November 3, 2011 journal

The Dutch Winter Brown lettuce, show in the top photo, is entering the vegetative stage and I expect we will enjoying some of it with our Thanksgiving meal. This variety is truly a heirloom, as Thomas Jefferson, according to his journals, planted it in his gardens for many years.

It has become our custom to defy Mother Nature and include an annual flower with plantings during the fall and winter months. My choice this month is a pinwheel zinnia, which can be seen in the lower left corner of the container. As Ava loves pink, she has selected a Dianthus, Ipswitch Pink, and we have also started a Calendula, Sunshade, for additional color.

The cucumbers in the AutoPots are doing really well, however, there is still not a hint of a female flower. Out of curiosity I decided to let a few male flowers develop and open, thinking that that may hasten the process of fruit development. Still, I think that plants are smarter than people, and will not produce offspring until they can support them.

P.S. Later in the day I found a female flower!!!

Ava's new garden

Today I resurrected an old Aerogarden unit that I had stored in the attic. I placed it there thinking that I would give it to Ava at some point in time.

My intention was to try the unit using LED lighting, rather than use the lamp housing and Aerogarden's bulbs. In my opinion, bulbs for these units are a limiting factor, as it is recommended that they be replaced every six months. The cost of a pair of bulbs for this unit is about twenty dollars; adding the price of bulbs to the price of their seeds, the cost of growing anything becomes rather steep. It is common knowledge that LEDs will last for several years, which makes me wonder why the Aerogarden folks did not elect to use them.

As soon as I opened the box I heard: "what's that Pop?" When I explained to Ava what it was, and what I was going to do, she said: "Can I have it?" Well, as that was my intention anyway, it is now Ava's new garden.

Right away she wanted to plant strawberries! I have planted strawberries from seed before, and they take FOREVER! With a little persuasion she settled on Flame lettuce, so we shaped some foam air conditioner weatherseal to fit the pods, planted the seeds, added dilute nutrients, and fired it up.

November 1, 2011 journal

While my assistant harvested the rhubarb chard I was busy transplanting the Early Wonder beet seedlings into netpots. Although Ava is only four, she has at least two years experience in hydroponic gardening. She can pick up tiny seeds with her small fingers, and as her eyes can focus at incredibly close distances, she can plunk them into growing cubes faster than I can. I am considering raising her salary from five to eight cents an hour.

I am going to wear out the zipper on the tent looking at the Balcony Hybrid tomato plant as it flowering like mad. I have had the seeds for this variety for several years, but have never grown any, so I have no idea of what to expect other than what is says on the package.

A horizontal support has been provided for the cucumbers in the AutoPots, as they are getting too close to the light and I can not raise the light any higher. I am going to let them grow a short distance horizontally, and then point them downward again, kind of like an inverted U. Still, they are only producing male flowers. It beats me as to why a plant that does not need male flowers to set fruit would produce so many of them.

I can't help but think ahead of what I am going to grow next with the six band flower series light. Giant Marconi peppers would be my first choice, but using it with an active system, such as my modified aeroponic system is also an interesting possibility.

The folks at Pro LED Systems have developed a great product, and I wish them success in launching it in this difficult economic environment. To make matters more difficult, there are people purporting to be experts populating gardening forums that denigrate LED lighting, and in some instances all artificial lighting. I lifted this quote from a guy who calls himself Durgan at the Idigmygarden forum: "artificial light leaves a lot to be desired, expensive and inadequate for most plants to produce other than a bit of vegetation or greens." On another forum, someone was pretending to have this vast knowledge of the physics of plant lighting and expounding why photons, produced by LED lighting, would not penetrate a plant, and therefore LED lighting was useless. The sad thing is that many of the people participating in the forums are new to hydroponic gardening and take this drivel as gospel.

October 30th journal

Today I transitioned the nutrients for the tomatoes and cucumbers, growing both in the AutoPots and modified aeroponic system, to the bloom/fruiting stage. The tomato plant has several fully developed flowers, and I have been tapping the trusses to pollinate them. I fully expect to see fruit forming on the tomato plant in a week or so, however, the cucumber plants are only producing male flowers, which I remove as soon as they form.

Yesterday, I changed the nutrients in the modified aeroponic system and removed two of the plants. It was a shame to destroy two beautiful plants, but there is simply not enough room for four plants. The roots are about eighteen inches in length and are dangling right in the reservoir, as well as being bathed by the pump, so growth is increasing rapidly. I expect that plants in the active modified aeroponic system will soon surpass the plants in the passive AutoPot systems. The problem being, that I have no idea of how I am going to support the plants in the modified aeroponic system. I may elect to just let them do their thing and wander wherever they please.

Also, I modified my homebuilt AutoPot and will be using a smaller tray. I guess I was so caught up in the level of fluid released, that I did not also consider the volume released. All in all, the overwatering problem turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I learned a valuable lesson.

Good things from the garden

Ava and I frequently sing the Green Giant jingle while working, however, we have changed the words to: good things from the garden, garden in the basement, because, that is exactly what we have.

We will be harvesting this batch of Flame lettuce soon, and we have started a replacement batch of Green Ice lettuce just to add a little variety. Flame is really representative of the type of lettuce I really like, as it is tasty, tender and visually attractive.

The dill growing in the container is Tetra, sometimes known as Dukat. I have been looking for a compact variety to grow indoors, and this one fits the bill nicely.

Activities October 26, 2011

The rate of growth of the Balcony Hybrid tomato plant growing under the 6 band flower series light by Pro LED System is hard to believe. There are several trusses with flowers forming and some of the flowers are opening already. It is at the point that I must give some serious consideration to placing a support system around the perimeter of the plant.

On the other hand, the plant under the 90 watt red/blue/white LED is not doing well at all. The problem is not so much the light, as my home built AutoPot system. The plant has been severely overwatered to the point that it may not survive.

The problem, as I see it, is that the tray I am using is too large for one plant. The tray works alright in the greenhouse, as the plant is using a lot of nutrients through transpiration. In the tent, the humidity is high and the plant, being small, does not use the nutrients as fast; as a result it sits in about an inch of liquid for several days. My solution is to use a smaller tray, or add some ballast in the tray to displace some of the liquid. Also, I am thinking that it would be best to control the nutrient flow manually until the plant is more mature. In my view, problems are part of the learning process and that is what this is all about.

Another batch of lettuce, Dutch Winter Brown, has been planted in one of the ebb and flow systems to replace the batch of Grand Rapids lettuce I harvested yesterday.

As the rhubarb chard is nearing harvest, I have started a replacement planting of Early Wonder beets for greens to replace the chard.

Cucumber grow update, first week's growth

The Tom Thumb lettuce in the ebb and flow system has recovered from being transplanted and is now starting to grow nicely. I find that this variety, for some reason, tends to drop the first few sets of leaves after transplanting.


The Little Leaf seedlings have been growing in my modified aeroponic unit for a week now and they are making great progress. The plants are very compact and a deep healthy green. At some point I will most likely remove two or three of the plants, as there is simply just not enough room for four plants indoors.

Finally, I have found a variety of dill that is compact, adapts to a small pot, and grows well hydroponically. The variety is called Tetra.