More Hydroponics in the Basement Garden

Saturday, February 4, 2012

More Hydroponics in the Basement Garden

Hydroponic kale

Hydroponic lettuce

Hydroponic spinach

Hydroponic collards

It's been two weeks since the last harvest of homegrown vegetables from our basement hydroponics system. These are not quite what most people think of as "party foods" so we probably eat them before the big game tomorrow, but we'll be eating they in the next few days. Linda has a good collards recipe with vinegar and bacon that is delicious.

2 comments:

Paul NewmanFebruary 29, 2012 at 6:00 PM
How old are the plants above? Just curious.
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Backyard Urban GardeningFebruary 29, 2012 at 6:09 PM
These plants are about 50 days old. I've harvested about 25 servings of lettuce and 14 servings of spinach from these plants. The kale is ready for the fifth harvest and the collards are ready for an eighth harvest.
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Amateur Hydroponic Tips for Deep Water Culture

1. Wash your hydroton before using it. I didn't do that in my first project and ended up with a film of clay dust throughout the water chamber in my deep water culture bins.

2. Adjust your lighting before planting. It's very difficult to make adjustments after you've planted when using deep water culture.

3. Use a commercially produced nutrient. DIY is great for most things, but why not take advantage of professional research and development to flatten the initial hydroponic learning curve?

4. Shop around for the best prices. Some hydroponic shops are "friendlier" than others and it follows that some have lower prices than the competition.

5. DIY is cheaper than paying full retail for a "kit" system. You can look around on the Internet and find several examples at inexpensive, but effective hydroponic growing systems you can assemble yourself.

6. Buy a commercial quality air pump for aerating your deep water culture beds.

7. Kick start your basement hydroponics by maintaining temperatures at optimal levels for the vegetables you're growing.