but not enough to maintain healthy growth. Here are some of my findings:

Before Class:
Growth: Plant is now a total of 4″ tall.
Water Temperature: 70.8 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 7.0

After Class (the changes we made to our system, if any):
Growth:
Water Temperature: 70.8 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 6.1

Other Adjustments we made:
Our plant needs more nutrients. Just by looking at it, you can tell that it is not receiving the adequate amount it needs. We lifted the plant up, added more hydroton around the plant, drastically increased the amount of nutrient solution to make sure that there will be enough to last the weekend without fear of our plant using it up, and also, because we moved the plant closer to the top of the yogurt container which houses it, we hope that it will have a little more access to light, so we’ll see if this makes a difference. I know that this is a long shot, but we’re hoping to reverse the damage done by our long absence. Our goal now is no longer focused on the size of our plant’s growth, but making sure that our plant receives adequate light and nutrients to ensure healthy growth.

We are also trying a new experiment with our nutrient solution and our problem with high pH levels. Since the beginning, we have run into very high pH levels around 7.0 or more and we constantly have to add pH Down. Up until now, we have been adding the pH Down chemical directly into the coffee container itself. This time, however, we started a new batch of a nutrient solution and tested the pH level at 6.9 (this is expected because the pH of the tap water we used is around 7.0) and brought the pH levels down of the entire gallon of nutrient solution before we add it to the system itself. In the new batch, we brought the pH down to between 6.0 and 6.1, and my hope is that when I check the pH of our solution on Monday, it will read the same, between 6.0 and 6.1. I have wondered why the pH is fluctuating so much and this is one way I can test to see if the cause is (a) something in the system itself or (b) the way the chemicals in the nutrient solution react to the pH Down chemical. It’s worth a shot, so we’ll see what happens on Monday. For anyone reading this, what has worked well for you? Are you running into the same problem? If not, what plant are you growing and what type of system are you using?

-Dustin

day two of WEEK TWO: More Growth, High pH

day one of WEEK TWO:

Before Class:
Growth: Plant is now a total of 1 and 5/8″ tall. Plant has grown a little over 3/4″ in two days!
Water Temperature: 75.1 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 7.3

After Class (the changes we made to our system, if any):
Growth:
Water Temperature: 73 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 5.6

Here are a few pictures of our plant’s growth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a bit clearer picture of our plant’s growth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes and Other Thoughts:

In the last post I said I would comment on the type of lighting we are using. We are using a special grow lightbulb that is 400 Watts. It runs on a 12 hour cycle, 12 hours on, 12 hours off.

We seem to be getting very high pH levels. I did a quick search on some hydroponic blogs and also checked out a few websites from a simple google search. I had to filter out some of the material myself, but I have come to several possible theories. (1) There is a possibility that the tap water we used to mix our nutrient solution had a high pH. A pH of 7 is neutral and is somewhat ideal for tapwater, so this may be the reason. (2) In the early growing stages, plants will absorb mainly nitrates which will actually raise the pH levels. I think this too makes a lot of sense. We have seen astounding growth in just two days, and I think it is entirely possible that the plant is making use of these nitrates, which is essentially food for plants. (3) Back to the nutrient solution, if we continue to see such a high pH, I am wondering if we shouldn’t just mix a different batch of solution and pay VERY close attention to the pH. If we could dilute the solution, I imagine that we will be more satisfied with our pH level. I would really like to find an answer soon because I know that high pH levels can cause stress on a plant, and this is the last thing I want to happen to our tiny plant. It needs nutrients and comfortable conditions in order to grow big, healthy, and fully.

I’ll look into it more and keep posting!

-Dustin

day one of WEEK TWO: Small Growth, High pH, Add More Nutrient Solution

It’s been a week since I have last checked up on our hydroponic system. Last Monday we planted our a few seeds of baby lettuce in the rockwool surrounded by Hydroton so that the rockwool stays in place. Once the plant develops, our goal is to transplant it into the Hydroton to allow the roots to stretch out and fully develop. We chose baby lettuce because it is fast-growing and has an early germination of about 11-14 days. That way, if a problem does occur or our system  does not perform as well as we would like it to, we have enough time to make modifications and not fall behind our classmates. As I’ve said before, this is our first time doing something like this and it is going to be a process of trial and error, mixed with a little luck. We’ve done our research and feel confident our system will produce a healthy green plant, but just in case, we are leaving ourselves a little wiggle room in case things don’t go as planned.

Our plant has been growing for about a week now and below are some observations that I’d like to keep a running record of:

day one of WEEK TWO:

Before Class:
Growth: Plant is now 3/4″ tall. Plant has grown 3/4″ since last week
Water Temperature: 72.9 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 7.0

After Class:
Growth:
Water Temperature: 73 degrees Fahrenheit
pH Level: 6.4

Here are a few pictures of our plant’s growth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been a whole week since we planted our seeds and we are already seeing a little bit of growth. I would have liked to see more growth than just 3/4,” but I think our nutrient solution had something to do with the lack of growth. When we checked on our plant in the beginning of class, our nutrient solution level had dropped significantly. The pant was not getting the desired amount of nutrients because the level had dropped, maybe due to evaporation? We added more solution and found that the pH was a little high for our preference. It was at a 7.0, which is neutral. However, plants prefer a slightly acidic environment, between a 5.5 and 6.5 pH, in hydroponic systems because that seems to be the prime pH that ensures higher growth rates, higher yields, and healthier plants. We added a little bit of what is called “pH Down,” which is a chemical that will bring the pH levels down. I think it is available at most pet stores where tanks and aquatic species are sold, but I am sure that it is available at any local hydroponic store or online. However, although this stuff works like magic, it takes a while to mix in and actually bring the pH down. Note to self: Don’t keep dumping in the pH Down solution in your hydroponic system. Too much of this stuff is not good! We put in 1/2 tsp. and it brought our pH level all the way down to a 3.6, which is definitely not an ideal pH level for our plants. Fearing that we may cause damage to the plant, we decided to dump out our nutrient solution, clean out the coffee container with warm tap water and soap and then we added fresh nutrient solution to our system. Dr. Brusic told us that groups in the past have tried to add pH Up and this back and forth stresses the plants out as there are just too many chemicals involved. So, here’s a word of advice: If you’re going to add ANY chemical to your system, do it in very small quantities. It is much easier to add the chemical little by little than it is to start over. We finally got our desired pH after adding new solution and a very small amount of pH down, as our solution is around 7.0 without it.

We also added more nutrient solution this time. In a weeks time, the liquid solution level had dropped significantly to where I don’t think the plant was receiving proper nutrients. I am not sure why, but my guess is that it has something to do with evaporation. Our nutrient solution is mainly water and it makes sense that some may be lost due to evaporation, but also, the plant needs that solution to thrive. I don’t think it would hurt to check up on the plant every other day, if not every day, just to make sure our solution level is at desired level where the plant can receive proper nutrients, but also not be completely submerged in it.

In my next post I will specify what lighting we are using, the intervals of when the light is on and off, and will hopefully have some pictures within the next week that continue to document our plant’s growth. I also have to start thinking about transplanting in the coming weeks, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

-Dustin

Constructing Our Hydroponic System:

Constructing Our Hydroponic System:

Bob and I decided that we wanted to make our system as simple as possible for several reasons. (1) This is our first time experimenting with hydroponic plants and we didn’t want to get too in over our heads (2) By keeping things simple, hopefully we can influence others who do not have gardening or hydroponic expertise to give it a try (3) Most of our materials are recycled materials and because of that, we not only keep cost down, but we find other uses for things like the coffee container that may otherwise be thrown away.

Here is what we have been working on the past week and a half:

Here Bob is cutting a hole in the top of the coffee container. The smaller hole is for the PVC pipe which will create that suction we need to force water up the tube and into our growing medium. The larger hole is for the yogurt container, which is where our plant and growing medium will sit. We were careful not to make the holes too big because we want a good seal for maximum suction. We also don’t want light reaching our nutrient solution to avoid algae build up.

Bob is using a 3/16” drill bit to drill holes into the yogurt container. There are cups called “net cups” available online and in local hydroponic stores, but we want to make our design as cost efficient as possible, so we chose to emulate the net cups. The idea is that the holes in the cup allow for our nutrient solution to reach the plant, but also so that he roots of the plant have somewhere to go once the plant grows in size.

Here is the PVC pipe inserted in the coffee container with a small tube connecting it to the inside of the yogurt container. This design works on the idea that air will be pumped down the tube from the capped end of the PVC. This air will reach the bottom of the tube housed in the PVC that will create a suction (assuming we have a good seal on the PVC cap and where the tube enters the cap) and this suction will force our nutrient solution up the PVC and will travel from the PVC to our yogurt container by means of the small piece of tube shown in the center of the picture. This system is a drip system.

We have been having a lot of trouble getting a nice, steady, even drip from our system. We tried all sorts of different sizes to cut the PVC, we adjusted the tube depth, and even tried different angles for the PVC, however, the drips were inconsistent and we didn’t like what we were seeing. Last class we were fortunate enough to have a hydroponics expert, Marc from Hydro-Ponics of Harrisburg, come in to give us some pointers on how to effectively grow plants in hydroponic systems. He proposed that we get rid of the PVC pipe entirely. Our system works on the principle that the solution is oxygenated by the air pump and is then pumped up a tube housed in the PVC that will travel to the yogurt container to give our plant the nutrients it needs. This is a fairly simple system, but he recommended we get rid of the PVC pipe and make it even simpler.

Our new design features a shorter length of tube running from the air pump into the coffee container. This tube will rest at the bottom of the coffee container with an air stone attached to it to oxygenate the solution. So we nixed the PVC, used less tubing, and essentially we have the same basic function that our previous design had, just with less material. The purpose of the PVC contraption was to deliver the oxygenated solution to the plant. However, our new system works a little differently in HOW it delivers the oxygenated water to the plant. Instead of a drip system, this is now what is commonly called a “deep water system” where the plant is actually submerged in the solution.

Unfortunately we only have one coffee container, which meant we only have one lid. I did what any Tech Ed. major, or what any perfectly rational human being would do, and I used duct tape to patch up the hole where the PVC used to be inserted. We also dilled more holes in our yogurt cup because Marc advised it so that we are sure that our plant receives ample nutrients and has somewhere to stretch its roots our when it comes time for that. We also drilled a hole using the same 3/16″ bit we used earlier in the bottom of the coffee container for the air hose to feed into from the air pump. We inserted the tube and then applied a cheap silicon adhesive to it to ensure that we do not have any leakage. because the tubing is bigger than 3/16″ but smaller than 1/4,” we just wiggled the 3/16″ bit around a little bit in a circular motion until we got our desired hole size in the container.

We’re ready to plant now. We just need to mix the nutrient solution, decide on what seeds we want to plant, and track down an air stone.

-Dustin

 

System Construction Process

After conducting some research on hydroponics, Dustin and I chose to go with an air lift drip system. Near completing the construction, we began to test the air lift and came across an issue. The pump was not producing a large enough drip and the drips were inconsistent. We happened to luck out and were able to talk to talk to an expect in the field of hydroponics from the Harrisburg area. He gave us a few pointers and suggested ditching the air lift drip system. Saying that a deep water culture system would yield much better results. This was a simple and quick change over. We will post with pictures as soon we get them uploaded