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Post by darais211 on Nov 20, 2022 22:04:23 GMT -5
your thinking ppm for mineral break down (it won't be just salts it will be all minerals), my buddy did what your thinking a while back its a pretty cool project
personally i don't like the trenchon device, its not as accurate as their pens and gives just a general ball park (i was forced to use one at a old job i eventually told my boss i won't use it because i saw the plants health were suffering when i switched from my pens)
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veng1
AGA Sprout
My logo is from a spectroradiometer I designed to measure a Sprout.
Posts: 51
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Post by veng1 on Nov 21, 2022 9:35:03 GMT -5
"An ambitious plan', lynnee, is probably the sign of an engineer with too much time. However, I'm not against listening to what my plants tell me, I just didn't hear what they said when a couple had problems. So I'm trying to augment my faulty senses or maybe simple lack of attention.
darais211, the truncheon seemed to have the best reviews and longest lifetime. I bought a less expensive pen from Amazon that promptly failed, so I spent more money for the next one. A good pen would have a lot of charm as the truncheon hits the lights on the upper shelf in the back of the tent. But you bring up an excellent point. I was planning on using the truncheon as my primary reference when I calibrate my self designed EC measuring system but a far better solution (no pun intended) would be to mix up or buy some precise calibration solution. That is well documented in the literature. I'm quite surprised how easy it is to design an EC measuring system, at least on the surface.
A problem I think I have with the truncheon that would also happen with a pen is that I don't use it enough. There is an open source software package, Mycodo, designed by a PhD microbiologist that will email me when the sensors indicate a problem. It is designed more for a NFT grow using a single , large nutrient reservoir rather than monitoring up to 8 AeroGarden like basins but I think I can design around that. Take a look at the pictures of his dashboards on that link. It's a pretty amazing system.
Mycodo, at least in his system, only monitors EC and pH. I'm taking a leap of faith with the AeroGarden nutrient in that it is buffered and assuming I don't need constant pH monitoring.
The people that do large, single reservoir systems don't seem to do much dump and fill, just monitor and add. So I'm not clear on the actual reason AeroGarden recommends that. Do you or anyone else know?
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Post by darais211 on Nov 21, 2022 12:07:50 GMT -5
the people that use those BIG res's use certain chemicals to keep their stuff clean, if you leave any kind of water or nutrients in the res it will build bacteria that can hurt plants.They still clean their systems just not as often (i use to do it every couple of weeks when i had to clean them).
and unless your growing 1 massive product a single res won't work, different plants require different feeding strengths and ph balances. |
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veng1
AGA Sprout
My logo is from a spectroradiometer I designed to measure a Sprout.
Posts: 51
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Post by veng1 on Nov 21, 2022 12:36:38 GMT -5
Have you tried Mycostop? I've seen it recommended.
I'm planning on multiple reservoirs for exactly the reason you pointed out. The pods from AeroGarden seem to be happy with their nutrient mixed as per the instructions. That seems to give an EC of about 1.4-1.6 on the Blu Labs truncheon.
My Gloxinias (similar to a large African Violet) have bad leaf curl and I'm guessing that EC is too high. So I'm cutting back for them. I haven't been able to find a reference for their optimal EC. Do you know of one?
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Post by lynnee on Nov 21, 2022 12:37:41 GMT -5
Aerogarden recommends the rinse and refill at least every other feeding to get rid of the byproducts and sediment that builds up in the bowl if you don't do it, veng1. |
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Post by darais211 on Nov 21, 2022 12:45:30 GMT -5
Have you tried Mycostop? I've seen it recommended.
I'm planning on multiple reservoirs for exactly the reason you pointed out. The pods from AeroGarden seem to be happy with their nutrient mixed as per the instructions. That seems to give an EC of about 1.4-1.6 on the Blu Labs truncheon.
My Gloxinias (similar to a large African Violet) have bad leaf curl and I'm guessing that EC is too high. So I'm cutting back for them. I haven't been able to find a reference for their optimal EC. Do you know of one?
I have not, i usually use a product called Hydroguard if i use any (im very very very picky on what goes near my flowers)
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veng1
AGA Sprout
My logo is from a spectroradiometer I designed to measure a Sprout.
Posts: 51
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Post by veng1 on Nov 21, 2022 15:51:53 GMT -5
darais211, Yes, that is exactly what I was looking for.
That web site is a great reference.
Thank you.
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