2023 our new gardening adventure

[wiperhunter2]

Week 1 maintenance completed we also added 5 scoops of phDown, and after several of water cycles and longer 5min water cycle we're happy to report we measured the ph and it's at a 6.5 - happy dance! Next check will be tomorrow. Of course, we expect the 6.5 won't last but still it is nice to see this.

Well that's good news, too bad it's so hard to maintain that low PH. Do you know if that is normal, with hard water, to have to use that much phdown to keep it in the correct range? What would happen it you did not use any PHDown?

[jjannie]

Week 1 maintenance completed we also added 5 scoops of phDown, and after several of water cycles and longer 5min water cycle we're happy to report we measured the ph and it's at a 6.5 - happy dance! Next check will be tomorrow. Of course, we expect the 6.5 won't last but still it is nice to see this.

Well that's good news, too bad it's so hard to maintain that low PH. Do you know if that is normal, with hard water, to have to use that much phdown to keep it in the correct range? What would happen it you did not use any PHDown?

It's just not optimal growing conditions for the plants to do their best. Like I said some just quit trying to get their ph down. So, it's not showstopper by any means. It is normal for folks with our level of alkaline to have this problem. Even folks who are grow in large greenhouse sized hydroponic systems have it, but we're hoping once we can get it down it'll only take little each day to keep it there. Also, once we get our replacement ph down since it uses a different method who knows once we try it maybe it might only be a few drops of it per day. Haven't tested the water yet today to see how much it may have changed in a day's time.

[jjannie]

Well, today's test was back up to an 8.5! Shucks.... so I'll add more ph down today, figure may as well keep using this stuff up until the new ph down treatment arrives to try it.

[wiperhunter2]

Well, today's test was back up to an 8.5! Shucks.... so I'll add more ph down today, figure may as well keep using this stuff up until the new ph down treatment arrives to try it.

Are you adding tablespoons or cups of the ph down each time the level goes up?

[jjannie]

Well, today's test was back up to an 8.5! Shucks.... so I'll add more ph down today, figure may as well keep using this stuff up until the new ph down treatment arrives to try it.

Are you adding tablespoons or cups of the ph down each time the level goes up?

it comes with a scoop, that is closer to a tablespoon in size although I didn't actually measure it. The ph down we ordered in we may only need a few drops to get the ph a little lower.

[jjannie]

Today's ph test had it back to an 8.5. So, I added 7 scoops of the ph down and after several cycles it was back down to 6.5. Think I only have enough ph down to last one bigger treatment like this last one we did. Then we'll be waiting on our order of the new formula. I'll still test just to monitor it until then as it is good information to learn. 

Seed are still germinating. Everything is operating nicely. Took a few 1st week photos. Everything is still pretty small at this point due to starting from seeds. We've numbered our planting holes to keep record of what to expect in each planting basket since at first, we couldn't see anything. 

[wiperhunter2]

Wow, it's crazy how much of that stuff you have to use. I was thinking that a high PH could also cause the lines to clog, that send the water to the top of your tower, do you think that is possible?

[jjannie]

Wow, it's crazy how much of that stuff you have to use. I was thinking that a high PH could also cause the lines to clog, that send the water to the top of your tower, do you think that is possible?

It is crazy. No, not really, it's 1inch PVC tubing going up the center. The nutrients do create some discolored build up and I could also see inside and could see areas where water may sit longer that there is a little of the build up there. The drip holes that it 'rains' from that I could see do not looked plugged at all. Part of the 4-6 month reset process, you do a major cleaning/scrubbing. At that time, you can set aside any growing plants you want to keep in a dishpan to put them back in and/or could restart any seeds as well. 

I pulled out a few of the grow baskets just to see if any of them had any roots coming out the bottoms yet and I could see many were already 2-4 inches long. So come maintenance day on Sunday I'll be trimming them a little bit. 

As expected, the ph test of today was back to an 8.5. Our replacement ph Down has shipped so it may not be very long until it arrives. Tomorrow, I'll give it the last dose of treatment for what it's worth.

[wiperhunter2]

It is crazy. No, not really, it's 1 inch PVC tubing going up the center. The nutrients do create some discolored build up and I could also see inside and could see areas where water may sit longer that there is a little of the build up there. The drip holes that it 'rains' from that I could see do not looked plugged at all. Part of the 4-6 month reset process, you do a major cleaning/scrubbing. At that time, you can set aside any growing plants you want to keep in a dishpan to put them back in and/or could restart any seeds as well. 

I pulled out a few of the grow baskets just to see if any of them had any roots coming out the bottoms yet and I could see many were already 2-4 inches long. So come maintenance day on Sunday I'll be trimming them a little bit. 

As expected, the ph test of today was back to an 8.5. Our replacement ph Down has shipped so it may not be very long until it arrives. Tomorrow, I'll give it the last dose of treatment for what it's worth.

I know on my drip irrigation system, they get clogged after a season and have to be flushed and the emitters have to occasional be replaced, so I assumed your system would be the same, especially with the hard water you have there. What sort of tester do you use to check the PH in the water?

[jjannie]

It is crazy. No, not really, it's 1 inch PVC tubing going up the center. The nutrients do create some discolored build up and I could also see inside and could see areas where water may sit longer that there is a little of the build up there. The drip holes that it 'rains' from that I could see do not looked plugged at all. Part of the 4-6 month reset process, you do a major cleaning/scrubbing. At that time, you can set aside any growing plants you want to keep in a dishpan to put them back in and/or could restart any seeds as well. 

I pulled out a few of the grow baskets just to see if any of them had any roots coming out the bottoms yet and I could see many were already 2-4 inches long. So come maintenance day on Sunday I'll be trimming them a little bit. 

As expected, the ph test of today was back to an 8.5. Our replacement ph Down has shipped so it may not be very long until it arrives. Tomorrow, I'll give it the last dose of treatment for what it's worth.

I know on my drip irrigation system, they get clogged after a season and have to be flushed and the emitters have to occasional be replaced, so I assumed your system would be the same, especially with the hard water you have there. What sort of tester do you use to check the PH in the water?

That is true. We have had to soaked ours in lime away or CLR to clean them out. 

The test kit they provide with unit - uses 5ml of your reservoir water and 5 drops of testing liquid in the kits, give a little shake to be sure its mixed in well.  Then you compare your result color to a color chart provided - so it's not complicated at all. The rain holes are maybe about a 1/4 inch in size so my guess is they should clog up too badly before you do your reset. When we do ours, I think I'll likely put some lime away/CLR into a spray bottle so I can easily coat areas that have any build up. 

Jeff has a similar testing kit for his aquarium, but his chart doesn't even go up to an 8.5 to compare them. We did compare readings once we had our Farmstand within the range he could get a reading and they turned out with the about same results.

[Fowl-Hook]

We checked and still an 8.5 so added 2 more scoops and will check again later today. Also checked the melted snow water and it was a 6.5. So, we'll see what ours is later today. 

Tomorrow is our 'maintenance' day and we're supposed to add nutrients and adjust the ph (LOL) and trim any roots (which we won't have any at this point).

Looks like the snow water is a better place to start, but needing 21 gallons will require some effort. Downside of dry fluffy snow, how much snow would you guesstimate per gallon.

[jjannie]

We checked and still an 8.5 so added 2 more scoops and will check again later today. Also checked the melted snow water and it was a 6.5. So, we'll see what ours is later today. 

Tomorrow is our 'maintenance' day and we're supposed to add nutrients and adjust the ph (LOL) and trim any roots (which we won't have any at this point).

Looks like the snow water is a better place to start, but needing 21 gallons will require some effort. Downside of dry fluffy snow, how much snow would you guesstimate per gallon.

It really does depend on the snow - 10in wet snow can yield an inch of water and drier snow it's about gallon per 5gal bucket of snow. This last snow was wet a 5gal of snow left us with 1/2 of bucket of water. Storage could be more of an issue. We agree getting it would be one way to go. Also, we're not sure if in storing it if it will change over time. Guess that would be another experiment we can run so we'd know.

[jjannie]

here's something interesting... 

Came across an unopened bottle of Core water (pic) in our pantry. It was about a year old. It's supposed to have been about a 7.4 ph. When tested with our tester it read a solid right in between an 8 and 8.5!

Go figure!

[wiperhunter2]

So either it sitting there in a plastic bottle caused the PH to go up or your PH tester is wrong, is that what you figured?

[jjannie]

So either it sitting there in a plastic bottle caused the PH to go up or your PH tester is wrong, is that what you figured?

used two different tester kits with same results so it's doubtful it is the tester. Just thought it was very strange.

[jjannie]

Since we last put the remaining amount of a the phdown on Sunday, we've been waiting for new phdown formula to arrive. It arrived yesterday! so of course we were excited to see if it will be more stable in holding the ph level. This is new experiment because we're not sure yet just how much we'll need to add of it. It's a liquid and we added in almost a 1/4 cup to get the 8.5 down to a 6.5 (ideal range is 5.5-6.0). The good news is today when we tested it was still at a 6.5! This is awesome so far. 

Sundays are our maintenance day. We'll check ph each day till Sunday and adjust the ph again, if need be, at that time. 

On 26 Feb - we decided anything had not yet sprouted, we added 2 seeds in other locations of the grow basket, Sure enough in at least one (so far) the original seed has since sprouted. Hopefully others will do the same. 

In most cases though, we've had pretty good germination rates. Typically, things have sprouted in less time than when planting in soil according to the seed packet. 

Our guess is some of early sprouting plantings (mostly different lettuces) we'll be starting to harvest from them in about 3 more weeks. Seems like each day we check on things you can see the change in growth on them. It's really nice having it right in our kitchen eating area where we can check on it often.

[wiperhunter2]

You would think after adding that much of the PH, the water would stay down to the proper level all the time, unless you keep adding more water, then I can understand it going back up. If I remember correctly you do add more water once a week, is that correct?
If the lettuces is big enough to pick in three weeks the plants must be getting pretty big?

[jjannie]

You would think after adding that much of the PH, the water would stay down to the proper level all the time, unless you keep adding more water, then I can understand it going back up. If I remember correctly you do add more water once a week, is that correct?
If the lettuces is big enough to pick in three weeks the plants must be getting pretty big?

So far, we're surprised but we've only been adding enough water to mix up the nutrients/phdown to dissolve them before adding them in so they can be better mix in the reservoir easier. Until the plants really take off, causing more evaporation from the plants, we really haven't been adding very much water like we thought we would. 

First lettuces are about 3inches now. Each day they look more and more filled out. We know if we were to have started from seedlings (not seeds) that they sell, it's supposed to save you about 3 weeks before your first harvest. So that's why we're hoping to be able to at least start removing some of outer lettuce leaves by then. 

I need to go check today's ph level to see how it is (we've been out all morning). Actually, we're waiting until Sunday's maintenance day to do any more ph adjusting so we'll know how long we can go between treating it. (Maybe I'll also take a progress picture to share.)

[jjannie]

Well checked the ph, it has finally changed, it was about an 8.25. Still made it WAY longer when using the original version. Still not yet adjusting it. The ph scall only goes to a 9.0 so our guess is by Sunday we'll definitively be doing enough of the new phDown to get in the targeted range, 

Also I took some pictures of the earlier sprouting plants reading left right. 

pic1 - # 1-5 Roma tomato, cucumber, cauliflower, Roma tomato, cucumber
pic2 - # 18,13,14 Lettuce, lettuce, broccoli
pic3 - #28,29 Arugula, lettuce

Hopefully this all makes sense as you look at the pics. We've numbered our planting baskets just so we can track them easier. 

[wiperhunter2]

Well that's too bad that the PH went up that much but the plants are looking good. It's going to be interesting to see how the tomato and cucumber plants do as they grow bigger.