Post by fldave on Oct 9, 2020 16:53:45 GMT -5
I am brand new here today. Three weeks ago I bought my first Bounty and after buying a new one every few days since, I now have five Bounty’s. This is definitely addicting. In them I have 27 plants of 9 different lettuce types, 9 different herb types, and 7 heirloom cherry tomatoes. All of the seeds have now sprouted leaves above the labels and we are already harvesting beautiful lettuce leaves. Since becoming fascinated with my first Bounty I have switched from watching tv all evening after dinner to browsing the web learning about hydroponic gardening and Indoor gardening with grow lights.
There is a great deal of conflicting information out there regarding optimum light duration for different categories of plants in different growth phases. When I set my first Bounty for Lettuce in the Quick Plant menu, it set the light duration to 15.5 hours. Many growing enthusiasts seem to believe that 17 to 18 hours is optimal for lettuce and even AeroGarden tips pages says 24 hour light is just fine for lettuce. I have also read that temperature and light duration are what trigger the dreaded bolting process which I want to avoid. These gardens are in my Central Florida home which I keep air conditioned to 77 degrees during the day and 74 degrees at night. All indications are that this is the upper acceptable temperature range for lettuce. I measured 84 degree water temperature in the Bounty’s reservoir after 12 hours of lighting on day 2 and quickly added cooling fans to the room which has stabilized water temperatures in the 79 to 80 degree range after being illuminated all day. Given that my temperatures are higher than that preferred by lettuce, I do not want to have excessive light duration compound the problem and trigger bolting. Right now my duration is 16 hours on the lettuce and herb Bountys and 17 hours on the tomatoes. I adjusted these durations while the units were still in “germination” mode and the units did not alter my settings after germination mode was complete. If I had let the Bounty select the light duration, what duration would it have chosen for the Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Herbs categories in the Quick Plant scheme after the first two weeks? Also, what is the maximum duration that I should use to prevent bolting given my 77 degree room temperature?
There is a great deal of conflicting information out there regarding optimum light duration for different categories of plants in different growth phases. When I set my first Bounty for Lettuce in the Quick Plant menu, it set the light duration to 15.5 hours. Many growing enthusiasts seem to believe that 17 to 18 hours is optimal for lettuce and even AeroGarden tips pages says 24 hour light is just fine for lettuce. I have also read that temperature and light duration are what trigger the dreaded bolting process which I want to avoid. These gardens are in my Central Florida home which I keep air conditioned to 77 degrees during the day and 74 degrees at night. All indications are that this is the upper acceptable temperature range for lettuce. I measured 84 degree water temperature in the Bounty’s reservoir after 12 hours of lighting on day 2 and quickly added cooling fans to the room which has stabilized water temperatures in the 79 to 80 degree range after being illuminated all day. Given that my temperatures are higher than that preferred by lettuce, I do not want to have excessive light duration compound the problem and trigger bolting. Right now my duration is 16 hours on the lettuce and herb Bountys and 17 hours on the tomatoes. I adjusted these durations while the units were still in “germination” mode and the units did not alter my settings after germination mode was complete. If I had let the Bounty select the light duration, what duration would it have chosen for the Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Herbs categories in the Quick Plant scheme after the first two weeks? Also, what is the maximum duration that I should use to prevent bolting given my 77 degree room temperature?
). Remember if one fails, get right back in and start something new.