When I began my hydroponics experiment this year, I did not know what to expect. I’ve tried once before, but to no avail. I didn’t have the right light setup, so I just put the tub on our patio. Well, bugs got the best of the plants that time. I thought I was making some good progress, thinking that I might have succeeded on my first attempt, then, BOOM, plants were dropping over and wilting left and right! At first, I had no idea what the hell was going on. I propped them up to prevent them from falling over, then... they just died. Finally, I looked a bit closer, and in the stem, right at the junction between the clay balls and the stem, I saw the little bastards... I mean bugs. I think they might have been aphids, I don’t know. I just threw the whole lot out. Between then and now, I finally moved into a place where I can set up my rig again, away from the bugs with an indoor lighting system.
In my new place, I have a nice little basement pantry. I, and my girlfriend, call it the “hole.” Whenever I get home, I get asked, “are you going in the hole?” or if I can’t be found, and then show up some time later, “were you in the hole?” The answer is, usually, yes. It’s nice and relaxing to sit amongst my plants. But, it wasn't always so relaxing. Once, I finally decided to try my hand at hydroponics gardening again I had a few hiccups along the way. The most difficult problem being: how to get my seedlings to grow.
The first time I tried, they took forever to sprout. I think it may have been a temperature problem. But, I was stuck just waiting, and waiting, with no clue at the time. I’m a pretty patient person, but this was trying my resolve. Finally, they sprouted and I was ecstatic! My first few sprouts in years. But, my light situation was still a problem. I thought I had something that would work, at least for sprouts, a single CFL light bulb. I kept them under the light with no real light schedule; turning the light on and off on my own schedule, and forgetting sometimes. It’s no surprise when they started getting really leggy. So leggy, in fact, that their little stems couldn’t support their weight. In my mind it was like the fall of Achilles; I thought they were strong and impervious to anything, then one day toppling over and dying. I learned a lot, and the next set of seedlings definitely fared better. I finally splurged a little bit and bought a fluorescent light fixture for when they come up. I found some warm spots in the house and put the brand new seeds, in their rockwool cubes, on top of the warm spots to help maintain a warm temperature. Then, I put a small dome (the lid to the tupperware container I was using) on top to keep the humidity higher. After all that trial and error, I finally got some viable little plants. And, as soon as I saw a root or two and some proper leaves, I put them in their holding spot to strengthen and get rootier (that may not be a word, but you know what I mean) before I put them in the big boy system (the actual hydroponics machine I built).
If you know some surefire ways to pollinate let me know in the comment section. Thanks!
Now, on to my second hydroponics setup. It is a drip system that I put outside. I just put the tomato plant in there last night. I was strengthening the plant for a few days outside before finally putting it in my drip system. I just have to find a way to seal the nutrient reservoir from bugs and the elements. I was worried about my little tomato plant last night, because we had a pretty treacherous thunderstorm. Luckily, it survived the whole ordeal! Now here's hoping to some pollinating bugs to do the job on this tomato plant that I'm still trying to figure out how to do on my pepper plant.
