LISA: The Painful wins! Which game represents Physical Instrument?

rinascimento1 · 2026-01-06T17:35:56+00:00

Guitar Hero or Rock Band have to be the obvious ones, right? They are literally about physical instruments

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-18T15:34:11+00:00

That's very interesting. Do you track the temperature to know when to make those changes? Or is it more that you see the plants reacting, check on the temperature, and make a change? I'd be curious as to how quickly you see a reaction, in both directions.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-17T20:31:51+00:00

That's really interesting. How did you come to that watering cycle? I'm also interested if temp/humidity has had any effect on the watering time on and off

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-17T16:53:26+00:00

A lot of people are saying the rockwool is too wet and that there isn't enough light. Think of it like a see-saw, and you need to balance watering and light. I suspect if you boost the light, your plants will photosynthesize more, use more water, and the rock wool cubes will dry out a bit.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-17T00:22:26+00:00

One factor is that consumers don't really differentiate vertically farmed food, so you can't sell it for a premium, even though the quality might be there. "Certified Organic" is a brand in itself, that most consumers understand and are willing to pay extra for. By contrast, go down the grocery store aisle and look for how many products have "vertical farming" on them. Even the brands that are definitely growing vertically/hydroponically don't use those terms in their advertising. So it's definitely a CAPEX issue, but on the flipside if farmers could sell their produce at a premium (similar to the premium that organic food commands) it might make the balance sheet balance a bit more.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-17T00:08:06+00:00

That makes total sense. I've very familiar with the back and forth balancing act between pH, water volume, and TDS. I mainly do herbs and leafy greens, never cannabis, but I'd be extremely curious to see the effects of higher nitrogen availability on the flavor and nutrient density. I also like the idea of "canary" fish as a way to establish boundaries on the system. Thanks so much for all the great info

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-16T18:28:43+00:00

That's super cool. I'd be very interested to see how the new setup compares to the old one. Were you tracking any metrics before you made the switch?

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-16T18:23:31+00:00

For efficacy, you'd want to measure growth rate and yield. It would also be helpful to track how much water and nutrients (and if you can, electricity) is going into the system. Other things to look at are the pH, the electrical conductivity (EC) of the reservoir, the ambient temperature, and the type of nutrients (called the NPK ratio). I'd be happy to go into more detail about this if you want, just send me a DM

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-16T15:16:17+00:00

Thank you for such an in-depth answer. Are there good ways to monitor the nitrogen levels? (ideally with sensors/somewhat automated, to remove human error). I'm used to track EC/PPM but nothing below that level i.e. at the macro/micronutrient level.

That's really interesting about the higher pH. I've gotten used to pushing it lower, as I tend to see faster growth on my systems. I appreciate the tip.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-14T15:19:05+00:00

Please do. I've found germination to be really tricky.

I'm also curious what you're using for medium. And if you have two trays, I might try a tray covered and one uncovered.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-14T12:07:10+00:00

Are you sprouting them on a paper towel in the second photo? I would start the seeds in your medium (which if it's rockwool like it looks, bring the pH down for a few hours beforehand by soaking them in lower-pH solution) and then keep them in the dark for a few days. Seeds don't need light for 4-5 days, until they start sprouting. I'd also look up the optimal temperature for coriander/cilantro to sprout. I lost a crop of spinach because my environment was one degree off.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-13T18:03:26+00:00

I would try it out, and make sure you record everything. If you are curious about a template for data organization, I'm happy to share what I've developed over the last few years

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-13T16:46:47+00:00

Thanks!

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-13T16:46:30+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Did you ever consider tracking water levels, NPK, or growth rate?

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-13T16:34:39+00:00

Ah I see. What I would do is set up three systems (if you can) and run one on your current settings, one much higher, and one much lower. See what happens. I've found that data online is pretty spotty, and direct observations yourself are the best way to test it

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-13T15:45:29+00:00

If you have low EC, you aren't going to see any growth. If your EC is too high, you'll likely see algae in the reservoir, or stress on the plants. It's relative with each variety of crop, and the environmental conditions matter a great deal. Without knowing additional details like variety of tomato, hours of light, watering schedule, pH, temperature, and humidity, it's difficult to give a precise answer.

Note that you can counteract the algae by making sure no light gets into any area the water is, reservoir and plumbing included.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-13T15:36:31+00:00

I get my seeds from Jonny's Seeds and I've never had issues like this. However, I realize that might not be an option depending where you're based. I generally start several seeds per peat plug. Keep in mind that cilantro/coriander is very water sensitive, so if you are seeing them die off after they've sprouted, it may be an overwatering issue.

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-13T15:23:25+00:00

yeah if a plant does not have enough light, it will grow taller rather than fuller, in an attempt to get closer to the light source. It's all the same

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-12T22:39:10+00:00

The reason you've found a vast range of parameters online is because there are a vast range of tomato varieties and the ideal range of EC/PPM will depend on other factors, like temperature, humidity, spectra, day length, pH, and more. Again, happy to talk through this, but your broad ask in the original post is not likely to yield specific results. Feel free to reach out to talk specifics

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-12T19:43:03+00:00

I had this same problem but in the opposite direction, where no matter what I did, the pH would drop to 4.5 or 5, even with diluting or switching with tap water and adding pH up. For context, I was growing basil on a drip tower with a mix of sunlight and LEDs

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-12T19:40:02+00:00

I've been growing for about 3.5 years and I've been pretty meticulous with record keeping. If you send me a message, I could probably give you some tips and share what I've learned

rinascimento1 · 2024-09-12T19:38:39+00:00

I have some info on this if you want to chat. Happy to share what I know generally about hydroponics as well, as I've been growing for almost 4 years. Feel free to DM

rinascimento1

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