Pumpkins
Our pumpkins are coming along quite well! Of the 12 mounds I originally planted, around 7 are growing. As a bonus, two of the pumpkins from our carving party last year that I unceremoniously tossed in the garden to rot away over the winter have also sprouted up new vines in other areas of the garden.
Posts tagged indoors
Pumkin Mellons!
This Thing Blows!
Hydroponics
The original blower I built for the fog hydroponic rig was a simple $7 desk fan that I put inline with the fog stream. It did a good job for a time, but it was destined to fail from the moment it was submerged in supersaturated air.
When it eventually did fail, there was rust on the brushes and every part of it looked like unhealthy electronics. When I got around to replacing it, most of my strawberries had died, but my loofah plants hadn’t yet sprouted so there is still hope for them.
100% Chance of Fog
Fog hydroponics shopping list
I’ve recently completed the second phase of my ultrasonic fogger based hydroponic rig. Here are the rough outlines of what I did along with some pictures of the rig.
Progress Within and Without
For the past week, I’ve been out of town in Chicago. In the meantime, my wife watered the indoor garden, had the mower repaired, and (probably) continued to throw her sandwich crusts in the front yard to attract crows (we’re not trailer, I swear).
Progress Inside and Out
Indoors
Due to the unseasonably cold spring so far, I have opted to keep my upside-down tomato planters inside until I am confident the sprouts have taken firm root. Out of 7 hanging planters, six of them had at least one sprout survive the first week. I probably broke the root of the sprouts that dying.
I have plenty of starts to spare, so I re-planted the dead sprouts and put some more lights up for all of the plants.
Growth in Full Swing
Sprouts
It’s official: At least one of every type of plant has broken the surface, including the two season old watermelon variety and the cantaloupe. The lettuce sprouts have grown too tall for their growing box lid and some of the soy beans are touching their ceiling.
Hydroponics
I just purchased a some fancy hydroponics fertilizer from a local sun shop. The strawberry buds have begun to bloom and the leaves are looking very healthy. I am considering expanding the hydroponics rig when all of the other plants have been moved out into the garden. I’d move the fogger into a central canister and fabricate a small forced air system to pump the fog through two or more growing trays in parallel.
Hydroponics Are Go
Hydroponics
Today I needed a little pick-me-up so I decided to treat myself to a creative project. When I proposed the idea of making a hydroponics rig some time ago, Emily thought it would be a good idea. Tonight I went out and built that rig:
Checking in on the Seeds
Sprouts
It pays to read.
The back of each seed package indicates the number of days each plant should take to sprout. The lettuce varieties indicated 1-3 weeks to sprout; among the longest of any of the seeds I’ve planted. The fact that they germinated in possible record time and that they may soon be too big to keep the lid on their growing tray has put all of the other seeds to shame.
First Signs of Life
Less than 48 hours after planting, four of the eighteen butterhead lettuce starts have begun to sprout. These seeds were planted in the 36-cell starter kit that uses a different kind of medium than the rest.
The 36-cell tray uses a small cylinder of “dirt” with no mesh covering. When broken up, it filled the tray segments just like normal dirt. The 50-cell trays use the mesh-covered “coins” that grow in height to about 1″ when wet.
I might have spotted mold growing in one of the 50-cell tray pellets. I’ve removed it and will continue to keep a close eye on their progress. I wonder if it would be beneficial to grow without the tray lids on at this point…
