Lab

9 min read

April 17, 2026

Generated lab notebook from daily_summary, plan_journal, plan_delivery_log, and setpoint audit data. It is intentionally chronological and may include in-progress cycles before validation.

🌅 Morning Cycle (2:49 AM) — iris-20260417-0246

Status

validated

Outcome score

4/10

Changed parameters

none recorded

Reflection

Validating previous cycle: iris-20260416-1940

Previous hypothesis: Two-night cold progression: tonight drops to 38°F, then Friday night plunges to 24°F (hard freeze). Primary strategy: (1) moderate heating tonight with bias_cool +4 to prevent vent oscillation, (2) Friday use the cloudy/cool day to build slab thermal mass with aggressive pre-heating (bias_heat +5) starting Friday evening, (3) ride through 24°F Saturday nadir on both heaters + slab reserves, (4) Saturday afternoon transitions to extreme dry posture (12% RH, clear) with aggressive misting. The 7,300 BTU/°F slab is the key asset — charging it Friday evening before the freeze is critical. Today’s vpd_watch_dwell_s=30s experiment was inconclusive (actual conditions 91.6°F/15% RH far exceeded the 76°F/7% criteria). Resetting to 60s for the cold period where VPD control is secondary to thermal management. Result: Friday Apr 17: compliance 14.1% (predicted 20-35%) — missed low end. Temp compliance 22.3% was the bottleneck, not VPD (71.9%). Zero cold/heat stress but 1.87h vpd_low stress — misting posture too aggressive for cold overcast conditions. Cost USD 7.82 (predicted USD 4-7) driven by 4.73 therms gas (USD 3.93) + 344 gal misting water (USD 1.66). Gas therms nearly 2x 7-day avg (2.57). The overcast-day misting was unnecessary and caused over-humidification. DP margin minimum 4.4°F — close to condensation risk. Saturday morning (6 AM): freeze nadir was 30°F not 25°F predicted. Indoor held 57-63°F overnight — below the tight 63.5°F band floor, accruing cold stress. Slab pre-charge experiment inconclusive — cold stress still dominated from narrow crop band, not insufficient heating. Score: 4/10

New finding: On overcast cold days (outdoor <45°F, cloud >60%), misting posture should be conservative (engage 1.6, gap 45s) even if VPD band is tight. Solar gain is minimal, so VPD naturally stays lower. Aggressive misting on these days wastes water and risks vpd_low stress. Save aggressive posture for clear-sky dry days. → Added to Lessons Learned

Hypothesis

Testing: Continuing slab pre-charge experiment from iris-20260416-1940. Additionally, Sunday’s vpd_watch_dwell_s=30s + gap=15s is the most aggressive misting posture tested yet on a 75°F/7% day — monitoring whether this improves VPD compliance vs the Apr 13 blowout day (where SEALED_MIST at 90°F caused the incident, now guarded by FW-7). Expected outcome: Friday: heating-dominated, compliance 20-35% (band alignment losses on overcast cold day), cold_stress 2-4h structural, cost USD 4-7 (gas-heavy). Saturday: freeze nadir 25°F — indoor should hold above 55°F via slab + gas heater, then dry rebound afternoon with 3-5h VPD-high stress, compliance 25-40%, cost USD 8-12 (gas morning + misting afternoon), water 200-350 gal. Sunday: the week’s hardest day — indoor 95°F+, VPD peaks 2.5-3.0+ kPa, heat_stress 5-8h, vpd_high 4-7h, compliance 15-25% (physics-limited), water 350-500 gal, cost USD 6-10. 72h total cost USD 20-30.

Setpoints

Friday April 17

Primary crop-band changes:

TimeValuesNote
03:00hyst 0.4Cold overcast night, 43°F outdoor. Heating-focused, conserva
12:00hyst 0.3Overcast midday with rain/snow, 36-39°F, near-zero solar. No
17:00hyst 0.4Evening slab pre-charge begins. Max bias_heat +5 to warm con

Tactical tunable changes:

TimeValuesNote
03:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 45; wt 1.5Cold overcast night, 43°F outdoor. Heating-focused, conserva
12:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 45; wt 1.5Overcast midday with rain/snow, 36-39°F, near-zero solar. No
17:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 45; wt 1.5Evening slab pre-charge begins. Max bias_heat +5 to warm con

Saturday April 18

Primary crop-band changes:

TimeValuesNote
00:00hyst 0.4Freeze night. 30°F dropping to 25°F by dawn. Gas heater prim
06:00hyst 0.4Freeze nadir 25°F (bias-corrected ~24°F actual). Hold max he
11:00hyst 0.3Post-front dry rebound: 49°F/15% RH, 693 W/m² solar. Aggress
18:00hyst 0.4Saturday evening. Solar fading, 58°F/9% still dry but coolin

Tactical tunable changes:

TimeValuesNote
00:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 45; wt 1.5Freeze night. 30°F dropping to 25°F by dawn. Gas heater prim
06:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 45; wt 1.5Freeze nadir 25°F (bias-corrected ~24°F actual). Hold max he
11:00d_cool 3; engage 1.3; all 1.8; pulse 60; gap 25; wt 2Post-front dry rebound: 49°F/15% RH, 693 W/m² solar. Aggress
18:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 35; wt 1.5Saturday evening. Solar fading, 58°F/9% still dry but coolin

Sunday April 19

Primary crop-band changes:

TimeValuesNote
00:00hyst 0.4Sunday overnight. 40°F dropping to 34°F. Moderate heating. P
10:00hyst 0.3Sunday morning ramp. 58°F/11% RH, 578 W/m². Pre-position max
13:00hyst 0.2EXTREME PEAK: 70-75°F outdoor, 7% RH, 915 W/m². Indoor will
19:00hyst 0.3Sunday evening. 68°F/14% outdoor, still dry but solar fading

Tactical tunable changes:

TimeValuesNote
00:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 45; wt 1.5Sunday overnight. 40°F dropping to 34°F. Moderate heating. P
10:00d_cool 3; engage 1.3; all 1.8; pulse 60; gap 20; wt 2.5Sunday morning ramp. 58°F/11% RH, 578 W/m². Pre-position max
13:00d_cool 3; engage 1.3; all 1.8; pulse 60; gap 15; wt 2.5EXTREME PEAK: 70-75°F outdoor, 7% RH, 915 W/m². Indoor will
19:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 35; wt 1.5Sunday evening. 68°F/14% outdoor, still dry but solar fading

Monday April 20

Primary crop-band changes:

TimeValuesNote
00:00hyst 0.4Monday overnight. 49°F, moderate. Conservative defaults. Nex

Tactical tunable changes:

TimeValuesNote
00:00d_cool 3; engage 1.6; all 1.9; pulse 60; gap 45; wt 1.5Monday overnight. 49°F, moderate. Conservative defaults. Nex

Changed secondary parameters:

TimeParameterChange
03:00bias_coolinitial 5
03:00bias_heatinitial 4
03:00enthalpy_closeinitial 1
03:00enthalpy_openinitial -2
03:00fog_escalation_kpainitial 0.8
03:00min_fog_off_sinitial 60
03:00min_fog_on_sinitial 60
03:00min_heat_off_sinitial 300
03:00min_heat_on_sinitial 120
03:00min_vent_off_sinitial 60
03:00min_vent_on_sinitial 60
03:00mist_max_closed_vent_sinitial 600
03:00mist_thermal_relief_sinitial 90
03:00mist_vent_close_lead_sinitial 15
03:00mist_vent_reopen_delay_sinitial 45
03:00mister_water_budget_galinitial 500
03:00vpd_watch_dwell_sinitial 60
12:00bias_cool5 → 4
12:00bias_heat4 → 3
12:00fog_escalation_kpa0.8 → 0.6
17:00bias_cool4 → 5
17:00bias_heat3 → 5
17:00fog_escalation_kpa0.6 → 0.8
11:00bias_cool5 → 3
11:00bias_heat5 → 2
11:00fog_escalation_kpa0.8 → 0.5
11:00mist_max_closed_vent_s600 → 900
11:00vpd_watch_dwell_s60 → 45
18:00bias_cool3 → 4
18:00bias_heat2 → 3
18:00fog_escalation_kpa0.5 → 0.6
18:00mist_max_closed_vent_s900 → 600
18:00vpd_watch_dwell_s45 → 60
00:00bias_cool4 → 5
00:00bias_heat3 → 4
00:00fog_escalation_kpa0.6 → 0.8
10:00bias_cool5 → 3
10:00bias_heat4 → 2
10:00fog_escalation_kpa0.8 → 0.4
10:00mist_max_closed_vent_s600 → 900
10:00vpd_watch_dwell_s60 → 30
13:00bias_cool3 → 2
13:00bias_heat2 → 0
19:00bias_cool2 → 4
19:00bias_heat0 → 3
19:00fog_escalation_kpa0.4 → 0.6
19:00mist_max_closed_vent_s900 → 600
19:00vpd_watch_dwell_s30 → 60
00:00fog_escalation_kpa0.6 → 0.8

End-of-Day Summary

Climate

Temperature

51.6–78.4°F; avg 64.4°F

VPD

0.26–1.49 kPa; avg 0.72 kPa

Relative humidity

46.0–85.4%

Stress Hours

  • Heat stress (>85°F): 0.1h
  • VPD stress (>2.0 kPa): 2.9h
  • Cold stress (<55°F): 18.3h

Economics

Electric

USD 3.60

Gas

USD 6.92

Water

USD 1.560

Total

USD 12.08

Equipment Runtimes

EquipmentRuntimeReading
Fan 160 minPrimary exhaust runtime.
Fan 257 minSecondary exhaust runtime.
Vent79 minIntake vent runtime.
Fog0 minFogger runtime.
Heat 1 electric1254 minElectric heater runtime.
Heat 2 gas667 minGas heater runtime.
Grow lights96 minSupplemental lighting runtime.
Mister south1.95hSouth mister runtime.
Mister west0.10hWest mister runtime.
Mister center0.80hCenter mister runtime.

Water

  • Total: 322 gal
  • Mister: 322 gal

Crop Health (Gemini Vision)

CropZoneHealthObservationsNote
Canna Liliessouth70%4Observation notes are collapsed below to avoid publishing partial vision snippets.
Vanda Orchidscenter68%4Observation notes are collapsed below to avoid publishing partial vision snippets.
lettuceeast58%4Observation notes are collapsed below to avoid publishing partial vision snippets.
peppereast68%4Observation notes are collapsed below to avoid publishing partial vision snippets.
strawberryeast60%4Observation notes are collapsed below to avoid publishing partial vision snippets.
Vision observation notes
Canna LiliesGemini Vision notes

Difficult to assess health accurately in the dark, but plants appear upright.

Vanda OrchidsGemini Vision notes

Hanging orchids appear stable, though low light and humidity could be a concern.

lettuceGemini Vision notes

Seedlings appear healthy and are establishing well.

pepperGemini Vision notes

Pepper seedlings look relatively healthy but could benefit from more light.

strawberryGemini Vision notes

Seedlings are growing steadily, no visible signs of stress.

Hourly Pattern

HourTemperatureVPDRH
12:0080.0°F1.26 kPa64.1%
13:0079.3°F1.11 kPa67.9%
14:0086.4°F1.85 kPa56.7%
15:0082.5°F1.42 kPa62.8%
16:0075.9°F0.86 kPa72.1%
17:0074.3°F0.76 kPa73.8%
18:0071.1°F1.11 kPa56.8%
19:0067.2°F0.94 kPa59.0%
20:0065.3°F0.88 kPa58.8%
21:0063.4°F0.70 kPa65.1%
22:0062.6°F0.49 kPa75.1%
23:0061.5°F0.47 kPa74.8%
00:0060.3°F0.50 kPa71.8%
01:0059.9°F0.50 kPa71.9%
02:0060.4°F0.49 kPa72.5%
03:0061.0°F0.53 kPa70.9%
04:0060.5°F0.51 kPa71.9%
05:0060.8°F0.51 kPa72.2%
06:0062.7°F0.66 kPa66.1%
07:0065.8°F0.71 kPa67.1%
08:0068.1°F0.86 kPa63.6%
09:0069.2°F0.91 kPa62.2%
10:0065.2°F0.96 kPa54.9%
11:0065.5°F1.03 kPa52.3%

7-Day Stress Context

DateHeatVPD highCold
2026-04-114.6h10.8h2.6h
2026-04-128.3h4.2h4.3h
2026-04-139.2h5.4h1.1h
2026-04-140.8h2.2h11.6h
2026-04-156.6h7.6h13.8h
2026-04-167.3h5.9h10.6h
2026-04-170.1h2.9h18.3h