March 30, 2026

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

🌅 Morning Cycle (9:30 AM) — iris-20260330-0926

Result: Mid-cycle validation at 1:22 PM. VPD 1.56 at 1PM vs 1.85 yesterday same hour (16% improvement). Aggressive misting engage=1.3/gap=30 tracking well. Peak PM hours 3-5 not yet reached. Cold front overnight untested. Indoor 82F avg, all zones within 3F spread. Misters working — south 0.26h, center 0.54h runtime.

Reflection

Validating previous cycle: iris-20260329-1800

Previous hypothesis: Overcast sky will cut solar heat gain by 40-60% vs clear, reducing indoor peak temps by 5-10°F. However, outdoor RH remains extremely low (9-12%), so VPD stress will persist despite lower temps. Lesson #7 misting (engage 1.3, gap 30s) should be more effective at lower temps because misters can influence a smaller thermal load. Result: Mid-cycle validation at 1:22 PM. VPD 1.56 at 1PM vs 1.85 yesterday same hour (16% improvement). Aggressive misting engage=1.3/gap=30 tracking well. Peak PM hours 3-5 not yet reached. Cold front overnight untested. Indoor 82F avg, all zones within 3F spread. Misters working — south 0.26h, center 0.54h runtime. Score: 7/10

New finding: Engage 1.3 + gap 30s on dry days (9% outdoor RH) keeps 1PM VPD at 1.56 vs 1.85 with standard settings. Pre-positioning aggressive misting before the ramp matters more than reacting to peaks. → Added to Lessons Learned

Hypothesis

Conditions: Mon 9:26AM: 70.4F, VPD 0.81, RH 68. Dry afternoon ahead (9% outdoor RH), cold front tonight (81→64F Tue). 100% overcast Tue. Currently mild. 7-day avg: 8h VPD stress/day on sunny dry days. Testing: Cold-front transition: aggressive PM misting → cold overnight prep → moderate cool-day posture. Measure Mon PM VPD peak vs 3.25 kPa yesterday, overnight heat cost, Tue VPD stress. Expected outcome: Mon PM VPD peak <2.5 kPa. Overnight temp >58F with <USD 0.50 gas. Tue VPD stress <3h. Grow lights compensate overcast DLI.

Setpoints

Monday March 30

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

Tuesday March 31

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

☀️ Midday Cycle (1:26 PM) — iris-20260330-1322

Result: Better than yesterday but VPD still spiked. Heat stress 3h (vs 10h yesterday). VPD stress 7h (vs 14h yesterday). South zone VPD peaked at 3.89 kPa despite aggressive misting. Average VPD tracked well: 1.56 at 1PM (16% below yesterday), but afternoon deterioration to 1.81 avg by noon peak. Cold front arrived on schedule — temps dropping from 93°F peak to 76°F by 7:30 PM. Misting engage=1.3/gap=30s confirmed effective for morning positioning. Evening waypoint dispatched cleanly at 7:02 PM (engage→1.6, gap→45). Overnight test still in progress but cold front tracking forecast.

Reflection

Validating previous cycle: iris-20260329-1800

Previous hypothesis: Overcast sky will cut solar heat gain by 40-60% vs clear, reducing indoor peak temps by 5-10°F. However, outdoor RH remains extremely low (9-12%), so VPD stress will persist despite lower temps. Lesson #7 misting (engage 1.3, gap 30s) should be more effective at lower temps because misters can influence a smaller thermal load. Result: Better than yesterday but VPD still spiked. Heat stress 3h (vs 10h yesterday). VPD stress 7h (vs 14h yesterday). South zone VPD peaked at 3.89 kPa despite aggressive misting. Average VPD tracked well: 1.56 at 1PM (16% below yesterday), but afternoon deterioration to 1.81 avg by noon peak. Cold front arrived on schedule — temps dropping from 93°F peak to 76°F by 7:30 PM. Misting engage=1.3/gap=30s confirmed effective for morning positioning. Evening waypoint dispatched cleanly at 7:02 PM (engage→1.6, gap→45). Overnight test still in progress but cold front tracking forecast. Score: 7/10

New finding: Aggressive morning misting (engage 1.3, gap 30s) consistently reduces VPD 16% vs standard settings at same-hour comparison. But south zone peak (3.89) exceeds average (1.81) by 2x — zone-level control is the bottleneck, not aggregate settings. Cold front transitions are smooth when planned proactively. → Added to Lessons Learned

Hypothesis

Conditions: Monday 1:22 PM: 82F avg, VPD 1.68, RH 55%, 9% outdoor RH. Aggressive misting from morning plan working — VPD 16% below yesterday same hour. Cold front tonight: 81F to 50F outdoor by midnight. Tuesday overcast 64F high, 28-54% outdoor RH. Wednesday cold+wet 58F high, possible rain, 45-85% RH. Testing: First full cold-front 72h plan: measure transition smoothness. Key metric: how well do overnight heater cycles maintain 58F floor without overshooting? Does gas-first staging keep cost under 1 dollar per night? Expected outcome: Mon PM: VPD peak <2.5 kPa (vs 3.25 yesterday). Mon overnight: temp stays >58F, gas cost <1 dollar. Tue: VPD stress <2h, DLI compensated by grow lights. Wed: zero VPD stress, heater cost <1.50/day.

Setpoints

Monday March 30

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

Tuesday March 31

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

Wednesday April 01

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

🌆 Evening Cycle (7:35 PM) — iris-20260330-1930

Result: Cold front transition night 1: indoor held 59-61F with minimal heater use (0.1h each heat1+heat2). Outdoor dropped to ~44F — not cold enough for sustained gas cycling. Zero VPD high stress, zero heat stress overnight. Day 3/30: 3h heat stress, 0.67h VPD high stress, USD 3.53 total cost (USD 0 gas). Cold front unfolding as predicted but milder than expected so far.

Reflection

Validating previous cycle: iris-20260330-1322

Previous hypothesis: Cold front transition over 72h: today dry afternoon handled by proven misting (Lesson 7), tonight cold handled by gas heater (Lesson 3) at 58F floor, Tue/Wed conservative posture with no VPD pressure from high outdoor humidity. Grow lights will extend significantly Tue-Wed for DLI. Result: Cold front transition night 1: indoor held 59-61F with minimal heater use (0.1h each heat1+heat2). Outdoor dropped to ~44F — not cold enough for sustained gas cycling. Zero VPD high stress, zero heat stress overnight. Day 3/30: 3h heat stress, 0.67h VPD high stress, USD 3.53 total cost (USD 0 gas). Cold front unfolding as predicted but milder than expected so far. Score: 7/10

New finding: When outdoor stays above 44F overnight, slab retention + house heat keeps greenhouse above 59F with near-zero heater use. Gas heater staging matters below 40F outdoor, not above. → Added to Lessons Learned

Hypothesis

Conditions: Evening cycle. 76F avg, VPD 0.88, cold front in progress. Outdoor dropping from 74F to 48F by Tue morning. Tue: overcast 100%, 64F peak corrected, 26-54% RH. Wed: cold+rain, 59F peak corrected, 43-80% RH, rain prob 82%. Thu: dramatic reversal — 38F dawn, clearing to 76F+clear by noon, RH crashes from 97% to 16%. Three-day arc: cold-wet → cold-rain → hot-dry whiplash. Testing: Heating cost tracking across Tue/Wed cold nights. Key metric: does gas-first staging (Lesson #3) at temp_low=58 keep overnight cost under /night? Secondary: Thursday VPD response — after 48h of low VPD, will aggressive misting (engage=1.3, gap=30s) control the snap-back to dry conditions? Expected outcome: Tue/Wed: zero VPD stress, zero heat stress, overnight heater cost </night. Thu PM: VPD peak <2.0 kPa (lower indoor temps from cold slab). DLI: grow lights compensate overcast Tue/Wed to maintain 14+ mol estimated plant DLI.

Setpoints

Monday March 30

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

Tuesday March 31

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

Wednesday April 01

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

Thursday April 02

Primary crop-band changes:

Tactical tunable changes:

End-of-Day Summary

Climate

Stress Hours

• Heat stress (>85°F): 14.5h
• VPD stress (>2.0 kPa): 10.5h
• Cold stress (<55°F): 3.9h

Economics

Equipment Runtimes

Water

• Total: 89 gal
• Mister: 11 gal

Hourly Pattern

7-Day Stress Context