Last night, 10/20 I planted my seeds for this challenge. I began the process on 10/19 by soaking 65 1.5” rockwool cubes in water with a ph of 6.0. I usually soak them for at least 12 hours. This accomplishes two things. For one, it helps lower the ph of the cubes so that they do not raise the ph of the system. It also helps to remove some of the loose particles from the cubes that would otherwise end up floating in the reservoir or stuck in the pump filters. Here are the cubes in a 5 gallon bucket. You can see some of the particles floating on top.
After the soak, I put the cubes in a germination tray and placed one seed in each cube. At least, I attempted to put just one seed in each hole, it can be tough to put just one in. Then, I pushed the holes mostly closed .
Lastly, I placed a humidity dome on top of the tray and put the try in the germination area. Here the temperature will stay between 70 and 80F and the lights will stay on for 16 hours/day. The light is just a standard 4 ft shop light with daylight spectrum bulbs.
The light in the germination section is only good until the plants start to emerge. It is not strong enough to prevent strecting so the plants will have to move in about 5 days. That means the clock is ticking. I have to get the rest of the system working in 5 days so that the plants will grow optimally! I should be able to get the Arduino controls tested this weekend which will allow me to use the rest of the system, and buy me a bit of time to work on the EZR32WG code and finally the web based SCADA system. It's a lot to do in a little time, but I think I can do it!