Journal May 12, 2018 - Getting into hydroponics for literally peanuts.

My wife has this thing for fresh basil, she loves basil on pretty much anything.  She has been buying hydroponic basil, spending about five dollars for a few stems growing from a horticube.  The problem is, that in a day or so the basil begins to turn black and wilt.

Well, if you want hydroponic basil, why not grow it?  It is not rocket science.  

 
 Deciding to go with the "deep water" method for this grow I selected a container that would accommodate a 3" net pot, and that container just happened to be a plastic peanut container that fit the net pot like it was designed for it.

Expanded clay pellets are being used to support the seedlings and the nutrient mixture is just below the brim of the container.  The mixture has a PPM of about 700 and a pH of 6.7. 

As it is only one container, and to keep it simple, I am using a small red/blue 10 watt LED grow bulb for lighting.

The grow bulb is a spotlight configuration and even though it is only 10 watts the concentrated light level on the plant is a not too shabby 1500 foot candles from 18" above the plants.