frostyd00d's hydro grow log

[frostyd00d]

Strain: Blosser
Lighting: Sunlight, Incandescent
Grow Media/Soil Mix: Hydro/Potting Soil
Fertilizer: Schultz 33-11-11
Temperature Range: ~80 (constant)
Humidity: no idea
Started From: Clone
Start Date: Jan 8

Sorry for my vague details, but I just don't have the tools to measure temperature/humidity with me. I'm here to show that a cheap hydro system can be built and maintained by a college student. 

I made the system using a 20 oz. Gatorade bottle, a $5 pump from petsmart, and a 69 cent (IIRC) airstone. The hydroton was the most expensive part of the system, costing me about $10 for 2 liters when I'm barely using 1/2 cup.

Pictures:


Taken in November, this is the original plant. Arrived from HI.


This is the cutting I prepared for the hydro. Plastic bag was removed to take the picture. (about a week after the cutting was taken, you can see a root forming)


The mother plant after the cutting, the bottom of the plant spring to life, but not for long... (more on this later)


The fertilizer I use. (I hear salvia likes a slightly acidic soil)


The hydro setup.


Root poking thru one week in.


New clone/cutting taken off the mother plant last night. For some reason, my mother plant is wilting as if it's root rooting (even though I only water once every 4 days, and mist about 3x a day), I'm trying everything I can to bring it back so I took this cutting just in case it doesn't make it.



Feel free to leave any comments/suggestions, I will try to update this weekly.

[Arcygenical]

That tiny cutting PROBABLY won't make it... just so you know .

As for the mother plant drooping... I'd root it in plain water before putting it in the hydro medium... It should increase your chances of a proper root. Keep the humidity high, and allow fresh air to enter often.

[cechmangoal]

how much stem is on the that little cutting??? it cooouuullld make it, just so long as it has a node to suck up water and grow roots. i had a little tiny cutting with maybe an inch or so of stem and it survived and is doing great. just keep it in water and see what happens. everything looks really nice though!! good luck!!

[frostyd00d]

That tiny cutting PROBABLY won't make it... just so you know .

As for the mother plant drooping... I'd root it in plain water before putting it in the hydro medium... It should increase your chances of a proper root. Keep the humidity high, and allow fresh air to enter often.

The mother plant is already rooted (1st and 3rd picture). I still have no idea why she's dropping all of her leaves, I aerated the soil last night and gave her a little bit of water this morning. 

Here's a picture of her taken about 5 minutes ago, notice the top leaves.

how much stem is on the that little cutting??? it cooouuullld make it, just so long as it has a node to suck up water and grow roots. i had a little tiny cutting with maybe an inch or so of stem and it survived and is doing great. just keep it in water and see what happens. everything looks really nice though!! good luck!!

The small cutting has two nodes on it, although very small ones. Hopefully it makes it, but if not... at least I tried. It's looking better now than before I cut it off of the plant.
The cover on the left is what I use to cover it for the humidity chamber until it roots.


And here's a picture of the root progress on the hydro cutting. It's hard to see them with the light in the background, I'll take a better picture next time.

[MstryShovel]

nice dude lets hope everything goes well the hydro looks like its taking off!

[skagardener]

so you can use soil fertilizer in a hydro setup???

[MstryShovel]

yeah its just gotta be dissolved.

[Arcygenical]

so you can use soil fertilizer in a hydro setup???

Yes, so long as it contains EVERY micronutrient and is pH balanced.

Also, Frosty, looking good

[Paradoxic]

Lookin' good. Nice economical hydro system. That would be pretty amazing, and interesting, if that little guy actually rooted. I'll be curious to see.

Eventually you will probably want get a bigger reservoir for that hydro plant...but I'm sure your planning to do that.

Welcome to Salvia Source!

[frostyd00d]

Time for an update... first things first... mother plant is pretty much dead now (root rot) 





I managed to get another cutting off of her Saturday before she got this bad, maybe it'll root? (It's in the Harvick shot glass)
There's not one leaf on it, so I'm not sure what it'll do, but it's not rotting [yet] so there's hope. The little guy in the gaterade cap
is still doing fairly well, no roots yet, but he's still looking strong.

Now for the hydro, I re-arranged it last night because the roots were already root-bounded. I should have put holes in the side as well and not just at the bottom.
Here's a picture of the plant outside of the medium while I was re-arranging it.


How do the roots look to you all? (the cloth is there to block out sunlight, the air hose pieces on the rim is to dampen the vibrations)
Browning on the big leaves from humidity change a long time ago.

And here are two pictures taken about 5 minutes ago:




I'm not sure what the white stuff on the big leaves is... doesn't seem to be hurting it one bit. Is now a good time to remove those leaves, or should I give it a few more days for the 4 smaller leaves to get a little bigger, they're already fighting for space... there's just not enough room. (the air hose pieces protect the leaves from the sharp edges of the rim)

[Arcygenical]

That white powdery stuff seems to accompany my cuttings right before they die... I'm not too sure what it is, but I always put some hydrogen peroxide on a Qtip, and apply it to the affected area...

If I don't, this talcum-powdery facsimile kills my cuttings...

Rubbing alcohol will work too, but wash it off afterwards.

Don't cut the side leaves off for awhile too... They're probably the main energy inputs to your plant!

[Paradoxic]

I always wondered about that powdery white stuff...I thought it might be powdery mildew. Thats a good idea for control, I gotta start doing that. I think this calls for a guide, and now we got a nice picture for it. Archy, would you wanna put up a short guide in the Pests section for controlling that stuff?

frostyd00d, its kinda cool how you are doing tiny hydro sets...you could call it micro-dro.

[Arcygenical]

Sure, I can tackle that beast tomorrow.

[frostyd00d]

Good News!!!

The little guy in the gatorade cap is showing a root bud! It's too small for me to take a good picture with my cam, but the bulge is there.
There should be something to see by Monday/Tuesday when I do my weekly update.

[Paradoxic]

Wow, thats pretty amazing...Salvia is quite incredible when it comes to rooting. You should show us a picture when you can.