Hey Al, I know it's probably been awhile since u germinated a seed, but what method do u use, and what temp do u think is best. Lately certain strains just won't pop for me, but then I get 100% on others. I would say it is a seed problem but I have only had luck with 2 strains out of the last 5 or 6... Between seized orders and seeds not taking, I'm out quite a bit of cash...
I use a
way low-tech method for sprouting beans. A paper towel, folded in quarters, gets about 3-4ml of water and is stuck in a ziploc bag. Beans are put on the surface of the paper towel and the bag is held partly open. The bag, towel & beans go on the back of my (CRT) computer monitor, which is warm enough to pop the beans without cooking them. Top of a fridge might do equally well but is harder to keep an eye on.
Sorry for your bad luck with shipping & stuff.
good morning al
, what is your take on the liquid lumens product, the reflector that gets cooled off by passing water through it
Not a fan. There's certainly a use for liquid cooled cooltubes, but it's only in the extreme situation where you might have to grow in a space which can't be ventilated well, but trying to grow in an underventilated space has has lots of other problems.
If a seal on the tube fails and coolant contacts the lamp tube, it'll shatter and short the ballast output, possibly cooking the ballast. One maker of liquid cooled tubes recommends 50gal (189L) of coolant reservoir for each 1000W lamp. That'll take a considerable amount of floorspace! The approximately 1/2" layer of coolant and the necessity for 2 layers of glass tube will cause an unacceptable amount of light loss.
Air cooled tubes are far preferable due to their simplicity, single layer of glass between lamp & leaf,
much lower cost and annual maintenance which in sum amounts to dusting them.
sorry bout the double post, it just occured to me to also ask you what you think of House and Garden nutrients, ive read some posts from some really happy customers.
Never heard of them before.
Also, do you think its worth it going through the extra trouble of setting up a great aero system? I mean will the results be dramitic compared to a well maintained flood and drain or drip whatever.
No, a watering system is a watering system is a watering system. Yes, aero will get a high amount of dissolved O2 to the roots but you can accomplish much the same with plants in pots of pellets in a flood system which is flooding frequently for short durations. Drip systems suffer from emitter clogs, DWC can kill plants if there's a power or air pump failure lasting more than a couple of hours.
There's little to no production difference, let alone any
dramatic difference, between a flood with pots of pellets and any other method, but a flood system is much more reliable and requires almost no maintenance. Any performance gains from more complex systems are wiped out with the loss of any plants or an entire crop from a watering system failure.
Al,
i need to figure out how i can constantly get bud (sog) with what i have.can u help me??
Here are some pics
Sorry, I can't tell what I'm looking at.
I don't see any HPS lighting. If you're going to SoG, you need HPS in flowering. CFLs won't cut it.
Hey Al,
Do you have any input on grounding rods as to how they affect iron content. Someone asked me about it but I don't know what they are refering to unless it is a rod of rusty metal. Which I believe is the least favorable way to offer an iron supplement...please advise.
Thanks,
OitW
Adding iron to a grow sounds HIGHLY unnecessary as Fe is usually present in all tapwater in more than sufficient quantity for plants simply due to leaching from underground cast iron mains piping. If a person is trying to solve an iron deficiency, I'd be willing to bet they're chasing the wrong deficiency or have some other problem.
Ground rods are usually copper plated steel. Not sure of the effect of copper (or CuO as an acidic nute soln would oxidise the Cu plating fast) on plants. I don't think I'd leave a ground rod in my nute tanks, that's for sure.
however because it is in soil
Sorry, I'm not a soil guy, there's much better soil growers than me whom you should consult.
i know that my pictures aren't very good
you're right, it's too out of focus for me to be able to tell you anything.
I have seen roots out of RW cubes in as little as 5 days but 7 is more than acceptable. 