Steam!
Checked on the herd when the lights came on this morning and neighboring plants are already bumping leaves. May have to offset the center row and space them out a little more if they crowd on each other too much. By this time next week we may not see the soil anymore.
I can't use these trays to bottom water due to the deep channels would hold a lot of water down there below the pots. These trays assist in good drainage more than holding water.
I too don't water to runoff but after watering I may see some seepage down to the drain some time after watering.
When it comes to watering for me it's a combo of known dry weight of a pot and how fast the soil drains. Rather than water to soak I water just enough to keep things moist but never muddy.
When the pot is loaded with dry soil I make an estimate of how much to saturate it and note how fast it drains.
On the airpot volume the dry soil was about 2 quarts. 1 quart of water fully saturates it with little runoff yet can clear off the surface in five seconds or less. Faster the better.
Then on the upcan it's almost 4 gallons of dry soil and one gallon to saturate it and drain off the surface in 5 seconds.
From there I try to use the space between the soil surface and the rim of the pot to dictate volume of each watering. I flood water rather than trickle it in so that space ends up being a pool and I'm looking to see that pool drain down in 5 seconds or less.
On these pots that's a little under 1 gallon so when I water I'll drop one gallon of water into the pool space. After a minute or two I might see a little runoff seepage if any. I don't mind seeing a minor drip after a watering which tells me the whole soil column is wet but never something like give them a gallon and have 3/4 gallon runoff into the tray.
This is also why I use plastic pots and never fabric because the plastic won't bloat and will direct water downward. Fabric can swell and bloat, get waterlogged at the bottom and even soak up water from the soil so watering this way really doesn't work well with fabric since they don't force water downward and out.
If the water does not drain in less than 5 seconds then it's either already loaded with enough water or compacted. Weight of the pot and looking at the soil surface usually tells me what that is exactly.
It's kind of a balancing act of water volume and time to drain then frequency will be determined. And that's why I don't like much runoff, just a drip if any so I can maintain that damp but not soaked soil with less water but more frequent waterings.
The heat factor also plays it's part here in the frequency of watering. I keep my soils warm and focus more on soil temp than I ever do VPD or leaf temps. Warm soils are where I find my speed, getting those microherds active with high metabolism that translates to the roots and then to the green parts above getting them to grow fast. Microherds love to be warm and damp but hate cold, conditions too dry, or too muddy.
So yeah I don't describe this much if at all because it's unique to this growroom but I water with a combo of known wet and dry weight, draining speed of dry soil, and frequency depending on stage of life and size of plant. Sounds complex but it's a routine I've found that works great.
With this run though I need to run the pump sprayer and figure out how long it takes to push out one gallon so I'm not over or under watering.
*never knowingly
for the nice words on the crop!
Those 3 in the corner are Cant Get Rights but are getting right. One plant is so slow I didn't think it was gonna push out it's 3rd node but finally did. Two plants are in one pot so there's actually 4 plants in that group.
They were the ones that fell out of the germinator and was like me dropping a newborn baby on it's head. Yeah no way I should be around children hahaha!
I'm happy with the plant count today but am intrigued by one of the CGRs. The 3 cotyledon plant. It has a sister in the crop and it's a unique pheno of something IDK what. Crazy deep serrated leaves look like vicious steak knives. It has me curious and I want to see what it does so that's the one that might fill the last spot.
I'd like to have the tent shut down and empty by tomorrow then start prepping for veggies & flowers for the yard using it to start everything.
The berry tower and I are learning together I guess you can say. Found out berries are photosensitive to our light cycles blooming at 12/12 and vegging at 18/6.
When I started this new grow and turned the lights to 18/6 it quit spitting flowers and shot off runners with dormant roots ready to be clones. And there's dozens of them so I might be able to clone those and sell them in the neighborhood.
As soon as I flipped the room to 12/12, it started to kick out flowers again.
Now I need to get in there with snips and clear dead old growth and get on point with trying to pollinate the new flowers and hopefully start getting fruit off it.
I also got another rolling caddy for it until I get the robot working so I can move it outside some days and maybe get some bees on those flowers. After the last freeze this year it will go out on the back deck thru Summer and next Fall.
Man New Mexico State University is like my go-to honey hole on all things peppers! Seeds from there are more spendy but very high quality and authentic strains. Kinda like some cannabis out there.
Lots of really good info from their chili pepper institute here
cpi.nmsu.edu
And the store that benefits the institute selling seeds and swag
chilepepperinstitute.ecwid.com
I might visit them this Summer. NM is rec legal now and I love that state so may take a trip to Las Cruces and other parts this Summer.
But yeah that's where I go for pepper growing info. I want a huge crop of Big Jims to freeze and roast. Green chiles are my faves for cooking. Also wanna do some tomatillos, cayenne, and another I forget the name but are supposed to help with vision health as my vision begins it's decline with age.
I doubt I'll do them in earthboxes again though. I kinda wanna rent a tiller and tear into a strip of yard out back and plant them in the ground where they can get hot and dry out. It's weird but a wilty pepper plant is a very good thing!
Yeah back to the grind! Football is back in training with our Spring game on 4/20
and baseball is weeks away in their preseason right now. Got promoted and a raise recently so now more work and time involved. Gotta grind but it pays the bills!
It's race week!
Well kinda but at least The Clash wets our appetite until Daytona with the Super Bowl mixed in there.
I'm betting you're hating that matchup with Niners and Chefs. I just hope ther Niners win and gets Taylor Swift off the fucking tv because that shit got old fast. Cant stand it when the Chefs are on now because of that TMZ shit.
Been trying my hand at 3D printed racing art in the meantime. Not there yet but it's coming along. Colors have been very disappointing not shwoing very well and my text printing needs a ton of work. So far I'm into doing COTA and have a good file for TMS to work with
View attachment 41942
Might be ploy to get me out there though and I have no desire for a trip to Cali.
I was a little upset when they delivered my tent because it was in the tent's box with the gorilla tent label out clear as day to read and know what was inside then I saw your pic with the bags on a cart and had to confirm.
