First Ever Grow, No Til, Documenting Every Learning Step

[Ecompost]

They say that humans actually have more problems communicating than most species of animals. We all posture differently where in the animal kingdom body language is uniform. Its the only way for them to communicate.

under your feet, biology is watching you, sensing you and interacting with you and your deep biology in ways your active mind might only dream of.
if only we knew the keys to pure communication as well our desktop PC's :-)

 

[FutureGrower]

well you could in theory avoid a meter, you would need to do some fairly complex, but also fairly well documented calculations, these being based on the simple rules of thermodynamics Energy (in) = Energy (out), using base Si unit conversion, taking in to account total absorbed radiation (in) being equal to the rate of transpiration + Conduction and Convection + Photosynthesis +(-Respiration) + G (where G is Storage - eg a leaf)

You can make some basic inputs based on your light watts, msq growing area, and use a base photosynthetic efficiency of about 2% (even this is probably generous where we use a 1000W/m2 in a 0.04% CO2 environment :), but it will give you some input figures from which to base the water loss calculation.

Essentially you are determining environmental balance, eg how much water does a plant lose over a 24hour period and therefore, how much do we need to replace.

I have hugely simplified this so i dont write an essay as usual, its not just as simple as knowing your light watts, you need to know the total energy absorbed, which includes understanding that being, reflected, transmitted, ommitted etc and this isnt just your shortwave energy, this is long wave too, eg surface temps.

The thing to remember, plants must breathe a gas which exists in concentrations approximately @ 0.04%, this means they must leave stomata open to breathe in order to get enough air for the day, and as a consequence they loose lots of water based on certain conditions,, but it is possible to know just how much if you are prepared for the work to calculate. There are many resources to help explain how laws and maths apply to this, there are many charts and pre calculated materials in databases, eg those covering ALBEDO, Plancks Equation, Stefan Boltzman Law and so on, necessary to complete the process.
I can teach you but you would have to pay me LOL :)

Maybe one day I’ll have a little experiment but I’m definitely not going to be getting that right lol!

 

[Ecompost]

Maybe one day I’ll have a little experiment but I’m definitely not going to be getting that right lol!

I had an awesome teacher buddy so was very lucky. Plant physics is something of a side interest to me among the main focus of PGPR's. Once you get it all explained and practice a little at the conversions, its not that hard and you can wow you pals down the bar with the rate of evaporation of their cold beer given existing environmental conditions, thus showing just how much beer and money is actively wasted by idle chit chat instead of hardcore boozing

 

[FutureGrower]

I had an awesome teacher buddy so was very lucky. Plant physics is something of a side interest to me among the main focus of PGPR's. Once you get it all explained and practice a little at the conversions, its not that hard and you can wow you pals down the bar with the rate of evaporation of their cold beer given existing environmental conditions, thus showing just how much beer and money is actively wasted by idle chit chat instead of hardcore boozing

Hahaha best post I’ve seen in awhile!

 

[brazel]

Generally speaking plants communicate distress signals triggered by insect attacks. This is done by both exudation and the release of VOCs.

They are beginning to think that plants of different species can communicate as well. This would be more like a turf war.

Very new science.

Plants of different species do talk, and they help each other.

 

[Organikz]

Plants of different species do talk, and they help each other.

Yes and some help others only to help themselves. Look at rye and clover. It's a constant battle. The clover grows in and adds nitrogen to the soil. The rye creeps in and feeds the clover so the clover will give it nitrogen. Once nitrogen is high enough the rye will starve the clover out. The rye grass dies and the clover returns and it starts over lol

 

[brazel]

I was referring to if a plant was low on calcium and another plant could help it by sending calcium

 

[brazel]

Calcium was just an example

 

[Organikz]

Yessir that and soil fauna.

 

[brazel]

Yessir that and soil fauna.

Soil sauna!

 

[brazel]

I do plan on having a couple smartpots soon but I found out that I can lift it in its corner haha. I slid the whole thing into where it’s at now I never even tried since I watered. go figure lol

But on the subject of water meters, I really wanted to avoid them but after nearly flooding my carpet twice... it may save me money! Lol

You can avoid them, if you're in living soil you shouldn't have any run off. Using a sprayer and watering in increments will prevent that

 

[FutureGrower]

You can avoid them, if you're in living soil you shouldn't have any run off. Using a sprayer and watering in increments will prevent that

Yeah I seen your tip to use a mister for 5 minutes, I’m definitely going to pickup either a mist attachment for mine, or a cheap $10 or $20 mister if I can’t find the attachment, thanks man :)

 

[FutureGrower]

Oh for the record the plant is currently on day 2 and is about a inch tall right now, and since I’m using auto flowers i started it out in a 25 gallon pot lol

 

[Organikz]

Costs coin up front but this sprayer can survive an atomic blast lol

 

[Ecompost]

Yes and some help others only to help themselves. Look at rye and clover. It's a constant battle. The clover grows in and adds nitrogen to the soil. The rye creeps in and feeds the clover so the clover will give it nitrogen. Once nitrogen is high enough the rye will starve the clover out. The rye grass dies and the clover returns and it starts over lol

you can assist this process by inoculating the clover ahead of time with two microbes, the Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii strain 24.1 and Pseudomonas fluorescens strain 267. This makes clover grow super fast and enhances the possibility of mycorrhizal hosted higher plants getting on demand access to Nitrogen. When we tested this, we got a 80% reduction in N use inputs to support our target crops and a 70% reduction in added P

 

[Ecompost]

Oh for the record the plant is currently on day 2 and is about a inch tall right now, and since I’m using auto flowers i started it out in a 25 gallon pot lol

I use a minimum pot depth of 40cm to grow autos :) this seemed to help them reach a good size before flipping

 

[FutureGrower]

Costs coin up front but this sprayer can survive an atomic blast lol

I have one but it has interchangablel nozzles and I don’t have one for misting lol. If I need to I’ll snag another one haha

 

[FutureGrower]

I use a minimum pot depth of 40cm to grow autos :) this seemed to help them reach a good size before flipping

Nice! I’m glad I made the right call,I have some #3 pots but I’ve read 1000’s not to transplant them lol

 

[Ecompost]

Nice! I’m glad I made the right call,I have some #3 pots but I’ve read 1000’s not to transplant them lol

the other thing that really effects them is getting the right level of water stress. Autos are highly susceptible to either side of the water see saw.
Honestly if people could only learn how to water plants properly, they would get a better result than all the additives always discussed could possibly deliver. Just to go back to basics on the matter, here is a video, you will see the differences and plant responses, this may help those misdiagnosing plants with water issues, as those of nutrients, and therefore failing to deliver a suitable response

 

[Ecompost]

more on this topic and differences between in and outdoor plants