Nancy’s Own // Double Gruntz
No idea what keeps getting fouled up with this post but:
Running a Double Gruntz from Nancy’s Own
Check them out here:
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First things first - Calibrations and cleaning. Have to have your tools in order.
Environment calibration:
This is my temperature and RH monitor. It’s one of those indoor outdoor units with a remote sensor. I don’t know if any are better or worse than others. I put it in a mason jar with a Boveda calibration pack. They sell them with sealed plastic bags/pouches on amazon/direct from BV. I lost the bag so now I just use a jar.
Top number - sensor
Bottom - countertop unit
After 5 minutes it’s reading 68% in the jar with a 75% packet. It will take some time to stabilize so I let it sit for at least 24 hours. It does not matter if the unit says 75% - if the sensor is off I will know and adjust. Now at a quick look without having to walk to the tent I can check temp and RH. No bluetooth or wifi connection. Manual visual checks only.
Based on this sensor I adjust my heater and humidifier controls. I don’t care what those numbers will say. I go by my calibrated sensor. It takes a couple days to dial it all in. After that small adjustments up and down if needed.
EC/ppm calibration: EC pen. I like ppm on the 0.5 scale.
Unit is a HM Digital Com-80. A gift from an old friend I haven’t seen in a long time.
~$30 on amazon currently
I broke the tabs off the bottom to be able to clean the prongs better. I wipe them off with an alcohol prep pad and then rinse in clean water. They get crusty testing nutes so cleaning regularly is a good idea. If you track them, you will notice your ppm numbers start to drop when the probes need cleaning.
RO water to rinse. Using Aperas Calibration fluid. 1413 μS/cm - Hold the mode button to change from EC to PPM to μS/cm
Reading a little high, adjust it by pressing the CAL button and then use “temp/cal” for up and “hold/mode” to scroll down. Press “enter” when it reads correctly. It should flash C / A / L and then display the number. Use the mode button to change back to EC or PPM scale.
Calibration is important. No storage fluid needed.
pH calibration: Probably more important is proper pH calibration. It can make or break a grow if your pH is off.
I am currently using an Apera pH-20. It comes with a case and calibration fluid. You will need to buy storage fluid. 3 molar KCl.
Clean the probe with distilled or RO water. Yeah tap is fine. Shake it off and dry it. The probe allows for 2 point calibration and it comes with a small jar of 7.0 and 4.0 fluids. They are good for about 10 calibrations before they need to be changed out.
7.0 first:
Oh it’s reading off? Wait until the reading stabilizes, there is a smiley face that appears, small circle on the left of the lower “7”, then press the CAL button. It will calibrate to 7.0 on it’s own.
That’s it. Less than 5 minutes and you are 2 point calibrated. Fill the cap with storage solution. If your meter is new you should calibrate once a week until it breaks in a little bit. Mine did not drift but it is a good idea to check and recheck at the start. This pen holds its calibration very well. It is easy to use and I believe it to be accurate. I do not store mine in the case. There is a key ring on the back and I hang it so the storage fluid stays around the glass bulb where it needs to be.
Ran out or spilled your calibration fluids? I like these from BioPharm. They are NIST certified and traceable. If you want to compare them to the stock fluids you can and be really really sure everything is perfect.
There ya go! Starting a new run? Clean and calibrate your tools. It will make it easier in the long run.
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Day 1: 03/20
We have liftoff!
Aight first things first. Finishing the calibration.
Waited 24hrs and the RH stabilized right at 75% , this means the calibration packet works and that the sensor is accurate.
48hr soak in some RO water with a few drops of humic acid. Probably not needed but eh, I gotta muck around with it. Small tail popped so time for the germination pellets.
I’ve been using coco coins after bering recommended them from @WildBill on the old XF site. I read from ManO that peat goes acidic and the coco is the final grow medium anyway.
I mix up a very weak ~200ppm nutrient solution with kelp powder to soak the pellet. pH to 6.0 and then into a plastic box and sit by the router to stay warm.
Apologies for the blurry pic. I didn’t notice until now. I like to presoak and flush my coco pots before planting. I know it is pre-buffered but I have seen the initial runoff be in the 700-800ppm range. I mix a low strength ~400ppm nute solution and pH to 6.0, then I flush that through the pot, I catch the runoff in a basin, and test the runoff until the outflow is in the 4-500 range. I suspect a lot is coco dust but this way no buffering salts are left in high concentrations.
The water gets a lot clearer once it nears my target.
24 hours in the coco coin and we have a seedling. The shell came off but I could not tell wtf was going on at the tip. I took a bunch of closeups until I could see it is the seed membrane!
Pulled the membrane off. This is at 7AM on 03/20
This is 12 hours later after being potted up and having some time in the light. I do peel the netting off the pellet. It’s tricky. Lightly watered in and I put a layer of DynoMyco under the pellet.
I expect it will be standing up straight by tomorrow morning.
Environment is currently 76F at 76% RH which puts us at an air VPD of 0.74 which is close to the limit for seedling range. I have the temp set higher so as that increases closer to 80F the vpd will come down a little more. Seedling is 0.4-0.8
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Day 5: Bored so I went to look at my seedling and take a pic.
This was Day 1 after 12 hours. Greened up nice but red stem. Little bit of sunburn.
Day 5 - Standing up straight now. I presoaked my pot and now after 5 days the top inch or so is dry. I gave it’s first fertigation by hand. 450ppm @ 6.0pH, around 1L used. I slowly poured in with some breaks until I was getting noticeable runoff. I did not take a measurement.
Light increased slightly higher intensity and raised 6 ratchet clicks. You know the ones everyone has their light hanging from. It’s leaning towards the light so the height should help with spread and I repositioned the pot.
Environment running high 70’s for temp and RH crackin 80. Been steady at 78/78 most of the time when I look. Staying between 0.6-0.7 kPa which is good for seedling stage.
Where does 78/78 end up?
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Hi @Entombed
Good luck with your grow , I wish you fat buds and a big yield.
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@ArnisNweed . New grow. Nothing exciting happening yet.
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