Urban Garden Magazine reader Grubbycup shares his love for records and labels within his garden and describes how beginners can accelerate their experience by keeping an accurate log of their grows.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana.

“I can’t remember what I ate for lunch yesterday.” – Grubbycup

If, like me, you don’t have the best memory for all of life’s little details then take this golden tip: write stuff down. (Now I’m picturing thousands of you scribbling “Note to self: write stuff down.”) But, all joking aside, when you want to remember things, exactly and free of doubt, it’s really handy to be able to refer to a tangible and written record.

Still not convinced? Or are you wondering what information exactly needs to be recorded? In either case, allow me to expand. For me, gardening is, and always will be, a learning process. I’m always planning what I’m going to tweak on my next grow in the hope of improving my yields – and one good way to learn about what to do in the future is to take a look at what worked (and what didn’t work) in the past. Another reason to keep records is to help keep you on track with what you should be doing, without having to rely entirely on memory to figure out when you should do it. Good record-keeping isn’t difficult once you get into the habit.

First, get hold of the basics. Acquire some plant labels, a plant label pen (usually a permanent, waterproof marker), and something to write in such as a calendar, a dated logbook, a computer spreadsheet, or even some 3” x 5” cards. Personally, I prefer to use a week-to-view diary dedicated to my grow, as these have the dates already filled in for me of course, and it’s good to also view my indoor garden on a week to week basis with things like feeding schedules and timing the next batch of cuttings etc. I also use the blank space in the front or the back for more general, less date-specific observations.

I know some of you more tech-savvy growers out there will have your indoor gardens linked up to super climate controllers and automatic data logging software but, well, a diary’s good enough for me. (A boy’s gotta’ walk before he can run!) Alternatively you could use the calendar app on your I-Phone or Blackberry but these gizmos aren’t for me personally … for one thing, I’m always afraid I’ll lose the damn things! I also like a good old-fashioned diary because I can leave it permanently stationed in my indoor garden.

Labels Make Life Easy!

Next, make sure you label your plants. I use regular sticky labels and place them directly on the pot. They are cheaper than the plastic plant labels you can buy at the gardening store, although I admit, they are more convenient to use when transplanting your plants to a new pot as you don’t need to make another label!

Your labeling scheme may be as simple as a lot number, or as detailed as you want.

I like to include at the minimum:

Date planted.
Genus / variety / phenotype number
Seed or clone?
Identification of parent plants?
Generation
Any known traits of the plant

An example:
7/15/2009
Tomato / White Wonder / WW5
Seed
Unknown
F1
90 days, indeterminate, bushy

I affix these labels to the plant containers themselves, so I don’t have to be concerned about this data becoming separated from the plant. Exactly what information you decide to record on the plant label itself and what information you reference elsewhere in your logbook, etc, is up to you. For some growers, merely placing a label saying “WW5” is enough, as they can look up the respective details elsewhere and don’t have to repeat extraneous details on every label. Who wants to write “90 days, indeterminate, bushy” 100 times on 100 cuttings?

It’s also a good idea to keep records of the equipment you are using in your indoor garden: the make, model, cost, when you put it in service, etc. Give each piece of equipment an ID number.

For example, if you are running four ebb & flood trays, label each one T1, T2, T3 and T4. Label each electrical plug for each pump respective to the tray it’s working in. This makes day-to-day maintenance so much easier than guessing all the while or tracing plugs back to their appliances.

It’s also a good idea to diarize notes about future lamp replacements. If you install a new 400 watt HPS in November, for example, make a note to replace the bulb in May if you replace every six months, or in August of the following year if you replace every nine. Then you don’t have to remember how old the bulb is, you’ll come across the entry at the appropriate time. And, of course, because your equipment is labeled, you should be able to tell exactly which lamp needs replacing.

Another really useful application of the calendar section of your grow diary is to record when you make major changes to the growing environment. If you adjust your light cycle to induce photoperiod-sensitive plants to flower, for example, then you can make a note of your estimated harvest date. Also make sure you list major events, bug sightings, remedial measures, new equipment, seeds purchased, etc – anything that you might want to refer to so you can make better informed decisions in the future.

Logs

As well as labeling everything, make sure you log the minimum / maximum temperatures that occur in your indoor garden as regularly as you can. The same goes for relative humidity and CO2 levels. Growers who are experimenting with different nutrient and additive recipes keep detailed logs of the products they use with each reservoir tank change. More experienced gardeners also supplement their written data with digital photographs (especially when taken from the same angle and zoom) every couple of weeks. This becomes really interesting after you’ve completed several grows and you can visually compare the same cuttings at the same stage with previous batches. If your plants look decidedly better (or worse) then you can compare your notes for both grows and highlight exactly what had changed.

Perhaps the most important piece of data to log is your final yield. This should be calculated and recorded with as fine a granularity as possible, ideally on a per plant basis. Averages can then be calculated per tray and per variety. Hopefully you should see the general trend increasing over time as you try out different variables and refine the plant genetics used in your set-up. Be sure to keep track of your costs too though. Electricity, seeds, sundries and equipment all add up.

Above all, have fun! I know that all this talk of ‘records’ and ‘logs’ might sound like I have a frustrated desire to become an accountant or bookkeeper but I can assure you this is not the case. Good records really lend a special ‘tangibility’ to your gardening efforts and help make you a better gardener. And what’s more, you’ll know you’re a better gardener!

Peace and happy growing,
Grubbycup.

Many thanks to the Grubmeister for taking the time to email in his advice. What systems to you employ in your garden to make your life easier? Share your wisdom by posting a comment below.