Week Number: 36
Environmental Conditions:
Day: Heating Setpoint 18C Cooling Setpoint 25C
Night: Heating Setpoint 18C Cooling Setpoint 25C
Supplemental Lighting:
14 hours of daylight required. Supplemental lights via HPS lights from 6am-8am and again from 6pm-8pm. If light levels drop 200 W/m2 for more than 30 minutes between 8am and 6pm the supplemental lighting will also turn on.
Hours of Black Out: N/A
Nutrient:
EC target is 1.5 – 2.0 pH target is 5.7 – 6.3
EC: 2.0 Feed | 0.7-1.5 Measured
pH 5.6 measured
Watering/Fertilizer:
This week Team Citrus worked with the crop to assess soil moisture content and determine if the crop required water. I had pot watered to crop over the weekend so, by Tuesday Team Citrus had some spot watering to do. On Friday, September 3, I applied the first application of 17-5-19 (our high Magnesium fertilizer – Blue) at 250ppm with an injection ratio of 1:100. I am anticipating good weather conditions over the weekend which are optimal for pushing our vegetative growth.
Observations:
I used my crop record sheet in the greenhouse throughout the week to monitor side wall movement and as a communication tool between myself and Jessica. On Tuesday the students took the heights of the crop and the crop is had grown an average of 0.8cm since last Thursday. I am seeing uneven lateral bud break in Titan Pink, Mirage Red and Christmas Glory Red Varieties. Other cultivars such as Titan White, Carina Hot Pink, Futura Brilliant red and Alipina have shown uniform lateral bud break throughout the crop. I am seeing new vegetative growth pushing since our pinch last week, which is a good indication that the plants are growing.
We measured the EC of the fertilizer coming out of the hose at 2.0 and, on average, the 2:1 EC measurements came back at 0.7-1.5. This indicates that the plants are using the nutrients we are feeding them and not showing signs of symptoms of salt build up. This information, along with what I was visually seeing in the crop, led me to make the decision to continue to fertilize and use the high Magnesium fertilizer.
Moving forward, I anticipate Team Grow Getters measuring similar growth in the crop and to continually see lateral break of the flower varieties. Upon reflection, and consultation of colleagues, it has been determined that the plants will double in size from the time we start black out. This means, if we want a final height of 40-42cm, we need the plants to be at least 20-22cm by the time black out starts.