I'm a little behind with this update, but here we go! Another week of timelapse video. Things are looking a little more conclusive this time.
A couple of things:
-You'll see quick strobe of the whole background now and then. These are times I was down in my garage doing something with the lights on.
-The baffle that was keeping each color of light contained on its side of the experiment fell down and flattened a couple of plants, but they recovered nicely.
-Some plants have fallen over on their own. This seems to happen at night. Sometimes they pop back up the next day, sometimes they stay down for a while.
-Neither set of plants appear to be as happy as they'd be under other light sources, but that side-by-side experiment is waiting for the results of this one.
Showing posts with label lettuce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lettuce. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Video Update: LED Timelapse, week one
Below you'll find the first timelapse video of my Red/Red-Blue LED panel experiment. The camera has run from Sunday until today (Friday). So, less than a full week but still interesting. Honestly I couldn't wait any longer to look at the video myself.
Every 13 or so hours the video skips, this is when the lights shut off for the evening and the camera sleeps until the lights come on the next morning.
This video was made using a PlantCam, which I received as a Christmas gift from my wife.
The lettuce isn't exactly growing quickly, but it does a lot of moving around. The root systems did develop quite a bit this week so hopefully that will lead to more vigorous growth in the weeks ahead!
Hrm. I didn't know that Blogger would shrink the video so much. I'll have to upload a hi-res version to YouTube, I suppose;
Every 13 or so hours the video skips, this is when the lights shut off for the evening and the camera sleeps until the lights come on the next morning.
This video was made using a PlantCam, which I received as a Christmas gift from my wife.
The lettuce isn't exactly growing quickly, but it does a lot of moving around. The root systems did develop quite a bit this week so hopefully that will lead to more vigorous growth in the weeks ahead!
Hrm. I didn't know that Blogger would shrink the video so much. I'll have to upload a hi-res version to YouTube, I suppose;
Friday, January 29, 2010
Photo Update: LED Lettuce Redux
Here are the test subjects for the LED Lettuce growdown. I have twelve pots of Bullet Romaine Lettuce, which have been germinated and sprouted under conventional fluorescent lighting. There will be six plants under each LED panel so that we have plenty of subjects to even out small discrepancies in the experiment.
As you can see, there has been prodigious germination here, pretty much every seed that I sowed has grown so I'll have to do a cull pretty soon to keep only the strongest-looking plants.
This weekend I will move these guys into their new home and set up the time-lapse camera. Every week I will post the time-lapse of the previous week's growth.
As you can see, there has been prodigious germination here, pretty much every seed that I sowed has grown so I'll have to do a cull pretty soon to keep only the strongest-looking plants.
This weekend I will move these guys into their new home and set up the time-lapse camera. Every week I will post the time-lapse of the previous week's growth.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
New Project: Red/Blue LED Grow-down
It's a week late but as promised, I have restarted the red/blue LED side-by-side comparison. In this new setup all plants will be grown in the same deep water culture unit, with one half of the plants receiving light from a blue LED panel and the other half receiving light from a panel with both red and blue LEDS:
Pictured here is a hasty shot of the system that I set up, shot from a mobile phone. There are a couple of small problems that need to be straightened out before the plants can go in- the floor isn't quite level under the system so the nutrient level would be slightly deeper at one side than the other. Also you can see that the red/blue panel is sagging just a bit and needs its outer edge lifted.
The crop will be Bullet Romaine lettuce (seeds from Territorial Seed Company). Having all plants grown in the same system will eliminate any errors due to discrepancies in nutrient mixing.
Where are the plants? They're all off together in a starter system until they germinate and develop roots, at which point they'll be moved into the deep water system.
One control that is missing from this experiment is a set of plants grown under conventional lighting. After the results of the LED experiment are in, I'll do another experiment using the winning LEDs side-by-side with a more conventional compact fluorescent grow light.
As a special treat, I'll be tracking this experiment via time-lapse camera, so there should an interesting video to watch at the end of things!
Pictured here is a hasty shot of the system that I set up, shot from a mobile phone. There are a couple of small problems that need to be straightened out before the plants can go in- the floor isn't quite level under the system so the nutrient level would be slightly deeper at one side than the other. Also you can see that the red/blue panel is sagging just a bit and needs its outer edge lifted.
The crop will be Bullet Romaine lettuce (seeds from Territorial Seed Company). Having all plants grown in the same system will eliminate any errors due to discrepancies in nutrient mixing.
Where are the plants? They're all off together in a starter system until they germinate and develop roots, at which point they'll be moved into the deep water system.
One control that is missing from this experiment is a set of plants grown under conventional lighting. After the results of the LED experiment are in, I'll do another experiment using the winning LEDs side-by-side with a more conventional compact fluorescent grow light.
As a special treat, I'll be tracking this experiment via time-lapse camera, so there should an interesting video to watch at the end of things!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
New Project: Lettuce under red/blue LED panels @ 5 days
For the second part of the LED grow light experiment, I have placed an identical collection of lettuce seeds into an improvised system identical to the one used in the blue-only LED lettuce experiment.
The seeds have germinated and sprouted with no trouble, and since I kept good records of the lettuce under blue LEDs, we'll be able to compare this setup to the blue setup at the same intervals. As I said before, I would have preferred to do these experiments side-by-side but I had to wait longer for delivery of my red/blue mixed panels.
The seeds have germinated and sprouted with no trouble, and since I kept good records of the lettuce under blue LEDs, we'll be able to compare this setup to the blue setup at the same intervals. As I said before, I would have preferred to do these experiments side-by-side but I had to wait longer for delivery of my red/blue mixed panels.
Photo Update: LED Lettuce @ 20 days
Root development is also severely stunted (not shown in this photo). Each of these plants has 2 to 4 thin, wispy roots and do not appear to be developing further root structure.
For those wondering, the wavelength of these blue LED's is in the 460 to 470 nanometer range.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Photo Update: LED Lettuce @ 15 days
Shown here is the Tom Thumb and Bullet lettuce growing under blue LEDs. At 15 days I'd expect these plants to be a lot heartier under conventional lighting solutions.
There's a major problem here- the plants are 'reaching' which is a sure indication that they are not receiving the light that they need. The leaves are pointing upwards instead of outwards, which is bad. During the 'day' cycle, the leaves should be organized outwards and collecting light. In the 'night' cycle it is normal for the leaves to put upwards until the next day cycle begins.
Hopefully the problem is that the pure blue light is not providing everything that the plants need. If the problem is the quantity of light, changing the color will not help.
The good news is, my red & blue mixed LED panels have arrived so now I can start an identical crop under red and blue light for comparison. I wanted to run the tests side-by-side but a shortage of supply meant I had to wait an extra 2 weeks for my red and blue panels to arrive.
Today I'll get the red/blue setup built so that we can see if we can grow healthy lettuce under LEDs.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Photo Update: Cheapskate Lettuce @ 27 days
The only problem is that I waited a bit too long to raise the light and the tips of some of the plants got burned slightly. When you grow under fluorescent lighting you have to keep the light as close to the plants as possible and raise the light as the plants grow.
These guys are ready for eating in about 10 more days. They normally grow for 50 days but we're going to take what's available around 40 days. I planted these guys too close to one another (I didn't realize how large they get!) and they won't be able to grow to full potential anyway.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
How To: Building a cheapskate DWC system
Here's a super-cheap hydroponic DWC (Deep Water Culture) system that I use to grow lettuce and start seedlings of all kinds. Some people call this a 'bubbler' system. In this type of system the plants live in little net pots that are inserted into the top of the system and the roots hang down into nutrient solution. It's a very simple type of arrangement, but very effective.
This system is excellent for germinating seeds and starting new plants, but it's also great for growing simple crops like herbs and smaller varieties of lettuce from start to finish. Another nice thing about this system is that doesn't take up much space- I keep mine on the floor in a closet.
Since it is so cheap and easy to build, I'll briefly describe how to build your own.
First, we'll talk about the materials you'll need:
(Item prices are in U.S. dollars.)
1) One 10 gallon opaque plastic storage tub (Rubbermaid or similar). Ensure that the container is wider than it is tall or you won't get as many plants into the system as you want. This should cost about $7 at a department or discount store. Note that in this photo I have already cut the holes that I need for the 2 inch net pots to rest in.
2) One large airstone. As you can see in the photo I like the flat, round type because they produc a very fine stream of bubbles and tend to stay in one place inside the reservoir. A round one like this costs $8, but you could easily use a 12 inch 'bar' type airstone which you can get at an aquarium or hydroponics store for around $3.
3) One 800-1000 aquarium air pump. This should cost around $7 at a pet/aquarium store.
4) Silicone airline tubing. I prefer silicone type to the regular plastic airline because silicone airline tubing is much more flexible and tends to go where you want it, not where it wants to go. $3 at a pet/aquarium store.
You will also need several 2-inch net pots [shown right] to hold your plants. You can get these online or at a local hydroponics shop and they usually cost less than 25 cents each. All told, you'll probably spend less than $30 on parts.
Now, to assemble the cheapskate DWC system:
1) Place your 10 gallon container into a bathtub, add a very small amount of dish detergent (not soap - use detergent). Fill the container with warm water and leave it to soak. Don't skip this step. You want the container clean of any residues from manufacturing that would otherwise get into your plants' water.
2) Using whichever method you prefer, mark spots on the lid of the container where you will be making the 2 inch holes to hold the net pots. I get 15 well-spaced sites onto the lid of a Rubbermaid 10 gallon container.
3) Using a drill and 2-inch hole saw (or a hobby knife and a lot of patience), cut out 2 inch diameter holes on all spots that you have marked.
4) Dump the soapy water from your 10 gallon container and rinse it VERY well. Leftover detergent would be very bad for your plants.
5) Bring the container and place it where you want the system to live. These containers become very flexible when filled with water and I don't advise trying to move them after they are filled.
6) Cut a length of airline tubing that is long enough to reach from the airstone (which will be resting in the bottom of your container) to the air pump. Connect the airpump and airstone to the airline and plop the airstone down in the bottom-center of your container. Don't start the air pump yet.
7) Add water to the container. The idea here is not to fill the container, but to add enough water that the bottoms of the net pots reach just barely below the surface of the water when the lid is in place. If you prefer, you could put the lid on the container now, place a couple of net pots in some of the holes and add water through one of the empty holes and simply stop adding water when the level of water comes over the inside of the bottoms of the net pots. (NOTE: For the 10 gallon rubbermaid container shown in these photos, this amount works out to be seven gallons of water).
8) Fire up the pump! Your contraption should look something like this:
This system is excellent for germinating seeds and starting new plants, but it's also great for growing simple crops like herbs and smaller varieties of lettuce from start to finish. Another nice thing about this system is that doesn't take up much space- I keep mine on the floor in a closet.
Since it is so cheap and easy to build, I'll briefly describe how to build your own.
First, we'll talk about the materials you'll need:
(Item prices are in U.S. dollars.)
1) One 10 gallon opaque plastic storage tub (Rubbermaid or similar). Ensure that the container is wider than it is tall or you won't get as many plants into the system as you want. This should cost about $7 at a department or discount store. Note that in this photo I have already cut the holes that I need for the 2 inch net pots to rest in.
2) One large airstone. As you can see in the photo I like the flat, round type because they produc a very fine stream of bubbles and tend to stay in one place inside the reservoir. A round one like this costs $8, but you could easily use a 12 inch 'bar' type airstone which you can get at an aquarium or hydroponics store for around $3.
3) One 800-1000 aquarium air pump. This should cost around $7 at a pet/aquarium store.
4) Silicone airline tubing. I prefer silicone type to the regular plastic airline because silicone airline tubing is much more flexible and tends to go where you want it, not where it wants to go. $3 at a pet/aquarium store.
Now, to assemble the cheapskate DWC system:
1) Place your 10 gallon container into a bathtub, add a very small amount of dish detergent (not soap - use detergent). Fill the container with warm water and leave it to soak. Don't skip this step. You want the container clean of any residues from manufacturing that would otherwise get into your plants' water.
2) Using whichever method you prefer, mark spots on the lid of the container where you will be making the 2 inch holes to hold the net pots. I get 15 well-spaced sites onto the lid of a Rubbermaid 10 gallon container.
3) Using a drill and 2-inch hole saw (or a hobby knife and a lot of patience), cut out 2 inch diameter holes on all spots that you have marked.
4) Dump the soapy water from your 10 gallon container and rinse it VERY well. Leftover detergent would be very bad for your plants.
5) Bring the container and place it where you want the system to live. These containers become very flexible when filled with water and I don't advise trying to move them after they are filled.
6) Cut a length of airline tubing that is long enough to reach from the airstone (which will be resting in the bottom of your container) to the air pump. Connect the airpump and airstone to the airline and plop the airstone down in the bottom-center of your container. Don't start the air pump yet.
7) Add water to the container. The idea here is not to fill the container, but to add enough water that the bottoms of the net pots reach just barely below the surface of the water when the lid is in place. If you prefer, you could put the lid on the container now, place a couple of net pots in some of the holes and add water through one of the empty holes and simply stop adding water when the level of water comes over the inside of the bottoms of the net pots. (NOTE: For the 10 gallon rubbermaid container shown in these photos, this amount works out to be seven gallons of water).
8) Fire up the pump! Your contraption should look something like this:
If you look carefully (or look at the larger version of this photo) you'll see the bubbles bubbling away down in the reservoir. All that's left now is to add your favorite nutrient to the water, pH balance the nutrient solution and add your net pots and plants! I personally use Rapid Rooter plugs to hold my seeds and seedlings in the net pots.
If you have space near a nice sunny window, you could place your DWC system there and not have to worry about providing additional light. I don't have such a window so I provide artificial light using a 125 watt Hydrofarm brand compact fluorescent grow light.
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