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Gardening: Hydroponic Style (Part II)

29 May

(Check out Part I if you haven’t already!)

So I’m finally coming back to my hydroponic experiment.  I’ll try not to talk too much about it, since it has nothing to do with writing really!  Though, I can’t make any promises.

Step 1: Purchasing a Kit

At first I thought maybe the Home Depot might have some hydroponic products, but to be honest they don’t have a whole lot.  They basically told me I’d have to go to a place that specializes in this stuff.

*sigh*

So I went back home, hopped onto Google and started looking up local places that sold hydroponic products.  I came across a store called Sea of Green (they had one right by ASU on University and Dorsey, for any locals that are interested).  What’s nice about the place is that they have their own plants growing there using hydroponics so you can see how they set all the equipment up and place them by windows that get a lot of sunlight.  The people there were really friendly and willing to indulge my first-timer questions.

After chatting for a bit, they suggested I try Emily’s Garden.  Being the penny-pincher that I sometimes am, I asked how much is this going to cost?

…let’s just say it was over $100.

O_O

I’m too BROKE for this kind of thing.  Don’t you understand? I am a COLLEGE student.

“Well,” they said, “this is pretty much the most basic kit you’re going to find here, so…yeah.”

*deep sigh* I wanted to be all experimental and get into my Senior Project, so I just bought the thing.  (Of course, I didn’t actually respond this way.  I’m just dramatizing.  And paraphrasing.  I do that a lot.)

Oh, but that’s not all I had to buy.  Don’t forget the fluorescent lights.  Oh, and the starter cubes–which actually come with the kit, btw.  You can’t grow seeds in a bed of clay pellets (also included in the kit).  Speaking of seeds, have you bought any yet?

Lucky for me, I did buy some while I was at the Home Depot.

Good, then you’re also going to need some plant nutrient solution.  That’s how your herbs are going to get their nutrients, since that usually comes from the soil.

Of course, says I.  Secretly, I’m thinking, This was supposed to be easy.

The more they tried to explain all that was involved, the more I started feeling like Commander Shepard in Mass Effect.  My original endeavor to grow the cute little herbs I had in mind was beginning to look more like this:

Try conquering that plant species.  As Shepard said, standing at the foot of this four-story-tall monstrosity that’s keeping her from saving the galaxy:

Nothing’s ever simple, is it?

Nope, nope, nope…

So I foot the bill.  Bring home the kit.  Five minutes out of the store I’ve forgotten all about how much money I just spent (you don’t understand how much $100+ means to me, lol) and am beaming to everyone about how I got a shiny new hydroponic kit.

Now, if I could just get these seeds to start growing and set this kit up right…

Step 2: Growing the Seedlings

Before I can put the seeds into what are called starter cubes (which are made from an expandable material called rockwool), the instructions tell me that I actually have to soak them in nutrient solution for 12 to 24 hours.  And I have to test for pH levels.

Lame, right?

Okay, so this part was really new to me.  Well, maybe not completely new.

If you own a pool, then you know that maintaining the chemical balance of said pool is pretty important stuff.  You can hire someone to do it, or you can do it yourself.  My dad was doing ours for a while when we has a saltwater pool…but that didn’t work out so well, haha.  We had lots of little algae friends hanging out in the back for a while.  (Though, I am pleased to say they have long since been evicted.)

The same sort of thing can happen with the starter cubes if you have no idea what you are doing–which I did not.  But that’s okay because I learn by making mistakes.  Sometimes.

I got this organic solution called FloraNova Grow (a smaller bottle, mind you).  To start off, I poured a gallon of water into a pitcher for hand-watering the starter cubes.  The label tells me to mix 1/2 teaspoon of solution per gallon of water, so the common household pitcher worked out pretty nicely.  So I mix the stuff in…

…and then it’s on to checking the pH levels.  Not too hard, really.  My kit came with all of this stuff, so I just had to take a sample of the mixture, put it in a test tube and add a few drops of the test indicator.  It has this color chart on the indicator bottle where you can gauge whether the mixture is in the target pH zone (between 5.5 and 6.5, it says).  If it’s not, then they have you add an acid or base solution to the mixture and re-test it until it’s at the right level.

Lucky for me I haven’t had to do this yet, heh.  Our water is apparently at the perfect levels–sweet.

What NOT to Do

Eventually I got to put the seeds into the cubes.  I actually made little labels out of toothpicks, paper and double-stick tape (so I’d know what the heck I’m growing in each cube) and then stuffed some seeds into the cubes.  (Btw, you shouldn’t put them in too deep or else they won’t get enough light and grow!  Yes, I made that mistake, too, with some cilantro seeds.  Bah!)

Now, sometimes I get so excited about things that I forget to read ALL of the instructions…

…which happened when I started watering the cubes with my nutrient mixture.  The instructions clearly say:

Keep the starter cubes lightly moistened, but not over saturated, in propagation tray with a humidity dome (ensure that the cubes are never sitting directly in stagnant water as this could hinder the germination process).

…

Yeah, I totally skipped that part.  (Besides, no one mentioned that at the store!)  So guess what?  Both of my oreganos and my cilantro died in the process.

*sigh*

Oh well, live and learn.  Moral of that story: Don’t suspend your starter cubes in an unnecessary amount of water.  Okay?

Anyways, next week I’ll get more into the actual kit–because I have successfully failed at keeping this story under 1000 words.  How about that!

Got any tips for growing hydroponically?

If so, I’d love to hear from you.  I’m sure I’ve broken many rules by now, but I must be at least doing something right because the other three are still growing!

(Btw, I have no idea why the text keeps changing colors.  It’s driving me nuts, but I can’t fix it!)

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Gardening: Hydroponic Style (Part I)

12 May

So I’ve been saying how I was going to blog about a pet project of mine.  Figured I’d get to it now.

Hydroponic Gardening

Hydroponic gardening is basically the method of growing plants using a nutrient-rich solution rather than soil, and this allows for some interesting ways to mount certain plants and watch as they grow.  More importantly, using hydroponics allows for some gardeners to produce more fruits and vegetables and at a faster rate.

Hydroponics at the Epcot Center

I think I first encountered the idea of hydroponic gardening when I went to the Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center several years back.  I thought it was the coolest thing in the world!  Growing plants…without using soil?  Didn’t know such a thing was possible!  You can read an older article about it here, though unfortunately their video no longer works.

And who doesn’t love Disney World?  The scope of Walt Disney’s imagination was just astounding, and his legacy still continues even in the world of gardening–further shaping the world of tomorrow.

At the Epcot Center there is an entire attraction dedicated to Disney’s on-site hydroponic gardens.  You sit in one of those narrow attraction boats with the canopies and float through their facility, taking in all the wonderful sights.  I don’t remember if I ever took photos of this attraction, but I do have vivid recollections of the experience.  And actually, here’s a video of it off YouTube:

Image credit: NEWSCOM.

All sorts of things were being grown in their indoor facility–ranging from squash and pumpkins and tomatoes to flowers and green leafy things.  I just remember how much light played a role in the facility because it was entirely awash in a pleasant, even white glow during the day.

The important things about growing plants using hydroponics indoors is making sure the plants get enough light and are regularly fed with water that is appropriately supplemented with nutrient solution.  These nutrient solutions can be either chemical or organic, and I’m not sure which the Epcot Center uses, but I’ve chosen an organic solution in keeping with my original purpose for growing plants hydroponically in the first place!

Why I’m Trying out Hydroponics

The reason I started this hobby actually has nothing to do with being a green thumb and having a love for gardening because this wasn’t a natural interest of mine.

Over the past five months I was working on my Senior Project for school.  You may know that I studied interior design in college–and I use the past tense because I am officially done with classes now and will be graduating tomorrow, yay!

Anyway, for my project I chose to develop a restaurant/retail store concept.  My imaginary client owned his own organic food business, which he developed  over the years by working closely with local farmers who use organic farming and environmentally-friendly practices.  He sells his own food products but had recently become interested in branching out into the hospitality industry.

So says I.  (I guess that’s the fun of making stuff up; storytelling has its place in interior design!)

Eventually, Mr. Client came to me, and after further interviews I learned he also has a passion for the culinary arts.  “I think I’d like to open up a small restaurant.  Or maybe even a big one.  I’m not sure.”

Well, if any of you know my writing habits, I just don’t do small.  So I said, “Let’s go all the way with this thing.”

Naturally, that scared him–and it even scared me, to be honest.  How was I supposed to design an entire restaurant?  Well, it was too late for second guessing myself.  We were both excited about it now.  I told him I had some ideas I’d like to research more and that we should probably both so some research as it pertains to restaurants.  Hire some consultants, all that jazz.  It would be a learning experience for us both.

To Make A Long Story Short…

My idea was to incorporate Mr. Client’s philosophies about producing foods organically and using environmentally-friendly practices into my restaurant concept.  This is, more or less, what I came up with:

The cover page for my Senior Project.

We’re facing south, here, and Tempe Town Lake, a man-made lake here in Phoenix, would be viewable actually out those westward windows but mainly from the north, which you can’t see.

Tempe Town Lake, looking southward at the Hayden Ferry Lakeside buildings, “A” Mountain near ASU and also the Mill Avenue Bridges–an iconic feature in Tempe, AZ. My restaurant, hypothetically, would be situated further east (left) on the lake, on the same side as those buildings.

The idea is that the building would be rigged with a watering system, ebb-and-flow most likely, that uses a hydroponic approach by spiking the water with nutrient solution.  That way, along with carefully-placed fluorescent lighting, you could grow herbs from inside the facility.  (The same idea of this terraced garden feature would be mirrored on the exterior, as well, on the northeast side of the building with terraced plant beds, instead using plants that are more suited to Arizona weather and the climate.)

In real life, I would have to consult lots of different professionals to pull something like this off: architects, landscape gardeners, probably a lighting engineer…though, for this project it was pretty much free rein in matters beyond interior design, heh.  As I see it, the interior designer is basically the visionary for the interior environment.  You have your role and expected areas of expertise, yes, but all the particulars of the stuff you aren’t knowledgable in would have to be worked out with folks who really knew their stuff within their various fields–which means lots of collaboration.  (And more costs for the client to sort out, though that’s something they have to know going in already understanding the scope of their project.)

I had to present my ideas to a real-life interior designer and everything.  Learned a lot about design and myself in the process.

But that’s not what this blog entry is about today.

Learning More About Hydroponics Through Experimentation

I decided that if I wanted to develop a restaurant concept that utilized hydroponics I should probably learn something about it–and what better way to do this than to start my own hydroponic garden?

So that’s just what I did.  I visited this small local store that specialized in hydroponics and purchased a not-so-cheap starter kit.  (It cost over $100. O_O) Had to bite the bullet on that one.  I really wanted to explore my project as fully as I could, and I knew that getting into hydroponics would be one of the best ways to do this.

Anyhow, the kit was a lot larger and more involved than I expected, lol, which was why I was apprehensive about the price and everything.  But before I could even start using that actual system with the pump and all, I had to begin with starter cubes…

…And actually, this story is getting really long, so what I’m going to do today is leave you with a couple of photos of the kit as it currently sits in my room today.  I’ll have to come back another time and talk about how I put it together and nurtured my little seedlings into green sprouts.  Tee-hee-hee.

Basil 1, Dill and Basil 2 suspended in clay pellets before the kit is filled with nutrient water.  (I accidentally dropped Basil 2 when I took it to my presentation, though–*after* the presentation was over.  Figures.  More on that another day.)

 I think I should give them names.

The kit at sundown, with the lights and protective Anti-Kitty Kat Kage™ installed.

Yeah, I have cats.  (Typical writer, heh.)  You’ll get to meet them soon!  And I should say they are quite the characters.

And Now Tiyana Attempts to Make a Connection Between (Hydroponic) Gardening & Writing

I said I was going to try, and since this post is already at over 1,000 words I’ve got to do it quick!

Gardeners are like writers in some ways, though they work with different things; I am sure of it.

Both:

  • must approach their trades knowing that the endeavor will be an ongoing process, if they are to grow in it
  • should understand that it’s possible to get better at what they do over time
  • will have to put in a lot of time and effort in order to do so
  • would surely benefit by sharing their experiences with others who also do what they do, swapping tips and ideas, etc.

So how are plants, grown hydroponically or traditionally, like stories?  Well…

Both:

  • require lots of love and attention in order to turn out well;
  • should not be rushed because they thrive best when they develop at an appropriate pace;
  • must not be neglected (or else they die!)

Ta-da!  I did it!  Not with any amazingly original insights, but by golly, I did it.

Stay tuned for more about my adventures in hydroponic gardening! :D (Part II)

Care to Share?

Do we have any green-thumbs out there?  How about any who’ve tried hydroponic gardening?  Have you heard of it before?  Any pointers would be great, as well, as I’ve already come across some failures in my attempts to grow this little herb garden.  (Three of them–two oregano and a cilantro–didn’t make it past the starter cubes; I did something bad…)

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