Home / Episodes / S01E13 – The Start of the Grow

S01E13 – The Start of the Grow

The Growing Starts Here

The setups are complete, the plants are in and Sarah and Jasmine are finally responsible for keeping their grows on track.

In their first grow-room check-in, the girls vlog their way through checking controllers, topping up tanks, mixing nutrients and setting feed schedules. Ian watches along, picking up on a few early mistakes and explaining what they should be checking every time they enter the grow room.

What You’ll Learn

This episode covers one of the most important parts of any grow environment:

What to check when you enter your grow room
Why tank levels need to be monitored
How to top up and adjust your nutrient solution
Why EC and pH should be checked before making changes
How to set a flood and drain feed timer correctly
Why the order you do things in matters

Jasmine’s First Check-In

Jasmine starts by checking her controllers, where there are already a few warnings waiting for her. The humidity is low too — and it doesn’t take long to find one of the problems. Her humidifier tank is empty.

Once the tank is filled, Jasmine gets the humidifier working again before moving on to her flood and drain system and nutrient tank

Keep Your Tank Topped Up

Ian explains that the reservoir needs to remain topped up and Jasmine needs to keep an eye on her growing media to make sure it isn’t becoming too dry.

At this early stage, she may also need to manually flood the system each day to make sure the plants are getting what they need.

Check Your Anti-Syphon Valve

On a flood and drain system, the anti-siphon valve needs to sit above the water level. It’s a small setup detail, but an important one to get right

Dilute Before You Add

With the tank topped up, Jasmine moves on to her nutrients — this time with her phone calculator ready after the maths struggles in the last episode.

When topping up nutrients, Ian recommends diluting them in around one litre of water first rather than adding the concentrated nutrients directly to the reservoir. Mix them thoroughly before adding the diluted solution to the tank.

Jasmine then checks the EC and pH to see where her nutrient solution is sitting.

Time the Flood – Don’t Guess

Next up is the IWS feed timer. Jasmine and Karlos think it looks complicated, but Ian breaks it down simply: the left side controls the trigger and the right side controls how long the system feeds for.

Jasmine initially chooses a one-minute feed, but Ian explains that the timing shouldn’t be guessed. Manually run the system, time how long it takes to flood correctly and then use that time to programme the timer.

For Jasmine’s setup, Ian expects it to be closer to 10 minutes.

Sarah’s First Check-In

Over in Sarah’s tent, Ian is quick to point out that she hasn’t actually had to do much herself yet. Her plants were transplanted for her and Karlos handled her nutrients in the previous episode — although that didn’t exactly go to plan.

Sarah starts by filling her humidifiers before turning her attention to the nutrient tank. Armed with the Plant Magic feed chart, she starts working out her A and B nutrients — and once again, the maths causes a few problems.

But Ian spots a bigger issue…

Check Before You Change Anything

Sarah hasn’t checked the water level, EC or pH before starting to add nutrients.

Before making adjustments, Ian wants the girls to understand what’s already happening in the tank. Check your water level and take your readings first, then use that information to work out what actually needs changing.

Get the Order Right

Sarah adds her nutrients and only afterwards tops the reservoir up with water.

As Ian points out, she’s done the whole process backwards. The water level should be dealt with first so you know what volume and nutrient strength you’re actually working with before making adjustments.

Circulate Your Nutrients

Rather than trying to manually mix everything in the reservoir, Sarah can use the tap on her system to circulate the nutrient solution and mix it through the tank.

Watch Your EC

Sarah has also added more nutrients without first draining and checking what was already in the reservoir.

Ian warns that continuing to add nutrients on top of the existing solution could leave her EC too high — another reason why checking the tank before changing anything is so important.

Next Week

It’s time for some hands-on help. Ian heads into the grow rooms with Sarah and Jasmine to take a closer look at their setups and show them where they can make improvements.