Uniformity

Speaker 1:
Hello, IG. Today's video is brought to you in part by METER Group. There's a question posted on a AROYA's page about why you might get a different EC reading from one coco bag to the other, even though the water contents were similar. Let's start with uniformity. Coco is not uniform at all. And my experience, if I have 10 coco bags, if I weigh all of them out, I'll get 10 different weights. Versus rockwool. If I have 10 rockwool blocks, all weigh them all out and I'll probably get nine similar weights and one that is off. When saturating coco, it's important to make sure that you're using a drip irrigation system to saturate the coco. There is a salinity level, even though most Cocoa's washed, you will have some salinity in there. It's important to get lead shade through the coco when you're first hydrating it.

If you are hydrating your coco by hand, throw uniformity out the door. You're already going to have different EC reading from one coco bag to the next. If you are using a drip irrigation system, that's going to help with the uniformity. It's why we use pressure compensating emitters is because we want uniform feed to every single one of them. So this is probably the foundation of why you might have a different EC reading from one to the other is there's a chance that you didn't leach it out enough the salts and the initial set up. This could also cause plant health issues, but that's a whole another different subject. But, the key with Coco and understanding coco is that there is different weights to each coco bag. And, depending upon how you're saturating them, there might already be a different salinity value to each one just because they are washed differently or you might've hydrated them differently.

Let's talk about a few other factors that might be affecting your substrate sensory readings, your TEROS 12 readings from one substrate to another. One of the main things that I see when people taking substrate readings is sensor placement. If you were placing your TEROS 12 and one bag, and then moving to the next and placing in a different location, you're going to have different readings. You want to keep that sensor placement uniform. What I like to do is I like to take readings from the interior or the low side, the drain side of the bag. So, I either like take it from here or here. Either way, if you're going to take it from one of those positions, it needs to be the same on every single block. So always recognize where your drain side is of your tables. That way you're always taking readings from the same position. And the case of taking a reading in this location to this location, this sensor, because it's more towards the drain side is going to have a higher water content and usually lower EC reading.

This sensor because it's on the high side. So, furthest away from the drain, drain being this way. And this is being the high side. This is going to have a lower water content reading. Even though it might be a few percent, it's going to be a few percent lower and it will also have a higher EC, because think about a wick when something's wicking up nutrients or water or a solution, it's always going to have a higher concentration on the high side than the low side. Because it's wicking it. And most substrates act like a wick, that's what allows them to evenly distribute water or solution throughout it.

So, main takeaway from that, is that you want to make sure that your sensors are always placed uniformly throughout. In the case of placing a sensor on a slab, you always want to make sure the sensors be placed between the second and third block. So, this is the high side. So 1, 2, 3. So, this is second and third. You want to play center to that. And, then you wanted an inch and a quarter off the bottom.

In the case of taking readings from plants in the middle of the table, always choose the left or the right side. If you are running slabs, or if you're doing cocoa and you're choosing to place the sensor on the outsides, the left or right side. Make sure your center plants are always read from the same. On the outside plants, you always want the sensor to be placed on the interior side of the medium, not the exterior. Because once again, the exterior is going to be the high side. The interior is going to be low side. So, you always want your sensors placed on the low side. So, if you're taking to set a sensor readings from a slab or a block on the middle, choose the left or right side of the substrate and then keep it uniform throughout the whole room. So, if you're taking readings off the center plants and you're choosing left side, then every single sensor placement should be on the left side.

If you are using the solace and you pull the sensor out, you can't place it back in the same holes. So, once you pull that sensor out, try and take readings from other plants. If you are using the solace try and keep it in one substrate the whole time. I understand that if you want to take it around and just check all the different plants. Understand though you can't put it back in the same holes. You're never going to get an accurate reading like that.

Let's talk about a few other uniformity things. A lot of the times I see people flowering plants that are different age And different strain. Do your best possible to monocrop. Anybody that knows me, knows I drive monocrop. I eat, sleep and drink it. I want monocrop rooms. What I mean by monocrop, one strain. It's also important that if you are growing multiple strains in a room, make sure they're all propagated at the same time. Even if you're monocropping, make sure all the strains of property is at the same time. Do not flower a plant that's one or two weeks older than the other. You want to make sure they're all the same age. That will drive difference in readings right there itself, and also affect your overall outcome.

So, making sure your plants are all at the same age, making sure your plants are all the same strain. That's going to be key to having some uniformity. Drip stake placement, it's mind blowing to me that people set their rooms up and place their drips states in different locations on every single bag or every single substrain.

I like separating my drip stakes and placing them evenly on the opposing sides of the substrate. I like using the 1.2 liter per hour drip stakes. If you are using them or using one doesn't matter, it just matters that they're all uniform in place. This is not correct. Do not place two drip stakes on the same side of the substrate. Make sure they're evenly [inaudible 00:06:45] spaced out. That will keep things uniform. Your plants are sitting in the room for two months. Take the extra effort. Make sure that all the drips takes her place in the same location.

If you are doing a slabs and you're doing one drip sake per plant, make sure they're all on the high side. So, the furthest from the drain that will give you the most uniform saturation of your substrate. In regards to lighting, I often find that people are still lighting just above the tables, for what? That doesn't do you anything good. You want to light the whole room. Having a uniform lighting across the whole room will give you uniform results in terms of your uptake of your plants. If one plant has 1200 micromoles on it and the other one has 700 micromoles on it. Those are immediately going to transpire at different rates, causing different readings in the substrate. So, it's really important to recognize that.

When you're looking at data from a room, understanding where your sensors are placed is important. If you're looking at the climate data, you Want the ATMOS 14 placed at the head height. So, you literally want it even with the top of the plants. Understand that if you're reading your climate data off of your HVAC system, that the sensor is on the wall. That's going to be grossly different than the sensor that's in the middle of the room. So, please interpret the data coming off the sensor, that's in the middle of the room that it's actually feeling what the plants are feeling versus a sensor that's on the wall that maybe there's air circulating by it. As you are placing these sensors, make sure they're not by air duct. So it's really important that you're looking at those parameters.

So, we went over substrate, light, drip state placement, TEROS 12 placement, and plant size. To sum it all up, uniformity is key when setting your rooms up. Make sure you do all in your power to set things up, to be the exact same from table to table. From strain to strain, all these things you want to make sure or set them as closely as possible. Monocrop a room is the best. All the same age plants, all the same height plants. Drip states placed in the same location. Sensors placed in the same location.

And, then understand that if you are an OCD person grow in rockwool. If you're willing to accept my new differences from one substrate to the next, Coco and soil is fine. But, always comprehend that with coco and soil, you're never going to have a hundred percent uniformity the same way that you will with rockwool. rockwool, probably is in the high nineties. I guess nothing's a hundred percent, but rockwool will be in the high nineties in terms of uniformity. Coco,, I'd throw out in the eighties. So just comprehend that if you're wanting a really uniform substrate, choose rockwool. If you're willing to accept the lack of uniformities choose Coco. If you want a uniform room, monocrop a room all the same age plant, everything stays the same.

Hope this was helpful. Stay tuned for some more videos and leave some comments on what else you guys would like to see. If you don't follow AROYA, please follow AROYA. Please follow Cannabis Trading CO and follow Josh Neulinger and myself. Hope you guys have a great day. Stay cool in this crazy heat wave. And I'll talk to you soon.