Nursery
The built-in nursery is for germinating seeds, and producing strong, healthy seedlings which are then transferred to a growing level.
The nursery temperature is set on the app, and is maintained by a temperature sensor and heater pad in the base.
A light in the nursery ensures that seedlings have light as soon as they appear, so that they don’t get long and leggy. Nursery light times can be set independently of the main grow lights.
For more information, see Nursery settings.
Grow trays
Plants are grown to harvest size in the grow trays, using one of a range of techniques (see “Growing in your Harvst H Series”). Nutrient-rich water flows through the grow trays and returns to the tank in the base.
Watering system
Nutrient solution is pumped from the tank in the base, into the top growing tray, from where it cascades through the other grow trays (if you have more than one) and then back into the tank.
Nutrient concentration is monitored by the control unit and you are notified when you need to add water or add nutrients.
The watering schedule is configurable, depending on what you are growing. Recommended watering schedules are shown later in the guide. Watering only happens when the lights are on (when the plants are transpiring, and also to avoid pumping noise at night).
Grow lights
Grow lights are set on a timer, configurable via the app. Lights on all levels follow the same schedule. Lights are dimmable for when you want a darker space (eg watching TV). Choose your light timings based on the crops you are growing.
For example, lettuce seedlings should get about 18 hours of light daily, followed by 6 hours of darkness. Once established, lettuce should get between 10 and 14 hours of light per day. See the Harvst app for details of a range of crops / plants.
Light height can be changed, so you can drop the lights depending on the height of plants growing.
If you have multiple growing levels, you could use one for small seedlings with the lights low, and then transfer them to a level with lights high, so you don’t need to keep moving lights up and down.
If you have more than one growing level, the light control board (on the back of the rear panel) needs to have the correct switches set, so that each tier responds to the main control unit. Read the "Light control board" article for more information.
Also see the Grow light settings article.
Controls and setup
Your H-series settings are changed using a phone, tablet or laptop. We'll see how to do this later, in the Controlling your H-series article.
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