It has been quite some time since my last post. Obviously, a lot has been done since then. I am working on connecting the pipes with a plastic tube so the water can "stair step" down the pipes. Doing this properly was of particular concern because I do not want the system to overflow, be filled with too much water, or have too little water.
The plan to connect the pipes is to put PVC end caps on the ends of each tube, and run a 1 inch plastic tube through the cap. By doing so the water in the pipe will flow to the next pipe when the water reaches the height of the plastic tube. I have already drilled a 15/16th inch hole into each end cap. However, the win problem is making the tube fit snug so the water would not leak out.
Despite this roadblock, I still continued to start some seeds so that by the tim the system is running with water, there will be something to grow. I began by soaking small grow blocks in water with a dash of lemon juice. The purpose of this is to change the pH of the grow blocks, so the environment is neither to acidic nor basic when the seeds are put in the blocks. Pictured above are the grow blocks sitting on a support structure within a tray with a dome. The purpose of the support is that the roots will not grow flat, and around the blocks. If they have room to grow down, they will do so. Pictured on the left is the pH measurement of the water I used to soak the grow blocks, about 6.
Pictured above are the seeds when they first started out. I kept them in a humidity dome for obvious reason. I also kept my Sunblaze Growlight on the the entire day. Some may argue that this is not good for the plants. However, there are differing opinions on the topic as to wether they should have periods of darkness. I am one to believe that constant lighting is best.
After several days, the seeds began to germinate. I took off the humidity dome because I feared the growth of fungus, bacteria, etc. Also, as seen in the picture above. The seedlings seem to be "stretched". This "stretching" is not favorable and results from a lack of light. As you can see, I moved the light significantly closer because the strength of a light source relative to distance either increases or decreases (depending on which direction you move the light) exponentially. After 20 hours, the stems began to stop stretching.
Here are the plants after several more days of growth. As you can see, more leaves have grown and they are less "stretched". Another sign of a healthy plant but not pictured is a healthy root system. The rots are long, thick, and branching outwards, One of the benefits of growing lettuces are that the nutrient requirement are relatively low. Maybe this explains the low nutritional profile of lettuces compared to other greens such as spinach?
Once the roots grew out, I transferred the plants into small grow cups with slits on the bottom. Surrounding the plants are clay pebbles, often referred to as hydration. Hydroton is very popular because it is inexpensive, works well, and allows for aeration. The purpose of hydration is to support the stems of the plants. I transferred these lettuces as the stems began to droop sideways. This also happened to be to ideal time to do so - The second pair of leaves was beginning to grow. Pictured above is a very healthy looking plant. I still have them sitting in the tray, but without the support structure. Hopefully the system will be up and running soon so these plants can be transferred.
The science of soil-less gardening is called hydroponics. It basically involves growing healthy plants without the use of a traditional hydroponics nutrients soil medium by using a nutrient like a mineral rich water solution instead. A plant just needs select nutrients, some water, and sunlight to grow.
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