Deep Water Culture Update

I took a few recent pictures of my basement hydroponics gardening project.



Collards

 The collards are thriving in my deep water culture bubbling resevoirs, but they took longer to get started than the lettuce and spinach.  I am sure the low intensity light generated by the T8 bulbs is a factor, but we've already had one harvest and judging from the health of the roots, we should get several more.



Kale

  Similar to the collards, the kale was a slow starter. We've had one harvest so far and it looks like we're due for another soon.


Lettuce

  We've had about 15 servings of salad from the hydroponic lettuce since I planted in in early November. One of the plants has slowed down, but the other 5 are still growing well.



Spinach

  The spinach is really doing well in the deep water culture. Some people told me that I would have trouble growing spinach in hydroponics, but so far I've had great success.



Spinach growing in vermicastings deep water culture

 This tub of spinach is being grown in a much diluted hydroponic nutrient resevoir.  Instead of 18 ounces of nutrient per 10 gallons of water this nutrient is being grown in 12 ounces of nutrient and about 2 lbs of worm castings in a paint strainer bag.It's an experiment to see if I can stretch the hydroponic nutrient farther and reduce costs. This the second week since I planted the seedlings and they are picking up speed.

Hydroponic Vegetables for Christmas Week?

We've been out of town visiting in Tennessee for the past week.  On the drive back today I began to wonder how the basement garden had fared in our absence. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.



Kale close up

 The kale exploded with growth while we were away.  I think we'll be eating kale chips later this week.



Collards and Spinach


The collards were a little late getting started, but while were away they kicked it in gear. The leaves are now palm sized.


Four tub home made hydroponic system

I harvested lettuce and spinach 10 days ago. After a water change, some more nutrients, and some time under the lights, it's ready to harvest again.

Basement Gardening Project - Day 13

It's been 6 weeks since I started my hydroponic-lettuce-kale-collard-spinach-growing-system in my basement.  The kale and collards are not quite ready to eat, but today we harvested 3 servings of lettuce and spinach for a nice healthy lunch.

Here are some pictures:

Lettuce in the salad spinner

Spinning out the water after washing

Fresh lettuce home grown in Michigan during winter

With some additional toppings and a little Light Rasberry Vinegrette

Certified Organic Bibb Lettuce

Bibb Lettuce

The bibb lettuce seeds we planted this year in our above ground garden have been very prolific.  We grew this lettuce from USDA certified organic seeds purchased at Home Depot. We've had multiple harvests, salad lunches, and salad dinners from the same seeds. 

Here in Florida, lettuce grows best during the cooler months.  The warm days with temperatures in the upper 70's coupled with cooler nights with temperatures in the upper 40's have helped our lettuce a lot this year.

Grow Your Own Lunch Salad

Here is a picture of our pre-Superbowl lunchtime meal.  Ultimately, I should be able to grow everything in the picture (sans the mushrooms) in my own backyard garden.  The bib lettuce in the photo was harvested literally a minute or two before we ate it.  Talk about fresh! 

There's a certain satisfaction that accompanies growing your own lunch.  Even though it was only lettuce today, the time is coming when I'll be able to harvest the rest in my urban setting.

I've got bell peppers, poblano peppers, red bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers growing on my backporch and carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli, growing in my above ground gardening beds.  Soon I'll be growing Asian varieties of eggplant from suspended planters to take advantage of the small foot print vertical growing provides. 

It's a lot of fun and I get excited just writing about it.

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Eat for Energy