Part One:

Part Two:

Name: Chadwick's Rodan Lettuce
Seed Co:  Baker Creek Seed Company
Website:  Rareseeds.com




Description:  This variety was developed by the legendary Alan Chadwick, the English leader of the organic movement in the early 1970's. Green, loose-leaf heads are tinged in bright red. They are quite compact and perfect for small gardens. We are delighted to offer an historical lettuce that is also quite tasty.
How It Was Grown: 
Lighting: 
QUANTUM BAD BOY T5, 4', 8 Bulb using a mixed spectrum of Grow Bulbs(6400k) and Bloom Bulbs(2900K) for maximum spectral coverage. 

Hydroponics System: 
Emily's Garden by Hydrofarm.  The Emily's Garden is a table top Deep Water Culture(DWC) hydroponics system. 

Nutrient:
The Base Nutrient used was the Pure Blend Pro Grow Solution by Botanicare.  It was amended with their products(All products used at their recommended Level):

• -VITAMINO
• -HYDROGAURD
• -SWEET RAW
• -CAL-MAG PLUS
• -PURE BLEND TEA
• -FULVEX
• -LIQUID KARMA
• -SILICA BLAST
• -CLEAREX

Day 8:  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Came in today before stuffing my face and being couch locked.  Everything looking healthy, a little dry but that is to be expected as the seedlings continue to drink and the light causes evaporation.  Also i only spray them down with enough water to wet the cubes to avoid over saturation.  Started to heavy spray on the cubes that have not sprouted yesterday and i believe it added the extra oomph it needed to spur the sprout.  4 more plugs sprouted.  Only two plugs are not showing signs of life at this point.  Couldn't be happier with the success rate.  One of the seedlings went from just purging out of the seed to an explosive growth rate. 

This is the heavy direct spray i was referring to above.  I believe its giving the seed the extra water it needed to sprout.  The water being mixed with the Ful-Power is having a serious effect on the germination success.

I proceeded to water the rest of the plugs like i have been doing.

After spraying remember to leave them out of direct light to avoid foliage burning.

Day 9:  Growing On

Everything still looking Happy.  Two plugs still not showing life.  Went on with the heavy spraying of the non sprouting plugs.  Even some of the seeds that were planted shallow and just on top of the cube are starting to sprout.  Gave them a Ful-Power Spray as usual.

Day 10:  Loving Light

Day 11:  Steady as she Grows

Not much to report today as these little lady's are chugging right along.  Cubes look a little more dried out then yesterday.  I Gave them a light spray today.

After Spray:

Good top view:

Day 12:  Hello Ladies

Everything looking healthy plugs are drying up nicely overnight.  The last seed that popped is coming up nicely.  Only one plug not really doing anything.  Giving them another Ful Power mist today.  As you noticed by now i am hitting them with a Ful-Power spray almost everyday.

Day 13:  Transplant Eminent

Cubes looking a little dry as usual.  The sprouts are starting to look a little pale.  They are about ready for transplant.  Don't want to hit them with nutrient yet because they still might be a little frail.  However i will have to do this within the next week.

Day 14:  Week Two closing out strong!!

Came in this morning and the cubes are looking slightly thirsty.  After the spray yesterday the sprouts never came back to standing straight up.  This is a good sign as it means they are getting real leggy.  This means they are really almost ready for transplant.  I like to let them get leggy as possible while they are still in the cubes so they will not get leggy once they are transplanted.  Proceeded to give them their daily watering.

First we added 25ML of Ful-Power to a gallon of de-chlorinated water, a product developed by a company BioAg.  This product is a good blend of Fulvic acids.  Golden Humic Acids, derived from fossilized prehistoric Cretaceous period material, through a cold process extraction   This will spur the seeds to germinate faster than normal.  As far as a de-chlorinator goes we trust in the Small Boy manufactured by Hydrologic Water Filtration Systems.  It is greatly important that you de-chlorinate your water because Chlorine and especially Chloramine are two of the biggest plant growth inhibitors you will find in your garden.  Chlorine and Chloramine are added to the water supply to kill bacteria and curb algae growth.  Since we are trying to start seeds these two chemicals would be sure to stop growth in its tracks.

Then we added about a 1 1/2 tablespoons of a product called Great White to the mix.  "Great White" is a product made by a company called Plant Success.  Great white essentially is a blend of multiple species of Beneficial Bacteria which will spur accelerated root growth and increased nutrient availability as well as increased nutrient absorption.  Great white mixed with the Ful-Power will greatly increase seed propagation rates and significantly decrease propagation time.

Then i added my RootRiot plugs to the mix for a good initial soak.  RootRiot plugs are made by a company called Hydrodyanmics International.

Per order the Great White application methods i then top dressed Half of the tray with more of the product.  This was done to only half the tray to produce a side by side test to see if there are truly added benefits to this step of the process.

We then put the tray on a heat mat to increase germination rate.  The heat mat we chose was the Super Starter Heat Mat by Sunleaves.  Seeds like a warmer climate, a soil temperature of 70 - 80 degrees for germination to occur.  However, seed germination temperature is all dependent on which type of crop is being grown.

At this point we decided to mist in some Ful-Power.  This remoistens and re-oxygenates the root cubes.  We added 8 ml to the quart Mondi Sprayer.  In our opinion these are the best sprayers on the market to date.  

At this point we decided there was enough growth started where we could add light to the mix.  

We opted to go with a Hydrofarm CFL light.  This package comes complete with bulb.  This is not the usual light we would use at this stage but it is soft enough for starts still.  Usually we use High Output T5's for this section but the CFL was already hanging in the tent.

This morning we pulled them out from under the CFL and put them under side lighting from a 175w Mini Sunburst made by Hydrofarm This has a 175w Metal Halide(MH) Bulb.  Figured they could handle some more potent light now that most seedlings have sprouted.

Today the seedlings looked super healthy, lots of sprouts.  Even a few plugs with two seedlings; great success so far.  Misted on some more of the Ful-Power by BioAg to keep the plugs moist and add the benefits of more Golden Humic Acids to the plugs.  Seeing Exponential growth day by day.

This Morning we came in to find the plugs had dried out a bit from being underneath the 125w MH bulb so we decided to spray the tray again with the Ful-Power and Water.  Also we really soaked down the remaining plugs that had not sprouted in hopes more Ful-Power and added moisture would finish popping the seeds.

Day 7:  "Here We Grow"
The growth has been exponential.  It appears as if the FUL-POWER and GREAT WHITE Mycorrhizae has really been doing its job, all the seedlings look extremely happy.  The are definitely drinking a lot more and must be experiencing increased evaporation from being under the MiniSunburst 175w.  The pictures below show the dry cubes.

So we decided we should give them another good soaking of the FUL-POWER mix and let them sit in the side lighting for a bit.  You always want to turn off the light or put off to the side out of direct light when you spray anything on the foliage.  The water molecule can act as a magnifying lens and will burn your foliage.  

After they sat for a bit we put them back under the light.