When I first transferred my plants into the NFT rails, most of them shot roots down and found the nutrient water. But not all of them. I poured cups of the nutrient water over these ones several times each day until their roots were long enough. This worked well except for two cucumber starts. I …
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I shared a little about my project on imgur and got a great response. Perhaps if there are other people interested in what I’m creating, I’ll share more updates and eventually be able to share diagrams and plans!
If you’re interested in getting updates, enter your email to the right –>
You can see my post on imgur here:
When it gets dark, I move into my office where I’ve been building my arduino garden controller. I’m nearly finished!
I started creating a wiring diagram with fritzing.org in case I ever accidentally mess something up. I don’t want to lose my progress!
Check out this progress! Maybe my wife is right. Plants really do want to live!
Here’s the root progress after 2 days. Aren’t they cute?
Live plants, live!
I think we’re finally past our last freeze in Chattanooga, TN. I don’t quite have the arduino ready, but I can use a christmas light timer to manage the watering until it’s finished.
Some of my seed starts actually made it, then I’m also adding some starters from the Barn Nursery in Chattanooga.
Confession: Often my fear of failure keeps me from starting.
I am so afraid that my plants will die, that I haven’t even planted them. They’ve been on our driveway for a couple weeks. I’m terrified.
My wife keeps telling me that plants are resourceful, and actually want to live. From my experience, I feel like plants use any opportunity to quit life and die. “Oh, you didn’t water me today? I’m dead.” “I don’t like the way you looked at me. I’m outa here.”
Seriously, I want this project to be a success so badly that I haven’t even started.
BUT TODAY, I’m getting everything in the NFT rails. I’ll make a video of how I got washed the roots and got them into the expanded clay pellets.
First I had to adjust the water level to make sure it touched the baskets.
Some of the baskets didn’t quite touch, so I’ll be watering them a couple times each day until the roots grow down.
Now, plants, please stay alive. Please?
I’m learning so much!
Today I learned how to display my sensor readings on a LCD. I think now I’m ready to work for NASA.
But seriously, it’s quite rewarding to finish an arduino sketch, upload it to the board, and have it do what it’s supposed to.
Starting with the right water is absolutely essential to the success of your hydroponic system. If I had a Reverse Osmosis (RO) filter, I’d probably use that water.
But, I don’t. And I also interested in making better use of the rain we get. So I’ll be gathering our rain and using it for my garden!
I found these barrels on craigslist for $20. Most of the ones I found in my area were chemical barrels which I didn’t want to use. These were food-grade pickle barrels. They stunk until I washed them. Now they’re in place and ready to go!
