Summary: Just so guys there is a method to my madness here, two hydro shows in one week? Yep so here is the reasoning. As many of you know I consider myself a polymath and encourage you guys to work at that as well. Here is a secret to making it happen, temporary obsession. It works like this, a new concept comes into your mind, you find it interesting and initiate an obsession with it. Not the unhealthy kind that consumes your life, a short term obsession to learn as much as you can, as fast as you can and expand the concept to be as adaptable into other things you already know about as possible. You digest and implement it as quickly as you can and you don’t care about fucking up unless doing so is dangerous or highly expensive. When you do this you learn more in a few weeks then most will in 2-3 years. Let me clarify that with you learn more useful and actionable things that most will learn in 2-3 years. Now the other thing I do is talk about what I am obsessed about on the air. I do this to get a record of all the crazy shit going on in my head before I obsess about something else. Well ever since the Kratky Show on Tuesday I have been thinking about hydro in new ways. One of the biggest is for plant propagation. While I am not sure yet if it will be Kratky (non circulating) or perhaps an air pump driven system, I am pretty sure I am going to go to indoor hydro for most seed starting activity going forward. While that won’t be my only focus today, it will be the majority of it. I also realize that this time of year is great for indoor growing so I am going to talk about that a bit, including how to make things look “pretty” for those that care about such things. However most of you do the majority of your growing spring though fall (as do I) and start seeds for planting out in late winter. For me that is about Valentines day. So my long term plan is to get as much of this out of my head as I can (may be two more episodes) while playing with the concept. Then in late winter to run these again as rewinds when everyone is wanting to get stuff going. I can listen to them myself to remember the ideas I forgot or go back to comments to find out what many of you already know before I bother with mistakes. In fact this second show was largely inspired by a listeners awesome comment in the last one. Join Me Today to Discuss… Quote of the Day – “Any man who bears the ability of a polymath shall not be interfered by specialty, he needs discipline to manage his behaviors and nurture his creativity.” ~ Shawn Lukas A bit on being a polymath If you are real polymath you learn from yourself You think faster than you should at times You have ADD and that is great, harness it, don’t suppress it, screw societies expectations More on Hydroponics (mostly Kratky) For Seed Starting Simple rack and light system No need to irrigate frequently Heat water with an aquarium heater (very efficient) High density For hydro or in ground systems I am considering aquarium lights here Where and why I may go beyond Kratky For the seed system an air pump would be stupid easy I really want to give “grow towers” a shot in my remolded green house I already have power to the greenhouse and aviary anyway Somethings I have learned since Tuesday If you are going to use solids, mix up a concentrate People do use pure hemp fiber or coco fiber and it does work, there are tons of options There are integrated large net pot lids for 5 gallon buckets Put a dome over starts (duh I already knew this, lol) An EC Meter is a great way to get your nutrients spot on – need audience recommendation here, lots of cheaters on Amazon! Use rainwater to start (duh why didn’t I think of this) Spray paint white containers to block algae Spray lids white or back to wight to reduce heat from solar gain on top Additional Ideas Compress your own plugs Make your own net pots from solo cup[...]
