My deep water culture hydroponic bubbler project just passed the fourth week. Things are really growing now. It took a little while to get the momentum moving, but weeks three and four have been tremendous.
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| Spinach |
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| Lettuce in the foreground spinach nearest the camera |
(Here are
some pictures from Week 3 for comparison purposes.)
It's hard to know exactly, but I think this round of growth has been influenced by several factors:
- Root Rrowth - the roots are beginning to extend far below the water line
- Lighting - last week I lowered the T8 lights to within 1/2 inch to 1 inch of the vegetation
- Air Bubblers - I adjusted the timing cycle so that the bubblers are on 24 hours a day
It shouldn't be too long before we have the first lettuce and spinach harvest, but the collards and kale are a little behind the curve. I attribute the lag to the lights not reaching far enough with enough intensity to penetrate the outer edges of my growing beds. When I replant this spring I'm going to re-configure the overhead lighting and add an additional light T8 light bar to get proper coverage over all 4 growing beds.
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