Wisconsin Fast Plant recipe

[speck_c]

The optimal conditions for growing Wisconsin fast plants are:
https://www.fastplants.org/pdf/growing_instructions.pdf

The plants DO need to be close to the light which is why my students will have to design an adjustable system to raise and lower the UPPER tray. This might seem like overkill, but I’ve found that temperature (low therm settings at night for schools and high daytime temperatures) seem to affect their growth more. The lights have to be close or the plants will be leggy and fall over.

[Peter]

@speck_c Oh wow! I’ll be interested to see what you and your students come up with - definitely be sure to share the progress! Even if it’s just a photo or two, I’m sure there are other teachers using the MV1s @DrDonnaJ @cregini who would be curious to see your engineering project! If we can help by sharing CAD models for anything - let us know.

I will add a new recipe for you (and anyone else with an MV1) by Monday, based on the instructions you provided. You can then use the MV1s user interface to “create a new trial” which will begin using the settings defined in that recipe. I’ll share with you a copy of that “recipe” - as I did with the Tomatosphere project.

Tomatosphere Recipe - Using your MV1 to grow tomatoes!

MARSfarm has been testing various types of Tomatoes in the MV1 for the last few months and at the request of our users @speck_c we have created an MV1 recipe for him to use as part of the Tomatosphere™ citizen science program. I will be updating this recipe to include additional phases over the next few weeks based on feedback from @speck_c and other MV1 users interested in growing tomatoes! { "_id": { "$oid": "644043ed24fce83490ffe47b" }, "model_name": "TemplateRecipe", "recipe_na…

I love the solution that Fast Plants recommends to maintain a constant amount of light throughout the experiment - which is using books to keep the tray 10 cm below the lights. There’s no way they could provide such a clear timeline for growing the plants (day 22, expect ___) unless the Day Light Integral (intensity*duration) is consistent across school experiments. Knowing that, I’d like to get you thinking about how we could solve this same problem (keep the light intensity the same, despite the plants getting taller) - to further improve upon this recipe in the Spring semester. I think that some of the problems you’ve been experiencing (temperature fluctuation day/night) can be solved using the MV1s features (heater) this semester. So something to think about for next semester, is that we can also control light intensity throughout the lifecycle by creating multiple “phases” within a recipe. Bottom line: we can adjust the light intensity to maintain a constant amount of light throughout the entire plant lifecycle. To do this though, I’d need to know the exact lights you’ve been using (I see that they recommend two from Carolina) so I can reverse engineer their recommended DLI. Here’s a visual that explains how you can adjust the lights to slowly increase the DLI - your goal is the opposite, adjust them to maintain a constant DLI:

[Peter]

Also, I completely understand that you probably want to be able to create the recipe yourself. We have created a “recipe remixer” application which will be released in beta (link will be shared on the forums) later this Fall. We will then connect the recipe remixer to the existing MV1 user interface - allowing the seamless creation of new recipes and assignment of them to new devices to create new trials. The way it works is that you will select an existing “template recipe” which will have some settings pre-defined: max light intensity, 24-hour lighting, hourly watering, and 24-hour 78F temperature. From there you or a student are able to “remix” that recipe, thus creating a new one based on that template which you are able to freely modify the value, as well as the start and end time of each setting.

[Peter]

Lastly, for anyone who isn’t familiar, here is more information about https://fastplants.org/ - I also shared some examples of their open-source projects on this thread:

Open-Source Projects to Monitor/Water Plants - (not MARSfarm)

I love how Wisconsin Fast Plants® used very common plastic materials (deli containers, plastic bottles) to enable you to grow hundreds of plants. Their main focus is on helping teachers explain genetics using hands-on observations and data analysis - super cool! @regina.smart [image] @ben @Drew @hmw this DIY growth chamber gives “The $50 Classroom Greenhouse” project a run for it’s money - clearly we identified similar requirements from teachers!: https://www.fastplants.org/pdf…

[Peter]

@speck_c FYI - the new recipe should be available for you to create new trials with via the web app.

Here’s the raw recipe file for reference:

MV1_Fast_Plants - 78F, 320ML, Max Light.json

{
    "_id": {
      "$oid": "65020d09252610b6a3549426"
    },
    "model_name": "TemplateRecipe",
    "recipe_name": "MV1_Fast_Plants - 78F, 320ML, Max Light",
    "recipe_variable": "Airflow - On, 24 Hour Days, Temp - 78F, Irrigation - 320ml/day, Max LEDs.",
    "phases": [
      {
        "name": "Growing",
        "phase_start": 0,
        "step": [
          {
            "circulation_fan": [
              {
                "start_time": [
                  0,
                  1
                ],
                "setting": 1
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "temperature": [
              {
                "start_time": [
                  0,
                  1
                ],
                "setting": 78
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "pump_amount": [
              {
                "start_time": [
                  9,
                  3
                ],
                "setting": 80
              },
              {
                "start_time": [
                  9,
                  4
                ],
                "setting": 80
              },
              {
                "start_time": [
                  9,
                  5
                ],
                "setting": 80
              },
              {
                "start_time": [
                  9,
                  6
                ],
                "setting": 80
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "light_intensity": [
              {
                "start_time": [
                  0,
                  1
                ],
                "setting": [
                  0,
                  255,
                  255,
                  255
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }

I also asked ChatGPT to explain the recipe to me, to make it easier to understand for humans (as opposed to the MV1) - just like I documented in this forum topic:

What does a MARSfarm recipe do? What is JSON? (ChatGPT-4 Response)

We use JSON as a method of communicating the environmental settings (via a “Recipe”) to the MARSfarm Version 1. If you are unfamiliar with JSON, but are interested in learning about it and potentially teaching your students some coding concepts - I strongly encourage you to check out this conversation I had with ChatGPT about how to teach students about JSON using the MV1_Tomatosphere recipe. JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. It’s a lightweight data-interchange format that’s easy for h…

Response from ChatGPT explaining MV1_Fast_Plants - 78F, 160ML, Max Light

Absolutely, let’s make this even more fun and clear!

The Magical Greenhouse Recipe Book

Think of this JSON file as your magical recipe book for growing plants in your smart greenhouse. It’s got all the tips and tricks for lights, temperature, water, and airflow!

Recipe Details

• _id: This is the unique barcode of your recipe book.
• model_name: The type of recipe book is “TemplateRecipe.”
• recipe_name: You’re cooking up “MV1_Fast_Plants - 78F, 320ML, Max Light.”
• recipe_variable: The main ingredients are: Airflow is on, it’s 24/7 daytime, 78°F, 320ml of water per day, and max lights!

The Growing Chapter

• phases: This is like a chapter called “Growing.” Each phase represents a 24-hour day and repeats every day.

Step-by-Step Magic

Inside the “Growing” phase, you’ve got magical steps for:

• circulation_fan: Turn the fan on at 12:01 AM (0 hours and 1 minute) with a setting of 1, which means it’s on!
• temperature: The heater will run to make sure it’s 78°F starting from 12:01 AM.
• pump_amount: Water the plants four times, starting at 9:03 AM, with 80ml each time.
• light_intensity: Turn the lights to full intensity (white, blue, green, red) at 12:01 AM.

How to Read the Recipe

So, if you follow this recipe, you’ll know:

• The fan turns on at 12:01 AM and stays on.
• The heater will make sure it’s 78°F starting at 12:01 AM.
• Your plants get 80ml of water four times, starting at 9:03 AM.
• The lights are at full intensity starting at 12:01 AM.

Just like a magical recipe book helps you cook up something delicious, this JSON file is your guide to growing happy, healthy plants!

[Peter]

I also made these three but have not yet uploaded them, let me know if you want me to add them for you to try!

• MV1_Fast_Plants - 85F, 320ML, Max Light
• MV1_Fast_Plants - 78F, 320ML, Max Light
• MV1_Fast_Plants - Vegetative and Drying Phases - 78F, 320ML, Max Light

ChatGPT response when asked to summarize all four recipes (I just copy and pasted the raw text into the prompt and then asked it to compare them in a table format - oh and don’t forget to use a bunch of emojis!):

Certainly! Here’s a comparison table to help you easily spot the differences between the four recipes and their respective phases and steps.

Recipe Name	Phase Name	Circulation Fan	Temperature	Pump Amount	Light Intensity
MV1_Fast_Plants - 78F, 320ML, Max Light	Growing	On at 12:01 AM	78°F at 12:01 AM	80ml x4 starting at 9:03 AM	Full intensity at 12:01 AM
MV1_Fast_Plants - Vegetative and Drying Phases - 78F, 320ML, Max Light	Growing	On at 12:01 AM	78°F at 12:01 AM	80ml x4 starting at 9:03 AM	Full intensity at 12:01 AM
	Drying	On at 12:01 AM	90°F at 12:01 AM	0ml at 9:05 AM	Blue light at 12:01 AM
MV1_Fast_Plants - 85F, 320ML, Max Light	Growing	On at 12:01 AM	85°F at 12:01 AM	80ml x4 starting at 9:03 AM	Full intensity at 12:01 AM
MV1_Fast_Plants - 78F, 160ML, Max Light	Growing	On at 12:01 AM	78°F at 12:01 AM	80ml x2 starting at 9:03 AM	Full intensity at 12:01 AM

Key Takeaways

• All recipes have the fan on and start at 12:01 AM.
• Temperature varies between 78°F, 85°F, and 90°F.
• Pump amount varies from 0ml to 80ml, with different frequencies.
• Light intensity is either full or blue light.

This table should help you quickly identify the unique characteristics of each recipe.